The Cleaning Schedule

If I take a look at my last two posts I see this.

I don't need a cleaning schedule I just need to DO IT.  :)

Anyways needless to say, I did not do my cleaning after I did the bathroom last Sunday.  Amazing how accomplished I felt after doing that that it made me feel good enough to not clean for over a week!  Ha!  So I did do laundry and dishes and pick up, but that is all.

The end.  I am not sure what else to say right now, but I did want to share that I am not perfect and am still trying to figure things out, or again, maybe shouldn't figure things out and just do it.  Maybe I don't need any sort of system, but find what works for me and do it without a big old system along with it.

That sounds good.

More later...Love to you!
Kim :)

Cleaning Schedules & Me!

I love to read and look at cleaning schedules and all kinds of ways to keep the house clean, to organize, to have a schedule of how it all works, etc.  I have a hard time finding just the right schedule that works for me.  I jump around and have not yet found just the right one.


I have been toying with 2 ideas.

1. Once a month cleaning.  
2. Once a week cleaning, or Home Blessing Hour.  

I made my list all out for once a month cleaning.  All areas of each room that needed to be cleaned.  Then I made a simple list of things I would do daily such as laundry, picking up clutter, dishes, cooking, and swish and swipe the bathrooms, which is this:

The point of the Swish & Swipe is:
If you do a quick wipe-over of your bathrooms each day - Your bathrooms will never really get dirty. There will be no build-up, no toilet ring, and no hard water stains. You will have a sparkling clean bathroom every day without everreally cleaning it.


While your in the bathroom:

• Use a little windex and quickly "swipe" the mirror, counter & sink.
• Next, use a toilet brush with a little soap to "swish" the toilet bowl (one suggestion is to keep disinfecting bathroom cleaner in your toilet brush holder or even shampoo or slivers of old soap?!?) (caution ladies - don't mix cleaners)
• Last, use a disinfecting wipe to "swipe" down the lid, seat and bowl rim of the toilet.

That would be what I would do.  I would have say the 1st of the month or 15th or whenever, and dedicate most of that day to a whole house scrub down.  Then daily throughout the rest of the month do the things necessarily daily.  On this site she also mentions once a month decluttering.  This is where she chooses a room a month to work on decluttering.  So I suppose one room per month would get an even deeper clean.  This is 12 rooms in a year.  Deep cleaned and decluttered.  I am really pondering this.

The weekly cleaning I would do probably on Friday's to prepare for the weekend and to be able to enjoy a clean home and relax all weekend.  Then daily have the regular things that need done daily like I said, laundry, picking up clutter or straightening up, dishes, cooking and swish and swipe.  When I do this it seems that the next week things don't look dirty so I don't have motivation to do it.  Maybe this instead of weekly could be done bi-weekly so that the dirt has time to come back at least a little.

In the weekly cleaning you have 1 hour, 6 chores, 10 minutes each chore.  You set a timer for 10 minutes, and GO!  You clean that one area as best as you can and when the timer goes off you are done.

 

I want to share here how and what I do, in a sorts a way of accountability.  I want to track what works and maybe a few before and after pictures if I feel so led.  

So here I am.  I want to clean the house!  It's been spring break and it needs a refresher.  Yes, you would find me on the computer looking at ways to clean and organize intead of actually DOING it! 

So now I get up to "DO" something.  Reminding myself of my word for 2012, LIVE.  I want to live and not just sit and watch or read about things.

So which will it be................what will I experiment with first?  Hmmmm.....

Weekly cleaning.  This week I will do it Monday (and some Sunday to get a head start) and maybe again on Friday since we are getting over spring break and it may need an extra cleaning by the end of the week.  I will choose 6 chores that need to be done and take 10 minutes for each one.  Here they are for Monday's cleaning:

1. Dusting furniture.
2. Bathrooms swish and swipe and tub cleaning (spray with bleach lysol cleaner, set a few minutes and wipe down and rinse)
3. Kids bedroom floors.
4. Vacuum house. (must be done after bedroom floors are done)
5. Entry way clean up inside front door and porch.
6. Overall house pick-up (maybe do this first)

The end.  That is what I will do.  Off I go to live.  I am going to choose bathrooms right now and go from there.  Go LIVE!

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)


p.s. I do have to add one thing.  In order for me to do all of this and actually have it work...I have to put Jesus first.  Two things He is teaching me.  One is Matthew 6:33 that in one version says seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, but NLT version I read this morning says this:  he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.  (I love this version).  Number two, is Jesus says come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  He is teaching me to give Him my burdens each day, each moment and ask Him for His yoke because He says it is easy.  This week when I have done that, amazing, in awe, of the fruits that come from it...there is nowhere else I want to be.  

**Note-Update 3/28/2012-Wednesday---I did the bathrooms Sunday and then Monday got carried away and no cleaning done.  So I will keep it on Friday and continue daily cleaning as needed until then.  I did clean 1 bedroom floor Monday evening so that does count too :) baby steps 

  

Discipline...Me? Check-in

On February 11, 2011 I posted about discipline and I shared some goals I was looking to work on the rest of February.  This is a "check-in" post to see how things are moving and to stay focused on what I was setting my goals towards.

My goals were 1, 2, 3:

1. Wake up at 5:30 when alarm goes off and hit the floor with my feet.  Enjoy exercise quiet time and shower before children wake up.  How am I doing?  Well I have managed instead of snoozing until 7am, I am most consistently up by 6:15am and up before the children.  A few times I have had quiet time, but exercise and shower has not happened yet.  I consider this a great progress!
2. Plan my day in the morning (may I add plan it with asking God what His plans for me are) so that I have a structure throughout the day.  How am I doing?  I just Friday printed a great daily docket list after reading through an ebook I have which I am loving called Organized Simplicity-by www.simplemom.net.  This is planning one day at a time, period.  I like it.
3. Do at least 15 minutes of cleaning task with assigned room for each week.  How am I doing?  Well I changed this.  I don't like having something to do every day like this.  I realized that I want my home clean for the weekend, becasue what has happened normally is that by Saturday I am sick of seeing the house dirty and now have time so I spend Saturday cleaning up as I go all day long.  This is not a relaxing day for me.  So I want my home clean on Friday to prepare for the weekend going into it with a clean home.  So I am going to work on implementing Flylady's Home Blessing Hour.  Picking 6 things in the home and spend 10 minutes on each.  Instead of sticking with the things she says, I will pick what needs most in the home.  This past Friday I chose 6 things and got 5 of them done.  The weekend has been much nicer having everything clean and refreshed.  Then daily I will do my 1, 2, 3's which are 1 load of laundry, dishes and 10 minute declutter.  I have to remember in this season of life I need to have realistic expectations.

Thanks for listening.  Is there anything you have learned in your home that works best for you in keeping it clean but not obsessing over it?

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

I'm Workin' in the Home Wednesday

To plan or not to plan, that is the question.  Heard of that quote before..."to fail to plan is to plan to fail?"  It is important to have a plan, not a legalistic list of things or anything, but a loose plan/schedule/structure for our home and family.  This will cause thriving and not chaos.

Why oh why though do I try and control and think I have it all in order and can relax, only to realize that I do not.  Hello!  I need to use the plan/schedule that I created when reading the e-book Tell Your Time.

Fail.  That is what happens when there is no plan.  Things fail or falls apart.  I have a very, very loose schedule for the day now and I do not like to even think about it during the day, it just stays planted in the back of my mind somewhere where I think..."I'll think of it some time or some day."  The reason I do not like to think about it is because I am too focused on wanting to "enjoy" my time and relax and not think about things to do.  (Note there is a scripture that talks about living for pleasure, it doesn't work.)  This seems to trick me though because when I do the plan or stick more closely to the schedule I make, then I have more time to relax and enjoy and when I do it that way I can see all the fruits of my sticking to the schedule by having the home look more organized and clean and have the kids relaxed because their sweet mommy stuck to what she said she was going to do.

This week is going well with my 15-minute cleaning.  Monday was the kitchen.  Yesterday was the bathrooms.  Amazing I was able to spray down each shower and while it soaked I cleaned each sink in our 2 bathrooms, toilets wiped well with Lysol wipes and the floors all wiped down with Lysol wipes...then went back and scrubbed out the showers/tubs and wala, actually right before I was done the timer went off so it probably took me 16 or 17 minutes.  Still, I was like, wow!  Now to make this a habit, hehe!  Today, is the living room.  (Funny laugh out loud moment, I don't even know if this is the right order I wrote on my blog that I was going to follow OR if it is even the same as I wrote on my schedule I wrote down on paper...I just picked a room and said, Ok!)

So I have my schedule all written down.  Before making the schedule though she has you go through what your priorities are and figure out what things are fixed and what things are negotiable.  It was an amazing little journey to go through it and answer all of the questions.  Now to just do it.  Stumble through starting to work the schedule, even though my perfectionist brain wants to do it perfectly, which is another reason I probably have not started honestly trying to live it.  Then I will make progress.  That is what I am going to do.

Here is to sticking to a schedule more closely today (or going now to pray about a schedule for your home and family and how God would see you to do that), so that at the end of the day we can say we were good stewards of our time.

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

10 Million Things

There are 10 million things I could write about right now it seems.  This morning the battle in my mind I cannot being to explain.  It is amazing how crazy it can be on the inside when on the outside we can appear just fine.  Crazy I say!

So today there are a few things I want to chat about.  One is that Monday is for the kitchen!  So today I plan to set my timer and I will move all things off floor and sweep and mop.  Then I will wipe cabinets with soapy cloth and feel so refreshed because I love a good clean kitchen floor!  You know there are those things in your house, where for you, when it is done it is all good.  It feels like your house is clean.  But if "it" is not done, then it seems so dirty and chaotic.  Well that is my "it"...the kitchen floor.

So if you ever feel overwhelmed about your house and you don't know where to start...search your heart a minute, take a mental walk around your house and find that one thing.  What is it for you that when it is done/clean/organized you feel better and at ease?  Is it your kitchen sink, kitchen floor, ring around that toilet, bathroom counters wiped off, clutter picked off the floors in the house...?

The next thing is this.  When my mind is frazzled and 10 million things are running around...God reminded me this morning to stop, take my focus off of myself and towards Him, and praise Him.  Ask Him for His plans for me in my mind and in my day.  Keeping myself focused on myself is not going to help me at all.  

I made a short list that can be so super infinity long about God and all He is to me and all He is period.  Those things included:  Lover of my soul, my perfect provision, Creator of all things, I'm the apple of His eye, the most awesome sky I saw when I walked out my front door this morning, He made that!  Then I went on and made a list of who I am in Him.  If I get all mixed up in my head and forget who I am in Him, that is wasting time, ack!!!  Remind me so many times that again and again, and I will continue to need reminding.  I am MORE than a conqueror through Him, I am the apple of His eye, I am dead to sin and alive in Christ!!  I am a child of the living God!!  He lives in me!  I am a new creation!  AMAZING.

So now to restart my day and freshen up.  Reminders to myself, I do NOT have to have a perfect day.  This day will not be perfect.  If I try and go by my plans especially, it will not be perfect.  I will always be in His sight and in His hand.

Psalm 139:10 ..."even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me."

Can I pray for you today?  

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Discipline...Me?

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

I realize right now that in order to be more fruitful and enjoy my life more I have to instill some discipline and boundaries into my heart and life.  Step out in faith and do GOOD what God has put in my path right now.  Pick a few things and have fun with it, really work on it, dig deep in those areas and "garden."  What would those look like?  Do any of these sound familiar to you:

• Wake up earlier for quiet time and exercise to start the day
• Make a simple, but clear, cleaning schedule for the week/each day
• Set exercise goals
• Be a good manager of my time so it is not wasted away (especially in front of the computer)
• Go to bed at a decent hour

Well some people may look at discipline or boundaries like this picture below:

I am starting to realize more and more that THAT is not true at. all.  

Lately I have read several things about how you can spend the same amount of time/work wasting time as you can being productive. Well you say how can I do that?  Ok, well the more I waste time, sit around, play on internet, and procrastinate...the more time I have to spend fixing all I didn't do to begin with, regular cleaning and maintenance of house and cars, catching up on finances that may get unorganized and out of order, chaos happens, more time spent bringing structure back into the children's day so that there is less chaos with them and their lives...the list goes on and effects all areas of our life.

So now I bring into my journey...3 IN 30!

To finish up the month of February here are my goals I am going to write down.  Then I will follow up with a post on how I did on those goals.  I have prayerfully considered what I will work on with God's help and will concentrate on these three things.  Ever heard of the phrase....bloom where you are planted?  That is what I am going to do.  Sit still and dig into the things I know I already need to be doing and stop looking for more things to do.  

1. Wake up at 5:30am when alarm goes off, hit the floor with my feet, and enjoy exercise, quiet time and shower before children wake up. (If exercising after children are at school, then quiet time and shower and wear my good exercise clothes to feel refreshed!)
2. Plan my day in the morning so that I have structure through the day.
3. Do at least 15-minutes (set timer) Monday through Friday cleaning tasks: Monday-Kitchen, Tuesday-Bathrooms, Wednesdays-Living Room, Thursdays-Bedrooms, Fridays-Clean van and some outdoor tasks...also daily 1, 2, 3's which are one load of laundry, do the dishes, and set timer for 10 minutes and declutter.

So I put it in writing.  These are my goals for the rest of the month, granted its not a full 30 days, but close to it.  Maybe I will continue these goals for my March 3 in 30 as well.

That's all folks.  Do you want to join me in working prayerfully towards 3 goals the rest of the month of February, and not waste anymore time?

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)

Timer is My Friend

Timers.  Until I met Flylady I never used a timer for much really, maybe some type of exercise things.

She says you can do anything for 15 minutes.  She breaks down house cleaning tasks into 15 minutes a day.  It is neat to see when I do something for 15 minutes every day, different focus each day, how much better I feel and how I see progress in the house and more organization and cleanliness.  It also motivates me to do a little more.

I have since added timers to other things as well.  One thing is making the childrens lunch in the mornings.  If I am running late especially, but hoping that habit is being broken with new habits taking over nowadays, I set the timer for 10 minutes and make sure that I focus just on making lunches and I know I will be done in 10 minutes with that.  Then onto the next thing.  I can break things down into periods of time so that I know how much time I have and how long I will take.  It is a nifty little tool!

p.s. I like to use my microwave timer!

Have you tried using a timer for anything?  Share any tips or ideas you have!

More later...Love to you!

Kim :)