Housecleaning Day

On Friday my housecleaner came to vacuum, dust, and clean. She comes twice a month and leaves my apartment sparkling and tidy.  So why did I spend two hours Friday morning cleaning before she arrived?

I’m not a sloppy person. On the contrary, I’m very organized. It’s just that my organization consists of putting papers in piles on the coffee table, and laying out to-do lists beside my laptop on the kitchen counter.  I place bills into a basket with a checkbook, stamps, and return address stickers, Keys are on a hook by the door.  Kismet’s leash hangs from a door handle. I place unwashed dishes in the sink until I empty the dishwasher to make room for them. The cutting board sits on the counter, a sharp knife beside it, ready to use. Boots, shoes, flip-flops, and slippers are in the room where I’m most likely to need them. Writing projects are in separate plastic boxes, piled up on the end of the counter so I can get to them easily.

The downside to my method of “keeping organized” is that all horizontal surfaces are eventually covered with something, and soon there is nowhere to work.

The upside of cleaning for the cleaner is that when she leaves, all horizontal surfaces are now empty and shining.  And the following few days are super productive.

Every two weeks, I put everything away so my wonderful cleaner can do her job, and when she’s finished, I am always amazed at the amount of space I have.  And that’s when I address household tasks that I have been neglecting.

Get it Done Day

A colleague of mine, my former book coach, offers her clients a monthly activity she calls Get it Done Day. She sets up a spreadsheet and a zoom link. Participants post three small goals for the day in the spreadsheet, then meet on Zoom several times throughout the day to check in and share their progress toward the goals.  Having participated in this activity several times, I have now begun setting up my own get-it-done day after my cleaner leaves.  The concept is simple: Set a small goal and work on it for 60 minutes. Stop and take a quick walk, or make a cup of tea, then work on a second goal. I do this three or four times, with a single small task each time.  It can be anything – cleaning the silverware drawer, alphabetizing received Christmas cards so I can check them off in my record book when I answer them, washing paint brushes from my granddaughter’s latest art project, or making a shopping list.

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you limit yourself to one small task, an activity that can reasonably be completed in an hour. It’s also emotionally satisfying when you see what you have accomplished in an hour. I spent the weekend writing thank-you notes,  cleaning out the entry closet, and organizing my children’s books

Here’s the bonus: Larger tasks become easier to tackle when the little ones have been taken care of.

What do you think of my idea? Surely I’m not the only one who cleans for her cleaner?  But then what do you do after the cleaner leaves? Read a book, take out your knitting, bake some cookies, clean your silverware drawer? What do YOU do once your home is clean and tidy?

Writing Day!

Today is Monday, and my house is still tidy.  Refreshed and renewed by finishing several small tasks over the weekend, today I am going to work on my cozy mystery.

I hope whatever you are doing this time of the year brings you joy.

Marlene

Marlene Anne Bumgarner writes primarily about food, family, and traditions. Her 2020 memoir, Back to the Land in Silicon Valley, is about raising children, animals, and vegetables on a rural plot of land in the 1970s.   Organic Cooking for (not-so-organic ) Families will be out soon. Her next project is a book about Grandparenting, and in her spare time, she is plotting a cozy mystery.