Clean the house vs. scheduled tasks

[5ft Diva]

I really struggle w/ feeling like I'm on top of my cleaning. This isn't because I just had a baby either. I felt this way before having the baby and even before getting pregnant. In fact, I've felt this way for many years.

I'm sure this isn't rocket science and I may be the last person on the earth to figure this out, but today I was thinking about why I don't feel like I clean my house successfully. My definition of a clean house is everything in it's place, I can find things easily and don't have to wipe off a thousand cobwebs after retrieving it, and my walls, windows, and floors are acceptably clean and sanitary.

This really doesn't seem too hard of a task to accomplish yet I am unable to accomplish it. I'm beginning to wonder if it's because I don't break it down into small manageable steps. My job every day is to "clean the house", that's what I write down in my planner. I never feel like I can cross it off because I don't have a clean house. But, instead of writing down "Clean the house" I could write down "mop the floor" and cross it off knowing that it's contributing to my ideal clean house. It seems to me that I'm making the job too general therefore it feels too big.

What do you think? Is it better to just say, "Clean the house" or is it more productive to give more specific tasks? My wording might be confusing, but just go w/ me on this one as I'm pretty curious to hear your thoughts on this.

[Dia Minha]

I don't have an answer to your question, Diva. Right now my house is a mess. I'm living it what I think you call quadrin 1. I do a 15 minute rescue in every room. Depending on how good I'm feeling I might go through the house twice. Then the kids come home and do their chores. If somebody were to just drop by during this time it might look picked up and not to bad, but in reality the corners and windows and hidden places like behind the piano are really bad. I just can't seem to get to it.

I do find that if there is one room that is really driving me crazy, than I will concentrate on that room for the day. I will list everything that I would like done seperately. For example:

Living Room

Organize and dust bookshelves
Clean window, including runners
Dust and orgainze entertainment center
Scrub tile in entrance way
Vacuum furniture
Clean off and dust piano
Clean out behind piano
vacuum
spot clean rug or steam clean if really bad

However, I don't have any kind of scheduling or organization to when it actually gets done. It is just usually on a day I feel good and it's bothering me enough to do it.

[bookworm]

What a good question. I think it depends on your personality and energy level, really. My neighbor cleans the whole house twice a week or so, and then spot cleans through the week. I can't do that anymore. I just get too tired after I do. I used to only really clean on Mondays and Fridays and it worked great- back when I had a tiny house!

I break it down into daily goals and I STILL don't feel like I ever accomplish my vision of a clean house. It should get better as the kids get older, right? But for me it hasn't. I'm getting better about doing the dishes first thing in the morning every morning. I usually don't have a schedule, and when I do have a schedule, I rebel against it and end up not doing it. Sometimes I do everything, but most days I just don't have the energy.

I do like the Flylady's 15 min. timer idea and her routines idea, but it just hasn't stuck for me.

[5ft Diva]

Well it's nice to know that I'm not the only rebel. That was a perfect description, BW.

You know after listening to you two I don't necessarily need a schedule either. Just a to do list of things to do for the day and I think that's what I'm getting at. I don't need the one item of "Clean the House" I need just a couple of items on the list that I can cross off that I know will contribute to my vision of a clean and organized house. The schedule thing really doesn't work so I just need to sit down every evening (this is when I plan my day) and make a list of the few things that need my attention.

Cleaning on a schedule has been kind of a mandatory thing with little kids, but as they're getting older we're all needing to be more flexible and it's what works for us. I know that the stuff will eventually get done. I just have found that when I say clean the house that's all I focus on during the day and then I wonder why I didn't spend any time with the children. If I just focus on a couple of specific things then I will have time for the kids.

Hmm...this works! Thanks guys.

[Erudite]

It sounds like you've answered your own question, but I thought I'd chime in with what I ATTEMPT to do. I have a "daily routine" developed after using the flylady for awhile. It has 9 items on it, that if I will do, I'll end up with a clean main floor. However, it is a rare day when all 9 can get done. So I've started just starting where I left off the day before. The 9 items are:
1. Vacuum front hall rug
2. Straighten library
3. Vacuum front hall and bathroom

4. Shine bathroom
5. Shine kitchen
6. Straighten office

7. Vacuum office
8. Vacuum kitchen &dining room
9. Straighten and vacuum family room

So if I only get #1 done, the next day I start with #2 and so on. I found myself never getting #9, which is the hardest, done, so I made myself start wherever I'd left off. They're grouped in 3's because I try to get them done in 3s. The first 3 are in the front part of the house and are also the "guest" parts so if somebody were to come by, I generally have a clean space to receive them in.

This also reduces the guilt for me. I don't HAVE to do it all everyday...and very often can't...so I don't beat myself up about it. I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow. This list works best with the kids in specific rotations but also works around them, because they don't get their jobs done very well each day and I can still live in a mostly clean house.

Anyway...a list like this might help, 5D, because it would give you specific items to do that would make the house feel cleaner for you. AND if you do it (or most of it daily) the house starts to stay cleaner. At least that's what I've found. I keep telling my kids this about their zones and they have yet to believe me. Gotta love those kids!

[Erudite]

PS please note that it says "shine" bathroom and kitchen...not clean them. While cleaning is great...shining it means that it is livable. I don't get down and clean under the toilet for example, but I do do a quick swip of the seat. This is meant to be a quick routine to pull the house in order.

Also, I used to have a great schedule for cleaning the house...water the plants every Monday, vacuum the stairs every Tuesday, that kind of thing. It doesn't work for me any more because it is important to have the kids doing part. So all of those tasks have been put on the zone lists, with the exception of mopping the floor. I do that when it needs to be done and when I feel like it.

[bookworm]

E, that is a great way to manage the house. I might try to adopt some of your ideas and adapt them to my family... I could live with that. I realized the other day that my 4th child is doing WAY less chores than my oldest 2 did when they were her age. She hardly does anything! So, starting this week we are stepping it up. In fact, the requirements for all the kids are probably going to begin to increase. They hardly ever have homework, so I don't think I need to be as easy on them as I have been. They don't do much, and when it comes time to do more, they mope and whine and complain so much that I give up and do a lot of it myself. Not any more! It's a new day. I think my May goals are all going to be get-my-house-in-order oriented. Getting away from Diva's original subject, here, sorry...