Do You Have a Cleaning Routine?
You don’t, do you?
You wait until you notice something is dirty (or someone points it out), and then you clean.
You probably go into one of those cleaning frenzies that leaves you tired and crazy for days and then you let the house go back to it’s usual thing.
But you need a cleaning routine! It will save you!
I know.
The idea of a routine means you have to do a certain thing at a certain time every day or week. And it’s boring. And just not you.
You’re more of a “when I’m in the mood” kind of woman.
Well we all know how that’s working out.
A Routine Can Free You
Yes. Yes it can!
Once you get into it, you’ll barely notice it’s there.
And your house will be clean and you’ll have more time on your hands.
Think of all the trouble you could get into with that kind of time!
But first, you have to do some thinking and planning in order to put your routine into place.
I have some ideas on my Pinterest board, and on The Overwhelmed Homemaker’s board too.
It’s Really Not That Much Effort
It really doesn’t take that much effort to put things into place.
Start with one thing.
What one thing is always left undone and drives you crazy?
Is it the sink full of dirty dishes at the end of the night?
The never ending laundry?
Can you think of a way to change things?
Some Tips
At our house, I unload the dishwasher every morning, and then it gets loaded throughout the day as people use dishes. It’s a team effort. And it has been since my kids were young.
And the laundry?
My kids learned to do a load of towels and were each responsible for one load a week (our biggest trouble area at the time). Shortly after, they learned to do their own laundry and became responsible for it. That was middle school. And my husband has also done his own laundry for years.
Our son lives with us (hopefully for now), and between the three of us, we get the towels done. It’s still a team job.
Everyone does their own laundry; our son also does his sheets.
I do kitchen towels, our sheets, and rugs in addition to my laundry.
And we’re all good about transferring stuff from the washer to the dryer or out of the dryer if we’re in the basement and it needs doing.
Day by Day
Some routines are best established on a certain day.
For instance, while my kitchen garbage gets taken out every night, I tend to do all of the bathroom trash on Sunday. It doesn’t pile up as much, and besides, Monday is garbage day.
I meal plan on Thursday (usually) and grocery shop on Friday. That means the refrigerator gets a clear out before I leave for the store.
Do you have certain things that happen at your house on certain days? You surely have a garbage collection day. What can you work around that?
Do you have certain days of the week that are always crazy, or usually laid back? That tells you not to add anything extra to the crazy days, but maybe you can throw something in on the laid back ones.
A load of laundry in the wash before you go to work; in the dryer when you get home.
What Are Your Expectations?
Are your expectations too high?
As women with ADHD, we tend to be perfectionists. If we don’t have the time to do it right, we wait until we do.
But that might cause us to wait too long.
How easy would it be to get a microfiber cloth and walk through the house and do some dusting?
Maybe you could start with just dusting around stuff. Or do what I do: dust an area on the table, move stuff to the clean area, and then dust where the stuff was at.
Any attempt is better than none at all.
And maybe you should take a look at all of the “decorative” stuff you have around. Does it make you happy? If so, take a minute or two – it’s really not that much – and dust it once a week.
And if not, get rid of it! Adopt a more minimal look.
Remember – you’re starting with one thing. Find the thing that causes the most trouble, look for a solution, then give it a try.
Cleaning Tips and Recipes for Easy Homemade Cleaners
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