A while back I shared a
cleaning schedule I made to help me keep my house tidy and under some semblance of control. I wasn't perfect at following it, but when I did it was great. I knew when the towels and sheets had been washed, when I had dusted, that things were getting taken care of. It helped Husband Man, because when Saturday rolled around he could see what I had or hadn't done. Our small apartment was kept clean! (Or as clean as you can get with a toddler...)
Then it came time for our (yearly) move. We found a cheaper place with a larger living space; it was perfect for our growing family. We could have our kitchen table back, which meant less food was consumed in the living room (and therefore there was less mess). But for some reason the cleaning schedule wasn't working for me anymore. Laundry was taking longer and longer to finish. More floorspace meant more pep-talking myself into vacuuming. And being pregnant means I have even less of a desire to do those things that I already didn't like...
A couple of weeks ago someone suggested a website called Habitica to us. At first glance it looks silly and stupid... but for us, it worked. I could put daily things to do, like exercise and drink water, but I could also include habits (like housecleaning) and to-do lists, for those chores and tasks that popped up outside of any cleaning regimen. As we've been using this site, we find motivation to complete tasks instead of ending our day in a guilty stupor in front of a computer screen. And as things get done, I've learned some things...
Effort breeds effort.
Husband Man took to Habi like a fish to water. It was pretty much exactly what he needed to motivate himself to have less computer time and more productive time. And I think it's better for him, too-- he can accomplish things that have been bothering him, in a more timely manner, and he feels more immediately accomplished (than his job allows right now). This makes him feel in control, and much better. And when he does those tasks, it makes me want to complete mine so we can both feel proud of what we have done.
Cleaning by example helps.
The dailies list helps me to remember to do little tasks every day, things that shouldn't be difficult and take too much time and effort, but are constantly overlooked. I have things like checking my email, reading scriptures, and tidying the bedroom(s). Husband Man started making the bed every day, but we both have a bad habit of just throwing our clothes on the floor. I would always put off cleaning it up, until it consumed the floor. I added the bedrooms to my dailies list, which meant that the bedroom was always clean AND when I went to put my clothes away at night, I would take the extra two seconds to put them either back in the drawer or in the dirty clothes. Less to clean up in the morning means a free pass on the 'tidying bedroom(s)' task! After about a week of this, I noticed that I was picking up less of Husband Man's clothes, too. As I took better care of the room, he wanted to take better care of it too.
Daily tidying up makes a HUGE difference.
Tidying the bedroom, loading the dishwasher every day, and making a round to just pick up clutter-- if you are ever on pinterest, you've surely come across that ten-minute clean-up tip or the two minute rule I shared in my previous cleaning post. There's a reason it's out there: it works. Picking up clutter helps toward a clean house. It just makes you feel better. And doing it every day keeps it from piling up, so it's easier to accomplish. Couple this with the previous thought, and now you have at least two people possibly working to keep the house tidy. I call that a win-win!
If a task as-written doesn't help you accomplish it, then change how you do it.
Let's talk laundry. On my previous schedule I did it every two weeks. We all had enough clothes, so it worked... mostly. If you counted the fact that after two weeks I had at least four large loads to do, and it took me at least half the week to actually complete it. But I stuck to it. It didn't make sense to me to do a load every day, and weekly laundry seemed even more tedious.
But since we moved to the new place, over the last three weeks I've just done laundry every week. I mean, I kind of have to--I only have about a week's worth of maternity shirts that currently fit. But I find that I actually like it better. Doing a week's worth of laundry means that I have less to wash; less to wash means I have fewer and smaller loads. For the first time in forever I did the laundry in one day. ONE DAY, people. Washed, dried, and folded. The end. And when I crawled into bed that night? It felt really good. (On a side note, we apparently need more hangers.)
Sometimes, you've just got to force yourself to create a habit.
I have always struggled to read my scriptures. That's the chink in my spiritual armor. When we first moved away from college, I begged Husband Man to let us have cable so I could amuse myself while staying home with a baby. The problem was, I would catch myself turning the tv on first thing in the morning... so I told myself I couldn't watch tv until I had done my scripture study. At face value that sounds awful. As a child of God, who is trying to do what is right, I shouldn't need to force myself to read the word of God on a daily basis, right?? But I had to force myself to do it. As I did, I found myself wanting to read, and watching less tv. It built that desire.
The same thing has come with other habits. Placing them on Habi has helped me to just do them. Lately I find myself decluttering as I go--I made GB a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and instead of leaving everything out on the counter, jars open, I caught myself putting them away after using them. (Which is a two-fold blessing... the house is cleaner on a more regular basis, which means Husband Man isn't slightly aggravated when he comes home and cleans up all my messes.)
I'm super happy that this is working for us now. In just a couple of weeks Husband Man and I have accomplished so much. And what makes me even happier is that we are setting an example for Gummy Bear. It doesn't do anything to ask him to put his toys and books away when the kitchen is covered in dishes and the bedrooms in clothes-- that's counterproductive. I'm super excited that we finally have a new schedule under our belts, and that we can continue to progress as a family.
Make a list, find your motivation, and then, as the scriptures say, "Go and do!"
