Tuesday, April 23, 2013

How to Have Success With the 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge

First lets have a quick update of Projects #20-22.

Today’s project was an easy one (because I have been keeping up with the challenge). Surface clean living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.

I have been taking care of the kitchen and living room every most nights before bed. All I had to do today was mild dusting of the living room and bedroom, make our bed, put clothes away, a quick swipe of the bathroom counter, swish in the toilet, and spray of the shower. I was done. (I’ll spare you the before and after; mainly because they are exactly the same as the other surface cleaning days.)

Instead I want to share how I ‘m making this challenge work for me. Its actually a pretty simple concept.

How to keep up with 30 Day House Cleanng Challenge

I printed the challenge and put it in a plastic page protector. I keep a dry erase marker inside.

On the left side I marked the weekends. If I have extra time, I can work on these challenges. On the right side, I simply check off each challenge as I finish it. Easy, right? Lets flip the page over:

Keeping a List to Help With 30 Day House Cleaning Challenge

This side is the key to lining this challenge up with my goals of purging my home.

I keep a blank sheet of paper, and a pencil in the back of the page protector. When I come across an extra project that needs to be done, I add it to the list. Some things on this list are the individual closets and cupboards that need cleaning, projects I didn’t get to (like clean the garage), projects I want to do (like painting), and things that need gone through and decluttered.

Days when I have more time and energy, I flip to this page and pick out a project. Complete the project, and my favorite part- cross it off.

This method is working wonders for me. Writing tasks down helps me see where I need to spend some time. Most projects only take 10-15 minutes when broken down into individual tasks.

Sweet and simple.

How do you keep track of your miscellaneous projects?

6 comments:

  1. I had just been trying to find or create some kind of system that would help me stay on top of my housework better when I started the 30-Day challenge. I'm not sure if I'm going to stay with this system or do a combo of this and others (like Flylady), but I LOVE having a list to mark off. When I used to make my own list, if I did something that wasn't on the list, I'd write it down, just so I could mark it off!

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    1. Haha, I can relate to that- I am guilty of writing things on my to-do list just so I can cross it off.
      I am thinking I will continue with this system after the month is over, and add in a nightly routine (like cleaning the kitchen and living room).
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. Theresa I like your management process. I already have a system in place for regular housekeeping and like you I'm purging our home. I know this is probably going to be a year long process as I want to get it all right the way I like it so I'm REALLY taking my time. Occasionally when the challenge lands on a room that needs a bit of purging I'll tackle a cupboard, drawer, shelf or the like. Some places I've purged so far have been the linen closet and one of our bathroom drawers. The fridge is scheduled for this week.

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    1. Great job! I am learning that this home purging thing is a never ending job. (STUFF seems to multiply like rabbits around here). Keep up the momentum.

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  3. Thank you for your sweet comment on my breakfast sandwich post! I love this list! My house is such a disaster and only stays clean about a minute - I really need something like this!

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    1. The only time our house stays clean is during naptime, and after the boys go to bed. This challenge is helping me tackle the deeper cleaning though, so surface cleaning is all I need to do for a clean(er) home.
      Thanks for visiting!

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