Do what you can. If you can only do 10 minutes a day, or one hour a day, then do it.
SPRING CLEANING
The older I get the less energy and motivation I seem to
If given the chance, I would sit on my couch and read a romance novel or watch Hallmark movies all day, but then I would never accomplish anything. So I have come up with a plan that allows me to read or watch TV but
“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”
Make a Plan
- Sit down and write out a plan
- What are the things you absolutely need to accomplish today? (pay bills, write letters, run errands, grocery shop, etc.)
- What room will you start cleaning?
- You might want to start in the room that is used the most.
- You might want to start in the room that is the most visible to other people if they come to visit.
- Maybe you want to start in that area that never seems to get cleaned or organized. Everybody seems to have one “junk room” or “junk drawer” or one area where everybody seems to throw things or pile stuff. Mine is the corner near my desk. My “Achilles heel” seems to be the piles of papers that never seem to diminish or get organized. Some papers need to be filed, some put in scrapbooks, and some in the trash, while other’s need immediate attention.
- What materials will you need for cleaning?
- Put on an apron
- Spring Cleaning doesn’t need to happen just in the Spring.
Turn on Music
- Turn on upbeat music
- Alexa then plays my playlist where I programmed it to play fast-paced music, with a good house-cleaning beat.
- Music is very powerful and can affect your moods. Try different types of music depending on whether you want to relax or if you want to have more energy to clean.
- My favorite “house-cleaning” music is probably The Judds or Garth Brooks. If you don’t like Country (I just can’t imagine that), then try a little Billy
Joel, or Queen.
Set a Timer
- Set a timer. If you can only work for 10 minutes, that is okay. Set the timer to go off in 10 minutes. If you can work longer, then set it for a longer time. It is all up to you. You decide what you can do. If you can work for an hour without stopping, good for you. If you need a rest after 20 minutes, then set the timer for 20 minutes. DO WHAT YOU CAN DO!!! The important thing is to do something, even if it is only 10 minutes a day. JUST DO IT!
- I say, “Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes”. Then Alexa sets the timer for me and it goes off in 10 minutes. Then I reset it to go off in another 10 minutes. I have also set 6 timers, to begin with, so they go off every 10 minutes.
Laundry
- Laundry is never-ending, but you can stay up on it if you add it to your routine and ritual.
- Put a load of laundry in the washer, and then set your ten-minute timer
- After the 6th, ten minute timer, then put the wet clothes from the washer into the dryer.
- Put another load into the washer.
- Fold the clothes during your rest time.
- One thing I love about my Alexa is that I can tell it to set a reminder to change the laundry in one hour, and in one hour it will tell me to change the laundry.
Work Time
- Clean the area that you decided to start with.
- Work for the amount of time you can. It might only be ten minutes, and that is okay.
- You might spend the whole hour in one room or you might do 10 minutes in one room, rest, and then work 10 minutes in a different room, then rest, and then do 10 minutes in a 3rd room, and so forth.
- Another idea is to spend 10 minutes out of every hour, working on that one area that is your “Achilles’s heel”.
REST TIME
What do you do during your resting time?
- Read that novel that you’ve been wanting to read.
- Watch a Hallmark movie, (or whatever you want to watch on TV or DVD) but use the pause button after ten minutes, and come back to it.
- While you are resting, work on the piles of papers that need to be organized, or pay your bills, etc.
- Read your scriptures, magazines, or other literature.
- Fold laundry.
- Take a power nap.
- Have a snack
- Work on a puzzle, or play a video game
- Do more than one of these. The first 10 minute rest time, could be reading the novel, the next resting time could be folding laundry, and the 3rd rest time might be watching TV.
- The trick is to make sure you get back to working and not spend all your time doing these things. Setting the timer really does help.
We ordered this one from Amazon
so that we could watch it in the Trailer when we went camping
Repeat
- Depending on how much time you have, or how much energy or motivation, follow these steps for another hour and then another. It might be that you can only do an hour a day, and that is OKAY!
WAY TO GO
- You have just spent an hour (maybe a little more with the planning time) You’ve spent 30 minutes cleaning, you’ve spent 30 minutes resting. Your dishes are done. Your counters are washed off. You’ve cleaned out one cupboard. You’ve watched 10 minutes of your favorite movie. You have even read 10 minutes of a novel. You’ve spent 10 minutes paying bills. And you have started 3 loads of laundry. CONGRATULATIONS You are on your way to completing your spring cleaning–WAY TO GO!
SAMPLE
8:00 Set timer for 10 minutes. Put a load of laundry in the washer. Sit down and plan what needs to be done today.
8:10 Spend 10 minutes putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
8:20 Spend 10 minutes reading a novel.
8:30 Wash the pots and pans.
8:40 Sit down and watch 10 minutes of TV or a recording of your favorite Hallmark movie.
8:50 Clean off the counters and the table
9:00 Sit down and pay some bills.
9:10 Change the laundry and then Clean out one kitchen cupboard.
Some tasks might take more than 10 minutes, so come back to that same task after your rest time Also if you can do more than ten minutes, then do it. Maybe, Spring Clean for 50 minutes and rest for 10 minutes. Just do what you can do.
What do you think?
Please leave me a comment and let me know if any of these suggestions were helpful, or tell me things that you have found helpful in your spring cleaning.
