Yeah, I’ll avoid doing it until it has piled up and I have hours worth of crap I should do. Then, there is too much and I don’t do it because I don’t “have time” or have “the energy” to do so much.
No, I’m not here to whine about it! Yes, the above might be a little bit of a dramatization.
So today is the first day in a new strategy. The key word is frequency. Lower the intensity, train for effort, not for tasks. Okay, in english, I’m going to put ten minutes into cleaning, working on or organizing something, anything, every day. Whatever happens to strike me as needing work at that time.
If anyone who lives on their own or is otherwise responsible for most of the cleaning and housework duties has any strategies or advice on making this stuff less daunting (i.e. more “enjoyable”) please trot them out for everyone to see.
I pick a day in the week for each chore. Monday water plants, Wednesday laundry. Friday dishes. Saturday morning bathroom. It takes about an hour each and then I’m done. I stick to the schedual like I would a workout schedual, practice turns into habit.
[quote]Thai Fighter wrote:
Rockscar wrote:
pookie wrote:
Get a wife.
Ohh…Mr. 1948.
Equall load on the chores should be expected, or no nookie pookie.
If I wanted to clean my own house I wouldn’t have gotten married. This is my standard line when she asks me to do house work.
My wife also complains we don’t have a dishwasher. I tell her, “No, you don’t have a dishwasher, I do.”
Put a shovel in her hands and the dishwasher immediately transforms into a slowblower. The technology is unreal.
Of course I’m joking, but it makes for some playful banter.[/quote]
When our dishwasher broke it took my husband forever to get a new one. I went on strike. I told him I was no longer going to do the dishes until he installed a new one. I had a new dishwasher that night.
I hate cleaning too. My housekeeper just quit. She is leaving her husband and moving to NJ. It sucks looking for a new one. She only comes every other week but damn I will miss her.
Here’s a tip: Don’t go for “instinctual cleaning.” Create a cleaning schedule, so you know where you’re going to direct that 10 minutes of cleaning every day. To-do lists can help focus you and get the job done.
My mom swears by the books and products of this dude named Don Aslett. It did help her learn techniques for keeping an old farmhouse with 2 dogs and 7 kids in line.
The main thing is to get rid of as much clutter as possible first. Clean organized shelves and closets and all that sort of thing are what you want. It’s much easier to run the vacuum around if you’re not picking things up.
Once things are clutter free, like someone else suggested, be anal for a bit and make a list of chores that need to be done:
M - vacuum(or sweep), dust T - clean bathroom, litterbox, laundry W - vacuum, dust, mop Th - declutter anything that may have piled up, do special chores like cleaning the fridge F - clean bathroom, litterbox, laundry if needed S - vacuum, dust Sun - bathroom, windows, litterbox
Other things like dishes should be done as they are used. Don’t pile things up, instead take the 3 minutes to wash and rinse then put them away after they have dried and while prepping the next meal.
When you get mail, don’t leave things lying around. Organize an area for bills and things that need replies and file them after they are taken care of.
Make an effort to leave things like shoes, keys, or wallet in the same place every time you come home so you don’t have to search for things. If you have clothes or other items that you don’t use, don’t be afraid to box them up and store them somewhere until their season comes around again.
Once you get on top of things it will take you less than 20 minutes to do your chores every day and you’ll end up with a clean and organized home.
[quote]vroom wrote:
If anyone who lives on their own or is otherwise responsible for most of the cleaning and housework duties has any strategies or advice on making this stuff less daunting (i.e. more “enjoyable”) please trot them out for everyone to see.[/quote]
Learn to enjoy being responsible and self-disciplined
[quote]cvb wrote:
Thai Fighter wrote:
Rockscar wrote:
pookie wrote:
Get a wife.
Ohh…Mr. 1948.
Equall load on the chores should be expected, or no nookie pookie.
If I wanted to clean my own house I wouldn’t have gotten married. This is my standard line when she asks me to do house work.
My wife also complains we don’t have a dishwasher. I tell her, “No, you don’t have a dishwasher, I do.”
Put a shovel in her hands and the dishwasher immediately transforms into a slowblower. The technology is unreal.
Of course I’m joking, but it makes for some playful banter.
When our dishwasher broke it took my husband forever to get a new one. I went on strike. I told him I was no longer going to do the dishes until he installed a new one. I had a new dishwasher that night.
I hate cleaning too. My housekeeper just quit. She is leaving her husband and moving to NJ. It sucks looking for a new one. She only comes every other week but damn I will miss her.[/quote]
I would have gone and bought paper plates, which is what we use most of the time anyway. Yeah, we’re classy.
But what’s hard about laundry? You just load your clothes and let the machine to the work. I guess it’s only a problem if you’re in a situation where you have wait in the laundry room or laundromat, but that’s why books were invented.
I have cups and plates and empty cans all over my room. I’d throw it all out, but I have a tiny garbage can so I’d just end up taking out the trash more frequently, which is a pain. I also don’t actually fold my laundry…I throw it on my bed, then when I need to use the bed I throw the clothes on a chair. When I need to sit, the clothes go back on my bed. It’s actually pretty convenient.
My plan sounds alot like the one Sic’s mom used, apparently. Flylady.net
DO NOT get overwhelmed w/ the excessive organization on the site - just go with this list and do what’s necessary in your house. (I don’t typically need to write thank you notes, for instance, so I don’t.)
2 manly options for doing dishes (other than a subservient mail order bride).
OPtion 1. Lots of paper plates and cups.
Option2. Make sure everything, pots, dishes, cup, cutlery is stainless steel. Lay dirty dishes in driveway. Fire up the pressure washer. Picking up can be done with a large electro magnet.
Hope this helps,
BigUrukhai
PS Small portable aircompressors are fantastic for dusting.
