15 minutes cleaning a day???

[Kitcameron]

Do I remember something about how to clean your house 15 minutes at a time from several years ago? I vaguely remember it from when I first joined ish, so around March 2013 I guess, and at the time I had quite enough to be thinking about trying to get my head around having a small child that needed real food etc. 3 years on I think I'm just about ready to start tackling the house (ok I haven't really left it four years or so since I last did any cleaning but the house isn't looking it's best let's say)

Anyone any ideas? It was based in someone's theory/teaching, not a forumite I mean a real person lol. I need a timetable lol.

[emzit]

Was it the fly lady or something like that? I don't know if that's the right name or if it's her theory but I think I remember the thread you mean and fly lady rings a bell. Was there something about always having a clean sink?

[emzit]

This one I think!

[StJuniper]

I've fallen off the hat since Tumbleweed was born, but before that I lived by Flylady, and plan to again when things calm down a little. I found her website a beast to navigate, so (shameless self-promotion) I made a summary blog post with spreadsheets: https://junipercuttings.wordpress.com/2 ... e-flylady/

The most useful part for me is the Zone Cleaning rotation. I generally keep things tidy because clutter drives me crazy, but with the Zone Cleaning rotation, everything was clean as well as tidy, with quite minimal effort.

[Kitcameron]

That's just what I need, thanks StJ. Although how on earth do you get enough sleep going to bed at 11pm. I've been going to bed at 9pm and still knackered.

[StJuniper]

That post was written in a lifetime where the boys slept reliably 7-7 and I had no newborn. These days, they often wake between 6:15 and 6:45 and I'm up several times nursing at night. I mean, I still have trouble getting to bed before 11, I'm just more tired than I used to be...

[ches]

StJ, your schedule makes me want to cry. I know you love schedules, but honestly, I'd die if I had to live by the clock like that. Where's the "It's a fantastic day, sod the house, let's go spend 7 hours at the park?"

[Kitcameron]

haha, there is that too.

I'm just sitting down to try and write my own but I'm afraid it won't be as organised as that quite.

[StJuniper]

Ches-- well, the thing about a schedule is, it's inanimate. It doesn't scream at you if you tuck in a drawer and ignore it for the day. But, I don't know, honestly I find it easier to do fun things if I feel on top of my life. For example, one thing that's really important to me is having empty evenings. When I can finish the dishes in the evening and look around my house and say, "Now I can do whatever I want," without feeling like I'm dropping the ball or ignoring responsibilities to do that, that's really relaxing for me, and having a few hours at the end of the day to just pursue my hobbies or hang out with my husband makes me much better able to tackle the work of engaging with high-energy small people the next day. Also, scheduling in times of work and times where I'm supposed to be relaxing/reading to my kids/getting some fresh air means I'm more likely to guard the boundaries of them-- when I have no strategy for staying on top of the housework, I spoil a lot of playtimes by trying to multitask. A lot of this is driven by the fact that I personally find having a messy house affects my mood-- I feel so much more at peace and relaxed when my space is clean and beautiful. So I'm just a happier, more effective human being when I have a detailed strategy to keep it that way!

[ches]

I feel like this is a less studied introvert/extrovert type thing.

[StJuniper]

Why, which are you? I feel like I'm an ambivert, myself...

[Treeb]

Myers-Brigg personality types (which includes designation for introvert or extrovert) would probably be more descriptive.

I tend to be very firm about when meal times and sleep times are and otherwise completely unable to create/follow a schedule. We kind of just drift through the day doing whatever seems right at the time. I'm pretty terrible at keeping the house clean too, though I'd like to think that has more to do with lack of sleep and a very clingy baby.

[mamapup]

We have a cleaner. I am convinced my time is more valuable than the little money we have to fork out every week for someone else to keep us in check!

[ches]

I am INTP, but, of those four, only I is (VERY) strongly so. The rest are so middle of the road that I sometimes come out as ISFJ on internet tests.

I second a cleaner, but probably easier to justify when I work full-time. That being said, I'm skiving this afternoon to THINK about packing some of our stuff away, but I'll probably take J to the library to get library cards. Or the pool (it's 105 F).

[StJuniper]

I come out as ENTJ, but am only just extroverted, and the rest are very strong for me. My mum loaned me her cleaner for the first two months of Tunbleweed's life and I'm keenly feeling the lack now...