Work out a cleaning schedule for the rest of 2009 and stick to it!

I’m retiring this a week early; I’m calling it done in spite of the rather thin nature of the results, because the biggest part of it has been accomplished – I’ve worked out a way to record how long I go between certain tasks, so I don’t go 6 weeks on the same sheets (yuck!) and I clean the tub more than once a year. The big thing is a small thing – just write it down.

The idea of having a set weekly schedule leaves me pretty cold, though. I won’t be trying that again, because I know it doesn’t suit my personality.

I vacuumed downstairs (since it’s the alternate Friday) and I also washed my sheets today, so my moon jobs are done.

I cleaned the bathroom, as it is Wednesday, and I cleaned out the catbox, since this is the week of the full moon (Sunday is the Harvest Moon, in case you were wondering). I can’t do my sheets until later in the weekend, but that’s fine. Vacuuming, I’m waiting for machine parts.

Progress.

So, I’ve been trying to come up with ways to keep myself on a schedule that feels natural and ingrained, rather than stamped upon my life like a bad tattoo that you’re always trying to keep covered.

To that end, I’m going to try some loose goals to the effect of, “Do such and such thing pretty close to the New and Full Moons” like clean out the litter box, wash the sheets, clean out the car – check, not yet, and it’s raining, so not yet on that either.

Other chores lend themselves well to weekly doing, like grandma’s laundry and pills and my bathroom and such. More on those later.

So, I’ve got a rought schedule of chores and tasks written down for the end of 2009, with most of them being weekly, though some are not. It’s not a huge list; I’ve got clean the sheets and replace the cat litter and vaccuum upstairs and vacuum downstairs and clean out the car and things like that. Most deep cleaning I do will be as I feel it’s needed and when I get the urge.

I really hope to get these things so habitual that I don’t even feel like I’m doing work. Having the cat box be a daily habit made it a lot easier, so maybe it will prove out for other things. I will get started when I return from my trip.