create a cleaning schedule

I’ve been doing my own version of flylady. I’ve decided that I really need to form a habit, REALLY get it to take hold, before I can add too many more.

So I’ve started a control journal with just some basics: making my bed in the morning, checking my journal at lunch, taking care of the mail after work, and making sure the kitchen sink is cleared of dishes before bed.

The sink has been empty for over a week now, and I LOVE that. That has been one of my biggest issues with housework. Hubby has been helping, and that is also a big bonus.

I’ve been trying to add one task at a time to my routine. I’ve been doing really well with making the bed every morning. I’m currently working on getting in the habit of wiping down the bathroom sink before I go to bed at night.

I actually sat down last night and started this. I’ve decided that I’m going to build a control journal, much like those on http://www.flylady.net, but I’m going to tailor it to me.

Instead of starting with a shiny sink, my first goal is to make the bed everyday. I’m awful at making the bed, but it makes the bedroom look so much nicer. From there, I’m going to start some new routines, like shining the bathroom sink. The kitchen sink drives me nuts, but is too overwhelming and in DH’s territory.

I’d like to add some things I’ve been lax about, like a weekly vaccuuming, but I’m going to do baby steps for a while. I’m popping onto flylady.net for ideas, but I don’t like the massive amounts of e-mail. They are just too easy to ignore. Maybe I’ll just have to start visiting the site daily.

The next time I see 2006 calendars on sale (they’ve got to be pennies by now) I’m going to get one, and sit down and start working on this. I need a good wall calendar, maybe something with motivating sayings. And something I can hang in a conspicuous place, like the frig, or my closet door.

But I’ve set my e-mail at work to remind me once a day to take five minutes to straighten out my desk. It gets to be a total mess, and I think starting small may be the way to get my whole thing jump-started.

Not sure if I’ll do everying she says (I think cleaning my sink is overrated)

But it’s a start

Getting and keeping my space clean has always been a hassle. I don’t have a routine, and I don’t like that nothing gets done.

So I’m going to sit down sometime soon and actually create a cleaning schedule. Put things I hate (like ironing) on once a month. And other things that need to be done more often on it once a week or so. Maybe I can add things like auto maintenance to it too.

Goodness knows something needs to be done!