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Cleaning house, while necessary for all, is a very personal issue. Don't worry about other people's standards. Decide what "clean" means to you and keep house accordingly. Above all, use your time effectively. Here's how...
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Two-Timing
Make double use of your time - straighten the coat closet while waiting for the car pool; clean kitchen counters while talking on the telephone.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Delegate
Teach your kids how to fold laundry, vacuum, dust, unload the dishwasher, make their beds and prepare their breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Enlist teens to help with big jobs like washing windows and floors and cleaning cabinets and woodwork.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Set Time Limits
You can accomplish quite a bit in several 10- or 20-minute periods. Keep your cleaning schedule flexible so you can change it if something unexpected comes up. Do what you can when you can.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Establish Priorities
Identify which tasks absolutely have to be done, which ones should be done and which ones would be nice to get done. Work on them in that order and forget about all others.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Finish Tasks
Complete one project before you start another.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Spill Savvy
Wipe up spills as soon as possible. The sooner you clean up, the easier it is to remove stains completely.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
A Family Affair
Set aside at least two hours once or twice a week for cleaning. Write down all necessary tasks on slips of paper and put them in bowl according to difficulty. Every family member chooses from the appropriate bowl. Enforce the rule that everyone helps with some cleaning task during that time.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
Minimize Spring-Cleaning
Clean as needed. Systematic, regular cleaning minimizes the need for heavy-duty seasonal cleaning
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
You can keep your house cleaner by preventing outdoor dirt from getting in. Use doormats and boot scrapers. As needed, sweep sidewalks, steps and stairwells leading to your home.
If you have the space, set up a mudroom, where wet and soiled clothing and boots can be removed and stored.
Cleaning Routine for Busy People
To reduce airborne dust, regularly vacuum registers and radiators. Change the filters in your air conditioners and furnace, following the manufacturer's instructions. If you have severe allergies, hire a professional yearly to clean heating and ventilation ducts to reduce dust and molds.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: A Cleaning Routine for Busy Women
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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)
I use thr 15 minute a night rule. We both work. I commute so my days are sometimes 10 to 12 hours. My first goal is to have the kitchen sink clean...that's it. I make it a game. If I can get more done in 15 minutes, I do it. Sometimes the momentum of the 15 minutes get's me going and I do more. If not, I just do 15 minutes with a goal of a clean sink. Most nights, the kitchen looks good when I go to bed and I feel better. Like the article said, you have to determine your own standards.
ReplyThe only other thing I do differently is to use a headset while talking on the phone and cleaning or cooking. Makes life so much easier and no neck pain!
Replythis is the most stupid article ever. seriously, my 4 yr old could have written this!!!
ReplyLEAVING HERE IN AMERICA DOES TAKE A LOT OF WORK. IF YOU ARE NOT RICH AND HAVE MAIDS YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.
ReplyWE DON'T JUST DEAL WITH LOOOZER BOSS AND CO-WORKERS WE ALSO DO OUR LAUNDRY, CLEAN HOUSE, TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN, PAY OUR BILLS, ETC. ETC. ETC.
WE HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF RESPONSIBILITIES...
This is all too stupid.My son is special needs.Being a single parent is hard.Ill clean the house when I'm damn good and ready..LOL
ReplyMy son recently had a stroke and spent 3 weeks in the hospital..
DW...
ReplyNOW THATS NOT SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT YOUR WIFE MULTI-TASKING WHILE HAVING SEX...
I'm absolutely certain that the readers gathered in protest when you ran this 1950s filler article last month. I thought it was determined that talking down to your readers was just bad form. Furthermore, very little of this can even be applied to any kind of modern lifestyle.
ReplyPlease stop posting the blithering garbage. Is there no actual news to report?
Know what the worst part of this article is???? Someone actually got PAID to write this drivel.....
ReplyWhy is it always assumed the woman (in a two-person household) should be the one to handle all (or the majority) of the work in the house? If both people in a couple are working, why doesn't the male half of the couple take some responsibility? It sounds funny to me for the wife/mother to teach the kids to help but all the pictures showed only women doing the work. Teach the kids and the husband or s/o to help. That cuts down even more on time spent cleaning - for EVERYONE!
ReplyWell, this article didn't tell me anything new... for years I was a single mom with 2 kids, 2 jobs, and a 10 room house. Let's not forget to add, 1 dog, 2 cats, 2 birds, and an aquarium, and a 1/4 acre to tend. I juggled it all like most single parents - you just do the best you can. The best advise this article gave was to set priorities, and multi-task. The rest of it I found simplistic and might work on some sitcom.
ReplyDid the person who wrote this even have kids??? C'mon - I bet you most single parents can tell you, most of their bonding time with small kids is in the bathroom; While they splash and you clean. Or even when older, while you're brushing your teeth,or doing your makeup and hair. I use to always 'spruce up' the bathroom, when ever I used it - wiped out the sink, and wiped off the facilities, tossed towels in the hamper, etc. It kept it from becoming too much of a mess.
Even 2 year olds can help out, when it comes to picking up and straightening things, under supervision. Plus it provides excellent 'talking time'. At the age of 3, my girl was pairing socks and folding them for me, while her brother and I folded larger items.
You can even let them help out preparing a meal and cleaning up afterwards, if you use your common sense.
I had to laugh when I read about kids loading the dishwasher in one comment - we didn't have one. I'd wash, my oldest would dry. The youngest was given a towel and any plastic bowels or spoons to dry. Of course sometimes they had to be redone, but she learned.
I just wish this article had offered more practicle advise.
R U SERIOUS? WAS THAT THE COMPLETE IDIOTS OF ALL IDIOTS GUIDE TO COMMON SENSE THINGS WE ALL DO EVERYDAY?? WIPE UP A SPILL AS SOON AS YOU SPILL IT?? NO WAY! WOW i THOUGHT I SHOULD WAIT TILL IT GETS MOLDY AND NASTY THEN CLEAN IT UP AFTER ABOUT A WEEK......WAT NUMB NUTT WROTE THIS?
ReplyWIPE THE COUNTER WHILE ON THE PHONE--WHERE YOU BEEN PAL..US MOTHERS DO 5 THINGS WHILE TALKING ON THE PHONE-COOK A COMPLETE DINNER,SERVE IT,FOLD 2 LOADS A LAUNDRY,SWEEP AND WASH FLOORS,WASH THE KIDS AND THEN SOME...........YOU R NOT SERIOUS...WHO ALLOWED THIS TO BE PUBLISHED.
CAN I BE YOUR WRITER FOR YOUR WEB PAGE PLEASE?
I know where she got her information from the hour of power. they had written a book women are like spaghetti. They can wash
Replydishes, talk on the phone, cradle in one arm and push another
baby with her foot. I guess that means men are meat balls or
matzo balls. LOL