Frankly, because life happens.
We get caught up in our day to day existence leaving us with little time or bandwidth to deal with our surroundings. I can totally relate. Household chores are endless.
Do you keep your windows open? The upside, fresh air is invigorating. The downside, dust and pollen coat the furniture. Even in the dead of winter, with the house sealed shut, the dust bunnies refuse to hibernate. By the time you finish dusting one room and move to another, it’s time to backtrack again. Relentless.
Then there’s the laundry and dishes. They pile up rather quickly and annoyingly. We’re not going to stop wearing clothes (nudity is a bit rough in temps below 70s and wintry drizzle). I have taken to rewearing my pants several times before laundering unless stained or too ripe for one more appearance, but the baskets still fill fast.
Eating cessation to stave off kitchen messes is probably not the best idea if you’re prone to hypoglycemic episodes (low blood sugar headaches, mood raging, and brain fog), or if you need energy to get through your day. Eating out for every meal will chomp away at your budget and likely tick up unwanted pounds.
Then there’s clutter. It insidiously accumulates leaving our spaces in unsightly and sometimes danger filled battlefields.
Image by Alison Krejci from Pixabay
It’s no wonder women sought shelter in “Mother’s Little Helper,” a song and lyrics made famous by the Rolling Stones in 1966 referencing the reliance on Miltown pills for anxiousness and unhappiness. “Miltown hit America in 1954. By 1957, doctors had written 36 million prescriptions for it. At the height of its popularity, one out of every three prescriptions called for this drug”**. Holy cow, that was a lot of prescriptions and a lot of perceived need.
Our homes and lifestyles can drive us to the cliff, but are there ways to pave the road for smoother transit and create a detour away from the cliff? Here are some ideas to get you started and keep the motor purring.
Home maintenance is truly an on-going affair. The question then becomes how to stay on top of it without driving yourself batty? Turn the battlefield into a manageable game plan. The less chaos, the faster the victory.
Now, keep in mind, these tips are coming from a recovering (note: not past tense) perfectionista so use at your own risk and know that I’m working on lowering my own expectations to facilitate lower stress levels.
We spend beaucoup bucks on our homes or apartments, so in turn, they should support us via:
Peak Function
This includes safety. That is unimpeded pathways so no sprained ankles and no towering piles that could tumble and cause injury.
Areas conducive to expeditious chore and/or work assignment completion
Relaxation
Clear sofas, chairs and beds for comfy places to sack out
Comfort for Others
Inviting atmosphere for family members and guests
That’s the destination, what’s the roadmap?
Make the cleanliness level determination
How clean does your home need to be on any given day? Keeping it neat daily makes cleaning easier especially when preparing for events. Clutter slows you down, inhibits space use, and can make family members and guests feel uncomfortable.
If you’re planning a day or week lounging with the kids and no guests on tap, then give yourself a pass if your calendar is already bursting. Drop one room from your weekly housekeeping or however often you clean. Then the next time, target that room first, and drop a different room. Rotating could save several minutes off your chore list. After playtime, set aside 15-20 minutes before bedtime for kids to help clean up or during the day, break for 15 minutes for them to straighten their rooms, dust, or vacuum then regroup and take another chore break later. More about this below.
Expecting guests? Well, that may call for a different set of standards. If the guests are frequent visitors vs your spouse’s boss, then the tasks may be modified.
Don’t panic, just get to work in the main areas where guests will gather or use.
Here are some additional quick tips for prepping your home for guests
Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
2. Create inviting spaces QUICKLY: Focus on 3 triage areas—Pathways to Seating, Bathroom, & Kitchen
Pathways to Seating:
Pick up toys, excess shoes, newspapers, magazines from the floor for a safe, decluttered, aesthetically pleasing look.
Clear off all sofas, and chairs so everyone has a place to sit.
Use decorative bins to toss in odds and ends until you have time to properly tidy. Bins saved my rear on numerous occasions when our houses were on the market. The realtor calls with prospective buyers on the way. Time to jump into action. My kids were small, toys and books were scattered. We’d toss them in the bins and flee.
Place action items such as bills and work assignments inside your laptop to address later and not be lost or forgotten.
Bathroom:
Clean bathrooms for me are #1 priority targets. Have you ever been somewhere you feared for your health and safety by using the facilities? I want my guests to feel comfortable in my home, not fear quarantineable diseases. Clean potties are a must.
Scrub the toilet in the bathroom where guests will head (pun intended).
Wipe down the sink, faucet, and countertop.
If the mirror is smudgy, grab your glass cleaning cloth for a rapid touch up.
Do towels need freshening? Either launder or grab an extra set for their use.
Vacuum and mop if the floors are hair-coated or grimy
Kitchen:
No one wants to be grossed out while eating, so kitchen cleanliness is vital.
Wipe down counters and table top. Save cabinet and fridge interior scouring for spring cleaning or when you have more time.
Vacuum, (wet mop if floors are sticky or grimy) Spend a few minutes touching up guest bedrooms if they’re staying overnight.
If you have a dishwasher, use it. Avoid dishes piling up in the sink or on the counters to make quicker work of straightening and cleaning.
3. Tap into family members
Call for reinforcements to speed up the process and keep you focused. Extra hands and ears may be more fun, yet don’t get distracted by witty conversations.
Image by Andrew Lloyd Gordon from Pixabay
Ask your partner or friend for a hand. A less cranky you might be a welcome payoff. Assistance might even be getting the kiddos out of your hair, if they’re too young to assist, or running interference such as grocery shopping so you can focus on the house. Gift your helper with a future lunch, coffee, or flowers (your honey might like that too).
Even tykes can handle age appropriate household chores. Not only will simple tasks help them build skills, confidence, accountability, and independence, it will take some of the burden off your plate. Tie chore completion with a reward system. Use a chore chart like the one illustrated.
What are age appropriate chores for younger ones? Sorting laundry, pulling clothes out of the dryer; folding clothes; placing shirts on hangers; unloading child-safe plates, utensils, pots & pans from the dishwasher; wiping counters; locating recipe items; measuring and mixing ingredients; picking up toys. These are all tasks that very young children can handle either with supervision or eventually solo.
No one around, need extra support? Put in your ear buds, call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and catch up while you knock out some mundane to-dos that don’t require concentration.
Camouflage dirt with mottled patterned surfaces or colors that are not too dark or too light
One last secret to being ready in a pinch is to camouflage dirt. This may not help you now, but in the future, if you consider a remodel, think about countertops and floors that mask dirt. Think not too light or too dark for surfaces or mottled patterns. Going camo allows any ick to blend in if you have no time for scrubbing and scouring. Just remember if your guests are seated, countertops at eye level will reveal all the crumbs.
The bottom line is to make life easier for yourself. Adjusting expectations to fit the circumstances will help with your sensibilities, and keeping on top of things by using techniques such as OHIO (only handle it once) will make better use of time. Put things away immediately after use or if you have no time to run it upstairs or down, then place the item safely en route to its proper destination so the next time you head that direction, it’s in your hands and on the way to it’s home.
Use these tips to turn your battlefield into your field of dreams.
*This Is The Drug In The Rolling Stones' Song "Mother's Little Helper" by Esther Inglis-Arkell featured in Gizmodo.com.
