Successful House Cleaning

Feeling overwhelmed by your house.
Want an easy way to conquer the feeling of being swallowed by your home?
Living your life your way 15 mins at a time.
My process for a tidy and clean home.

Welcome to Authentic Living with Linda
I’m Linda Codlin

Welcome, My Friends.

I hope everyone has had a restful time over this Christmas and New Year period.

Part of my household routine is to have a list of all the big and little jobs that need maintaining around our home.
These tasks have been assigned a month, this way I get to live my life my way.
In this month it is my self-assigned job to complete these tasks.

When I checked my schedule for December I found my outside area of maintenance was the out door furniture.
We have 2 heavy duty tables and 9 bench seats.
Hubby and I assembled these items from all around the section.
He waterblasted them, and I painted them. Now they look beautiful and fresh. Living life the way I want, with beauty and peace.
I get to check them off this years list, and begin preparing for January’s maintenance outside area, which is to waterblast and paint the exterior section fence palings.
This will be a full on job, we live on a corner section and have wooden palings on three sides.
I’ve already begun planning where to begin and how many palings need to be painted every day.

What I want to talk about today is setting yourself up for success in the coming year.
A bit of my back story.
When I first married, I was one of the most disorganised women around.
I couldn’t keep up with the dishes, and there was only the two us. Washing was a huge hassle that got left until it had to be done.
Basically I was super unorganised, and unhappy about living in a mess.
Then add a child a year for 4 years and the mess compounded.
Nappies, bedding, dishes, sweeping. Oh I feel overwhelmed just thinking about how life was back then.
I began studying how to organise and how to tidy and clean.
As the years progressed I became better at organising children, and things.
I found short cuts and routines. I do have to admit, I was not at peace with myself, so this was hugely stressful trying to control and orchestrate a young family.
I also chose to educate my children at home, to compound the mess situation.

Over the years I have tried many ways to organise myself.
The system I found that works best for me is a take off of “flylady.net’ her system taught me to let go of perfectionism.
Now I do house cleaning in 15-30 min increments.
I am a list writer, I used to have lists everywhere, now my lists are in one place.
Each list is given a title.
For example: Household- Room by Room Cleaning.
Each room in my home is listed separately. For example: Master Bedroom
Under each room title I list everything in that room. As I walk through the particular room in my home, I note the things in the room. The basics like ceiling, walls (1,2,3,4) door, windows (1,2)
Wardrobes (1,2), dressers (1,2), etc, then I list each item of furniture as a unit, then I number the draws or selves or baskets etc. Example: Hubby’s Bedside Cabinet: Drawers (1,2,3) Top, Sides, Back.
Moving around the room I will list each big item. Then I’ll note the pictures, the mirrors, the posters etc on the walls.
This gives me the structure on how I will begin to clean this room.
Each room will have different categories that will be relevant to the room.
As I’m walking through listing these items, I note if they need repairing, if a coat of paint would make this item more beautiful. Whether the item is still useful in it’s current position, or whether it would be better placed somewhere else.
Sometimes an item is no longer serving a useful purpose and may need to be rehomed. This is noted down.

When I began this process I went through only the room I was planning on working on.
This may feel overwhelming to you initially if you try to do too much at once. Keep it small and simple.
You are setting yourself up for success. Do this listing once and do it well. It will set you up for the next time you clean this space.

Once you have your room list, with all the furniture listed, all the drawers and shelves numbered, all fixed items noted, and accessories listed.

The time has come to begin.
I set my timer for 15 mins. I use flylady’s motto of “you can do anything FOR 15 mins.” Please note: I’m not saying in 15 mins. You do not have to finish the entire job, you work on one small area, shelf, draw FOR 15 mins then you stop.
I will clear off the top of one dresser, wipe the dresser top, then replace only the items on the dresser that belong there. Each item will be wiped down.
For example: Hubby’s bedside cabinet has 3 drawers, I ignore those as I’m only working on the top. I’ll put everything on the bed, wipe the top of the cabinet. The alarm needs to go back, so that gets wiped, the bedside lamp needs to go back, so that gets wiped, the book he’s currently reading needs to go back, so that gets wiped.
Everything else gets put away. Even if it’s the place it is going to is not tidy yet. For example: His hat goes in the hat basket. Even though I haven’t tidied that yet.

When the timer goes off, I stop. I put the unfinished things in a basket. Of which I have three. One for items that don’t have a home yet. One for items that need to be thrown out. (Wrappers, empty containers, papers etc.) One for items that are to be rehomed. (And maybe a catch-all basket for incomplete tasks)

Then I walk away feeling great.
Tomorrow I do the process again with the next item on the list, or I complete the task from the previous day. Moving through the list, ticking off items done one by one.
For example the next day I’ll set the timer for 15 mins then do the same bedside cabinet, starting with draw number 1. (Because I completed the top yesterday.) Everything gets taken out and put on the bed. The bottom, back, sides and front of the draw gets wiped out. Then each item is evaluated for it’s relevance for the room you’re working in.
BE gentle with yourself if this is the first time you’re doing this.
You are setting yourself up for success in having an easy to manage home. You are choosing to live your life your way.

Little by little your room will take shape.
When you have completed one area, you can take a picture to remind yourself of how you want it to look, and attach this to your master room list.

I have been doing this system for years now, and our home is nearly always tidy and organised.
I also now have a master list of each room, so I don’t have to redo the initial list making. (Although I do note any repairs that need to happen for this room.)
In our home I have assigned each room a month of the year.
This way my home is kept clean. I know that a certain room will be deep cleaned at least once per year.
It also prevents clutter from building up, because I try to keep the completed room to a certain standard of neatness.

My challenge for you is to choose a room that stresses you out the most, and begin to write your list. Put your timer on for 15 mins and list every thing in the room. When the timer goes off, stop. Then do another 15 mins the next day, and so on until you have completed your list.
Then begin in the easiest part of the room, 15 mins at a time, clear, clean and replace what you want to live in this space. Live your life your way.
Reminder, only take apart what you think you can restore in 15 mins. Do one shelf at a time, one draw, or one surface at a time. (This reduces overwhelm.)
And use the motto, “I can do anything FOR 15 mins.
Prove to yourself that you can do one small tidying area for 15 mins, and be surprised at how much can be accomplished in a small time frame, when it is consistently applied.

Until next time my friends,
Have a wonderfully productive week. Rest and restore your energy and vitality as you go about living your life your way.

oxox Linda

As a certified Life Coach, I help you to help yourself, so you can create a well lived life your way. 

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