This week I've been in pajamas more than not. Yesterday I took a half day from work and came home to nurse a 100+ fever. Thank goodness Downton Abbey season 2 is now on Hulu. My saving grace between naps.
So as you may know, today is my work from home day. Thankfully, the fever has lifted. The Mr. and I have a family trip coming up this weekend. So as to not overextend myself and get sicker, I decided not to work out or take on my usual duties for these packed Tuesdays.
I did, however sanitize the house. Can't be spreading the sickness and give the Mr. anything before we embark on some fun travels. It got me thinking about cleaning. We are pretty good at being clean people, but even we need to remind ourselves of some easy, ongoing, habit-forming tips to help the weekly cleaning go quickly.
- clean as you go. If you're making dinner, keep up with the dishes as you make them. If you're brushing your teeth, wash the toothpaste clumps away as you rinse.
- don't touch the same thing twice. If you are taking your dish to the sink, why not rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. Put your shoes away as you walk in the door so you don't start a shoe pile. If you're rinsing out a can, put it in the recycling while you are touching it instead of leaving it in the sink for later.
- if it takes less than a minute, do it now. If you can file the mail, bundle the recycling or pack up the leftovers, do it now. This one gets me to accomplish more, really!
- if you have pets, tackle the hair regularly. We have 2 cats. Correction, my husband has 2 cats. We have 4 different kinds of vacuums just to keep the tumbleweeds at bay on the hardwood, carpets, and furniture.
- purge! The more stuff you have the more stuff you have to put away. I find things I can part with all the time. I bet most Americans, no matter where they fall on the socio-economic scale, have too much stuff anyway.
- this may not be for everyone, but I mop by hand. This way you don't just push debris around, you can actually scoop it up, and you can scrub spots with the appropriate muscle. Plus, you can do the baseboard dusting at the same time.
- this also might not work for everyone, but we squeegee our shower an dry it down when we're done with it. If I'm feeling adventurous I also wipe the soaking tub with scrubbing bubbles and a sponge when I'm done with it.
- wipe the stove down after the burners cool enough. Stoves can really get sticky and gross and it's certainly harder to scrub them if the gunk is burned on. So just wipe it up after use to save some serious scrubbing.
A silly mock-up of our living room I did a while back.
