Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 4

This post is going to be more detailed and less of an overview.

Here are the topics I'm going to cover in this post:

• Start at the beginning, and finish fully
• Cleaning before company
• Practice makes progress
• Cleaning schedules
• Convictions on keeping a clean home

So, without further introduction, I'll dig right in with my first topic: Start at the beginning, and finish fully. 

This topic was first introduced to me by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth George. She delves into the depths of this in her Proverbs 31 Bible Study.

Basically, it's the idea of not only starting something with every intention to finish it, but to finish whatever it is you're endeavoring to do completely and with finality.

For example, if you walk into a common area of your home, and discover a mess - how do you deal with that? I addressed some of that topic yesterday in my post about how to get started. But now, we're going to look at getting through it and finishing - fully. What's involved in that mess in your common area? Whether it's your front entry way, dining room table, or some other surface, it's not just stuff. Really think about this! Ask yourself some questions before you start:

Items out of place that need to be put away!

Lots out of place, but easy to fix if I do it right the first time!

• What is out of place?
• Why are these items out of place? (I.e., what is it that makes you think of this?)
• What needs to happen to put the mess away, clean it up, throw it away, etc.? 
• Is there anything here I don't need to keep?
• Is this a top priority?

There is no order, really, to those questions. But once you ask yourself all of those questions (like reading a recipe all the way through before you start baking or cooking),  it's time to get moving. Ignore the phone, the computer, and any other distractions! Just dig in. Your motto should never be "I do it nice because I do it twice."

The way I usually tackle a project like this is to first determine what can be tossed - whether that's recycle or garbage. Just take care of it. Do it fast, and do it now! This does a couple of things that I find very important when you're cleaning: gets rid of stuff you don't have to sort later, and if that's the only thing you get done, you'll never have to do it again!

Which brings me to a slight rabbit trail - what do I mean by "if that's the only thing you get done?" Well, let's say unexpected company drops by. It happens! Worse than that, let's say you're expecting company, and you've got stuff to get done. If someone shows up early, you're done. Stop what you're doing, and turn your focus to your guest. No matter what stage you are at your cleaning.

And that is a nice segue to my next point: cleaning before company. To be blunt, don't do it. Period. There's never really a reason for it! Now, please don't misunderstand me; there is a difference between picking up or wiping off a counter and actually cleaning. 

I believe cleaning is scrubbing toilets, cleaning floors, vacuuming, etc. But minimal picking up, tossing out, and simple straightening up tasks - those are fine to do before company comes over. Just remember - your home does not need to perfect. Ever. I struggle with this daily! It's not about being perfect. "Practice makes progress," as Michelle Duggar says. If there's no room for improvement, there's a problem.

Precisely what I'm going to focus on next. Practice does not make perfect. But any positive reading or information you do about good habit-formation and changing how you do things will reflect that it takes 30 days to form a habit. 30 days. That's not breaking it for 30 entire days, but sticking with it! (Hence, my goal to do specific Bible reading every day for a month!) Pick one or two things to focus on for 30 days, and just go. You won't be sorry. It might be humbling, but that's okay. Humble attitudes = room for growth.

To talk about my next point - cleaning schedules - is a bit tricky. Some of my readers, friends, and family think this is a silly notion. Some think it's a necessity. For me, I could never make things happen around our house without a cleaning schedule!

If you've never made one before, do not overwhelm yourself! It's not meant to be difficult! I simply use a few household chores on my schedule: vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning floors. That's it. Maybe your chores look different, but that's the stuff that I need to be done on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I chose a few, put them on a schedule that repeats itself every week or every other week.You choose how often you need to do the chores, and then get them written down. Keep yourself accountable. Ask your family to help you remember your schedule by posting it somewhere in a common area of your home. If I don't have a laundry day (or days), or a vacuuming day (or days), those things don't get done. It seems odd to have me say that, I'm sure, but it's true. I have to have my schedule. I'm a structure-thriving person.

Here are some of the tools I use to get the jobs done efficiently:


For dusting:





 

For vacuuming: (I'm not sure if this is the exact Roomba that we have, but it's close!)


We don't use the Roomba for everything; just spot-cleaning a couple times a week. 

For hard-to-get areas, walls, doors and light switches:


And finally, convictions on keeping a clean home. This is something that you have to decide on for yourself. Ladies, ask your husbands what their priorities are. My husband truly doesn't care, but he likes a clean home. He's come to expect it, and rightfully so. It's not a demand; it's an expectation he has based on my convictions regarding how I keep the home. For those young ladies who aren't married, maybe you could ask your moms, aunts, grandmas, friends and other family (these women should be older than you, and who have been on their own for at least a couple of years), what they do to keep their homes nice. Job-shadow them a bit! Ladies who are in a position to allow for a job-shadow? Please do it! There's no better investment you could make than in the life of a young woman!


My convictions begin and end with how I feel about my home. If things are out of place, I'm not comfortable. But that's just me. That's not my husband, my friends or even my family. I'm not critical of other peoples' homes; just my own. Again, this is a daily struggle that I have to overcome. Trust me; I don't like my perfectionist qualities. But it's part of what makes me who I am. So, I just have to deal with it. Figure out what works for you and go with it.

A picture of my office when it was clean...once upon a time!

I encourage all of you to pray about your convictions regarding your homes and keeping them clean, talk to your husbands (ladies), and if you're not married, you can still put a lot of this into practice!

Again, please stay tuned for more in this series! My lists are still yet to be posted, and I'm excited to share them with you all. :)