Expert: Jamie Novak - 1/30/2007

Question
Hello Jamie!
I have 2 kids (a 9 yr old with cerebral palsy and a 3 yr old) 2 dogs, 3 fish tanks, and a not too big, yet not too small home. When everyone is out of the house, I want to do nothing! This is where I call myself a "bounce around cleaner".  I tend to sweep the kitchen, then empty all the bathroom trash cans, then maybe dust the shelves in the living room, then make the childrens beds, then get caught up in a TV show, make a pit stop to the fridge, then maybe vacuum... All of a sudden, it's time to get the kids.  I want to somehow be organized in my cleaning routine so I'm not doing it all day! I want time to relax and time to shop and visit friends/family, or chat on the phone a while, or go take some photos (im into photography) while the children are at school. I find myself cleaning ALL DAY.  My family thinks I'm crazy when I say I clean all the time, they say my house is ALWAYS clean...??? What's wrong with me and what can I do to change it?  (I am the main person in the house to clean-and do majority of everything else.  I appreciate ANY help, and I do plan on visiting your website, when I'm not cleaning and have time to search the web!  Thanks in advance!
Alyson Shannon~ NJ

Answer
Hi Alyson AKA The Bounce Around Cleaner

I love that name J Thanks for writing. I think you’ll find other helpful tips on the message boards at http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-hgrealorg?redirCnt=3

You have a lot going on! First let me suggest you count up everything you are getting done, we are so quick to see what we haven’t; done we forget to congratulate ourselves for getting though the day.

Next my guess is you have so much going on that it’s no wonder you can feel overwhelmed and scattered. Many Mom’s say the exact same thing, they feel like they are repeating the same things every day but never progressing.

So here’s what I’d suggest:

Step 1 make a master list on a sheet of paper of all the stuff that needs to get done, room by room might work well.

Step 2 designate one are of your home to a day of the week- for example bathrooms on Mondays, kitchen/dining room on Tues., bedrooms on Wed., light tough ups on Thursday and off on Fridays.

Step 3 start your schedule doing the light housework in the area on the day you set up. Avoid over cleaning! Leave the heavy stuff for a quarterly deep cleaning (which if it fits in your budget might be a cleaning crew you hire as a birthday or holiday gift to yourself)

Step 4 try adding other chores and errands to this schedule. Grocery shop in a specific day, laundry on two or three days etc..

Lastly, we want to make your cleaning as quick and easy as possible, so a cleaning caddy with all the supplies so you can carry it room to room makes sense. A vacuum on every level of your home so you don’t have to carry it. And any other helpful quick cleaning tips you can pick up can be helpful.

And of course my favorite golden rule: if you can do it in 2 minutes do it right then. If something spills in the fridge wipe it up before it sticks, wipe toothpaste out of the sink immediately, hang up your jacket don’t just put it down and so on…

I hope some of these ideas help, let me know. I’ll be thinking about you- you can make your life simpler- Jamie