YOU DID IT! I'm so proud of us friend. This is our last week of the challenge, and I'm hopeful that through these daily habits we made lasting change in making a peaceful home life.
As I have confessed, I have had some sneaky ulterior motives through this challenge. In honor of the last week of the challenge, I think I should come clean:
I really needed accountability and something external to keep me on track. This community and challenge absolutely did that for me, and I hope it did for you too.
I wanted to figure out meal planning once and for all. hence the birth of "Meal Planning Made Simple" ,a dn this challenge forced me to conquer the absolute dread at the thought of meal planning.
I wanted to work towards a weekly cleaning schedule, but dint really know where to start because it all felt overwhelming. This challenge broke things int o seller chinks for me that were less overwhelming. This sneaky motive brings me to this last week's challenge:
Weekly Habit: Establish and Stick to a Cleaning Routine
Enter ulterior motive numero uno: Figure out a cleaning routine. And folks, I think we did it! We inched out way towards the big leagues, and now we are at bat (sorry for all the baseball puns, idk where that came from). This week's challenge is to figure out a cleaning routine that works for you and stick with it.
As usual, I've got you covered with this week's printable (you'll find in your email). You can use my suggestions and resets to make it easier, or adapt it to fit your own to fit your lifestyle.
Here are some suggestions for adapting a cleaning schedule to fit your lifestyle:
If your goal is to clean your entire house every week, use "The Keeping Home List" as it is
If your goal or ability is to do a little every day:
-Work in room resets on a bi-weekly or monthly schedule.
-Take a couple of days to reset a room (all surfaces one day, floors the next)
-Deep Clean one-two rooms a week (kitchen ex: one day tackle the fridge, next day stove and microwave, etc.)
If you have a disability obstacle:
-Find and utilize tools that make cleaning easier (a shower scrubber on a long handle, a trash picker upper for picking stuff up off the floor, etc.)
-Ask for help. This was a hard one for me, but I finally found help cleanign my house in my last really hard (and long) stretch with my chronic illness. A family recommended a house cleaner they used and encouraged me to get over my pride and embarassment and get help. We were able to budget having her come once or twice a month, and it made all the difference in the world. Some months where my health is poor and I struggle more with mobility, i just accept the fact that the house will be messy until our amazing cleaning lady comes and try to focus on picking up a little if able. Months where I am doing better health wise I focus on my routine and simply appreciate the week or two when she comes to lighten the load. If you don't have room in your budget to pay for help, consider asking a loved one for occassional help, or finding a way to trade time with someone (they help clean and you help them with something).
-Give yourself grace. A clean, well kept house is lovely but is not the definition of "home".
If you are wrestling with your mental health:
-Set a five minute timer and tackle one tiny corner of the home or your room. You can do it for five minutes.
-Clean one area that visually bothers you and that you see all the time. It will be a visual reminder that you can do hard things and that having order in your space can help ease some stress.
-Ask for help. There is not a person on the planet that has not gone through a hard time or not had a messy space. The people who act like their home never gets messy, or theyev never had hard seasons are not the people to ask for help.
If you struggle with ADHD:
-Set a reminder on your phone at the same time every day to do your tasks
-Get a visual timer and set it. Clean until time runs out.
-Use a checklist to keep yourself on track when cleaning and avoid redundancies
Now to the last ulterior motive I had during this challenge- figure out once and for all how to clean every room in the most efficient way possible. I made checklists for every room and keep them in a binder with my schedule. I check off every task as I go when cleaning, which gives a little dopamine hit and keeps me from getting distracted.
You can shop my Full Home Reset Here and make your own housekeeping binder.
Remember, I'm your biggest cheerleader. And I'm so proud of you!
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