From skwigg's journal:
When I posted about my ZGYM workout today, I was thinking about how much I love doing a little something every day versus long formal workouts. I picked out 6-7 exercises from a longer routine, did one set of each, and was done. Exercise is a seamless part of every day, not something I have to think about or make time for. Weirdly, I’ve gone in the same direction with housecleaning. It used to be this huge ordeal every week. I had to block off a good chunk of time to do all the things, psych myself up for it, and the house would be a wreck and require a lot of work. Now, I’ve broken it up into more like a dozen under 5 minute tasks. I do one or two every day while I’m talking on the phone or waiting for a pizza to come out of the oven or whatever. I never have to clean the whole house anymore! Just like I never have to do a dynamic warmup, compound lifts, isolation movements, a metabolic finisher, steady state cardio, and stretching all in one gym visit. Why did I ever do that?! HOW did I ever have that kind of time?
Now I’m trying to figure out how to translate this “5 minutes when I feel like it” approach into lawn mowing. It might possibly involve a robot, or goats.
Could you share your housecleaning 5 min. task list? Because I hate psyching myself up to clean the whole house, but I don't know how to break it down, other than by room.
- Vacuum (so easy with the Dyson!)
- Mop
- Dust with the Swiffer duster
- Wipe the kitchen counters and sink (dishes get done every time we eat)
- Clean the coffee table and mirrors with glass cleaner
- Clean the bathroom sink and toilet (the shower gets shower sprayed every time we use it)
- Change the sofa cover
- Change the bed
- Put the muddy dog towels in the laundry
- Take out the trash
If I do one or two things every day, it never gets overwhelming. It helps that I seriously decluttered the place a few years ago. There isn’t a bunch of stuff to pick up and put away. I’m dusting a lot of empty shelves and sweeping bare floors. So, I guess my first piece of advice is to give all your stuff away. :-) Then you don’t have to clean it. LOL Decluttering is a lot of work up front, but then it really levels up your slacker game. Back when we had stacks of books, shelves of junk, clothes lying around, shopping bags on the floor, countertops that collected keys, receipts, and pocket change, I’d think about cleaning and just want to punch myself in the face. The environment is a lot more relaxing when it’s more minimalist. Though it does look a Petsmart toy aisle exploded in our living room. Cooper is so cute I don’t mind picking up his toys. I should probably teach him to do it. Now that I’ve taught him to wipe his own feet when he comes inside, the sky’s the limit. LOL