Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It’s never ending and it never stops. It’s something that all of us do, but you might wonder like I did, how much time does a person really spend house keeping? In the U.S. the average American, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, spends 21.5 hours a week cleaning. That would mean we spend about 1,118 hours a year simply cleaning! Perhaps this isn’t a lot of time in the grander scale of life, but I for one wouldn’t mind shaving off 50 to 100 hours a year of cleaning time.
The 80/20 rule or “Pareto Principle” is considered a rule of thumb in which you can get 80% results from only 20% the effort. How does this come in handy for house cleaning? It’s simple, you want to get a lot more done but with less effort.
It all starts with planning. Plan your work in such a way that it can always be maintained. Yes, there is work involved, but if you stick to the work continuously your efforts will most certainly pay off!
Second if you live with others, have kids, or room with someone, give them a chance to clean too. With kids, assign them to specific “chores.” If they don’t know how to do something, take the time to teach them how to do it well. It will benefit both parties in the long run. In the case of a roommate, ask them to join you in keeping both of your spaces clean.
Another important part of this plan is minimalism. It would be a good thing for you and your family, or possibly roommate, to establish a level of minimalism and work on reaching that point. And now the four words no collector, pack-rat or clutter-er wants to hear “get rid of stuff!” I struggle with this myself but really, if I don’t love it, or use it, I probably don’t need it. The more you get in the habit of getting rid of things that aren’t used or won’t be used in the future the easier it becomes over time and you’ll be surprised with how much less stuff there is to clean.
Routines. This is a great way to ensure that cleaning is maintained. A cleaning routine is all about knowing when a particular task needs to be done and who is assigned to do it. For example, the bathroom is cleaned Sundays by Bobby. The laundry is taken care of on Fridays and Sundays. Cleaning the kitchen or doing the dishes is assigned to one or two people a day and so on. A house cleaning schedule or a house cleaning plan is an effective way that you can ensure this gets done.
A key factor in beginning any endeavor is to not get frustrated. Getting frustrated can be easy if you don’t know where or how to start but by using a plan and following a routine you won’t have to be frustrated with house cleaning. You will be able to move through your home and get a lot more done, without wasting as much time and conserving your efforts!