Life's Tedious Responsibilities

If your like me, cleaning sucks. In fact, being a neat freak and a procrastinating-chore-avoider does not go well. I cease to function when my environment is dirty, messy and not organized in a uncluttered fashion. Having lived with people for several years as room mates and apartment mates it was a seasonal thing and we pulled together to get our act together. Having now lived two years by myself its easier to allow the clutter to pile up, and far less interesting to actually get things organized. However, it doesn't get unmanageable or filthy/disgusting/trash dump type. Things have a place and are usually there, but when work and social life gets busy things begin to fall apart, and piles appear and things get pushed back- like scrubbing the sink, or washing the floor mats- making things look messier.

Picking up the pieces and going back to the "clean" I can live with, is a bit more difficult and it takes me a week or two to get things put together. Literally during this time of my life- banquet, Ramadan, Eid al-adha, Eid al-fitr, peoples weddings, work related events- its like a category 5 hurricane has gone through my house and my life.

I been looking, asking around for advice on how better to handle the domestic duties and keeping up with the mess and possibly avoiding it all together. I found this at Apartment Therapy, and its worth sharing:

Making Cleaning Less Of A Chore
Even the people that claim to really love cleaning, get sidetracked. Here's a few tips to staying on target and tackling what you can in the time your schedule allows:

• Set A Timer: Only have 10 minutes to tackle a project? You'd be surprised what you can clean in a small amount of time. Set a timer to help you keep track. When it goes off, switch to something else, or head out the door if you have plans. 3-10 minute breaks during a day is a solid half hour's worth of time!
• Music Music Music: Its far easier to get lost in your work when you're singing along to your favorite record. If you're short on time, only clean for a few songs or one side of a record!
• Clean One Surface At A Time: Often we feel like we aren't making any progress when we clean. Tackle one surface at a time. That way, even if you take a break and sit back, you can feel victorious that you at least uncovered the coffee table.
• Work Clockwise: Don't get distracted or bogged down by the unshelved books in the corner, or the pile of clean laundry waiting to be put away. Pick one spot in your room and work clockwise from there. It will make it easy to pick back up if you have to stop to answer the phone or take the dog for a walk.
• Make "Other Room" Piles: Economy of motion can cut back on the amount of time you spend cleaning. Chances are that the clutter plaguing your spaces comes from many of the same places. Make small piles of things to go other places. Don't leave the space your working on until it's 100% done—then visit other places to put away goods where they belong. Don't leave them in piles inside the doorways either, having to touch things twice only makes double work.

Got idea's? Suggestions? Advice? Please feel free to share and also "Happy cleaning!"