Cleaning House

I have never enjoyed housework. I would far rather mow the lawn, clean out the garage, dig in the garden…or just about anything other than the multiple round of never-ending chores that comprise housework. I do like a clean house-it is the continuous nature of the process of causing it to become clean that gives me pause.

Having said that, here are a few tips on taking the pain out of the recurring tasks involved in having an orderly environment:

1. Make it your own idea. Whether you are cleaning your room in the family home, sprucing up your half of your dorm room, or making order in the space that you personally rent or own, remember that you are the person who will most benefit from this process.
2. Get some fun out of it. Put on your favorite music, dance with the broom, practice “wax on, wax off” a la Mr. Miagi in Karate Kid, mentally figure out how many calories you can burn mopping a floor, make something beautiful by arranging a corner nicely or draping a throw artistically.
3. Clean the mess when you make it. This keeps things from building up into an impressively difficult mess.
4. Develop a routine for keeping things done. Make the routine one you can live with. There is no virtue in scrubbing till midnight after working all day-especially when you know the alarm clock is going to ring at 5 AM.
5. Forgive yourself when your routine is upset and you have to regroup. Things happen.
6. Take as much advantage of modern conveniences as your budget will allow
7. Have a place for everything, and everything in its place. I know-it’s old and a bit corny, but it does work. Hard to put something away if it doesn’t have a home; hard to find something that just got stuffed out of sight.
8. Have something pleasant to look at while doing mindless chores like dish-washing or snapping beans
9. Don’t spend your time arguing with authority over whether the chore needs done or who should do it. (See #1) The energy spent in argument could be used to get the task over with and done-and usually in half the time spent in fussing..
10. Reward yourself. This can be something as simple as saying to yourself when you are finished, “I did my best. That looks good.”

These rules won’t get the work done instantly-may not even make you like the task at hand. But it will make it more pleasant. Who knows? You may even like the change.