30 Days To A Clean Home - Day Five

Day Five

Day Five (Monday) was a great day! I got all my work done long before it was time to go get the spawn from school, and all in all I worked for less then 2 hours. Not much less, but every little bit counts! My internet went down again later that night, so that was annoying. I guess they were doing some maintenance or something.

I started the day with the four things I must do daily, and as is the current trend, I was able to get more then just those four done in the allotted time. I find things have a much better flow if I keep working for the 15 minutes verses taking that time to sit on my butt. Sometimes I even get the next item done before its time! Believe it or not though, I'm still having some issues with getting started, even though its merely an hour per day of cleaning. Most of that seems to stem from my constant exhaustion. I always feel sleep deprived, its quite annoying...especially considering I'm getting about 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Once I get going though, I'm usually fine.

I also did the Weekly Home Blessing Hour today...although it only took about 30 -40 minutes. I didn't have to do the magazines, and once again the flow helped. I just seamlessly did whatever was next on my list. I think the only thing that took the full 10 minutes allotted was dusting, and the only room I didn't hit was the bathroom, so I'll start there next Monday. I vacuumed the rug in the living room and the one in the kitchen, swept and mopped my floors, did the mirrors and basically had a good time cleaning!

I did break the two hours up with a 20 minute nap, and I definitely broke into a sweat doing the cleaning! And now on to the pictures...

30 Days To A Clean Home Deux: Day Four

Day Four

Who hoo! Four days in, go me! :) Yes, I get excited easily. Anywho, today was one of those days were I REALLY didn't want to move, much less think of doing those measly four items. I couldn't focus on anything, was drained and just blah. Didn't help that I woke up to a dusting of snow either. Not my cup of tea right now. Don't get me wrong, I love snow...I'm just not quite ready for it!

So I finally scrounged up some motivation at around...9:30pm. Couldn't let a day go by without doing my cleaning! Good thing I didn't...I finally finished all those dishes! It took 15 minutes and then a small portion of left over time to do it, but its done! I used my 15 minutes decluttering time to do a quick clean up, just putting things away as I saw them, tidying up the living room, finishing the dishes and a few other things. Its really nice to just keep working when something doesn't really take a full 15. I get more done then originally intended. Sneaky, aren't I?

I only worked for 45 minutes today...I skipped the 15 minute hot spot time period. My main hot spot only took like 30 seconds to tidy up. Guess I am going to have to add another hot spot to the list for next week! Maybe my end table...that thing ALWAYS looks horrible. Its kind of funny, in one way I'm cheating because I'm not using that 15 minutes, but in another way I'm getting a ton more done in 45...hmm. Every little bit definitely counts!

And of course, the pictures are necessary. :)

30 Days To A Clean Home - Day Two

Boy, did I have a hard time getting started this morning. I woke up feeling scattered and kind of hazy, and I allowed just about everything to distract me...the computer, watched the same movie twice...it was like my brain refused to function in the new (ish) surroundings. Poor thing. I confuseded it.

I did have a shining moment before noon though. I had been dreading making a trip all weekend, I didn't want to do it, didn't want to drive all that way, didn't really think I needed it. But I could see the upside of having it. So I start getting ready (abet slowly) and I had the thought to call first and see if I could just fax the information over, instead of driving an hour and a half. So I call and the lady at the desk didn't know, so she transferred me...to a voicemail. Oh, forgot to mention the procrastinating voice in my head throughout who didn't want to make the call either. We had a good argument, obviously, I won. So I left my little voice mail asking my question, figuring its going to get lost in the common voice mail hell at this place. Not even 20 minutes later she called and all I had to do was make a trip to the Town Office to fax and the Post office to mail. Saved myself a whole lot of headache...and to think, I didn't want to make the call to begin with!

Then I get home, and the scatter demon attacks again. Completely unmotivated. And I wore my shoes the entire time. So I picked up Sink Reflections and read a few chapters in it, hoping to shut up the scatter demon. I was really resisting cleaning. Finally, after a good long talk with the scatter demon, I get up and figure I might as well do something. Resisting the urge to plonk my butt back in front of the computer. Grabbed up my Ipod to realize...dead battery. Oh well.

Now before you start thinking I didn't get anything done, I actually did well. But I was amazingly resistant today. I got a mild flow of energy from moving and getting things done, but I felt as if I were trying to swim upstream all day. My mind would visualize the next project, and it was ready to work...it was just hard getting my body to follow suit. I didn't write down any specific excuses, as it was more a pervasive sense of blah today.

Accomplishments:

• Dishes
• One Load of Laundry (hmm, I believe I forgot about the rest of it...oops)
• Cleaned off Kitchen Table
• Swish and Swiped
• Picked up trash and other odds and ends
• Decluttered Kitchen chair
• Decluttered Freezer
• Picked up floor by both.

Not too shabby for someone who didn't want to do anything! And of course I have pictures! I still haven't gotten completely in the habit of using the timer, Ipod or taking pictures.

30 Days To A Clean Home - Day One

All in all I would say I had a decent day one. I got off to a far later start then intended (had intended to be "done" by about 6 or 7 pm) due to family arriving. Can't miss an opportunity to play with my nephew. And in true awesome aunty style, I had him fast asleep in my arms in moments. Between that and the thrown back (here's a hint, 130 lb women and 25 lb frozen turkeys do not mix) it could have been a recipe for disastor...or at the least, serious procrastination and the "I don't wannas." Complete with sticking out tongue. Fortunately, it wasn't.

One thing I am doing during this trial that I have never done before is keep a trial journal. In it I am writing down the excuses, moods, and any ideas that pop into my head as I go. I also have my initial plan on the first page and the "as I see it" to do list. The purpose behind this is too help me keep my focus, I'm building a habit here, and you have to remain focused on it and the little quirks of it in order for it to be successful. Perhaps I should say that I am undoing bad habits. :)

When I started today, my mood was rather lethargic and frankly kind of grumpy. Just looking at the pile of dishes sent my brain running for cover. Its amazing how that happens. It took me 3 15 minute sessions (with breaks, I'm not a masochist) but I conquered the dishes. And survived to tell the tale. I guess housework won't kill you, but the jury's still out...you'll know by the end of the 30 day trial!

Some excuses my brain conjured up:

• I have no energy (true, but I can sit on a computer can't I? That's what I thought.)
• My back hurts (also true, but see above.)
• I'm off my scheduled time (time is irrelevant anyway, but funny.)
• It can wait til later (sure, but can I? Nahhh)
• The spawn is already in bed, so it will have to wait until tomorrow (good point, but that's when piling becomes a handy trait.)

Once I started getting some momentum, I actually started to feel more energetic and my back wasn't hurting as bad. Although, I can blame that on the drugs. :) That energy lead to more things getting accomplished, which left me with a pleasant feeling. There is peace in a clean and empty space. The only downside currently is my mind is a little ticked that I have not journaled or written yet today, and automatically assumes that I now will not have time. Yeah right, I have two hours...just need to start. Another thing I noticed is that I was forgetting the timer occasionally and even more so my Ipod. Guess that is another habit to instill during this.

Accomplishments:

• Dishes - 3 15 minute sessions, plus I whipped up the dinner dishes before sitting here to blog.
• Load of Laundry - Technically two, but I'm not counting the one that was in the washer already...in dire need of a rewash.
• Swish And Swiped
• Swept the Floor - I had time at the end of my last 15 of dishes.
• Cooked Dinner
• Took Out The Trash

And now I promised you pictures!

Before/After Pictures: The Stove

Blech, what a mess...amazing what happens when you aren't paying attention.


Much better, just a quick wipe down with the wet dish cloth. No, I did NOT bleach it, that will come later. I'm trying to avoid my OCD as much as possible, while allowing it to work for me.

Before/After Pictures: The Dishes

Not too bad tonight...

Yup, I even did a quick bleaching of the sink...it was nasty.

Before/After Pictures: Kitchen Counters

My very messy kitchen counters before....that's just disgusting!




My kitchen counters after 15 minutes...not too shabby. The 15 minutes of dishes helped immensely as well. :)