The Lazy Person’s Guide to Cleaning the House
I love it when my house is clean.
I love the spaciousness that a clutter-free environment creates. I love to walk into my bedroom and see that the bed is made. I love the smell of a freshly washed floor. I love to see the kitchen sink empty. I love to see all my “stuff” neatly in place. And I love to sit down at my sqeaky clean desk and blog to my heart’s desire.
I really do love a clean house.
Unfortunately, what I hate… is actually doing it.
So the way I see it, I have two options: A) Get a housekeeper or B) Get over it!!!
While getting a housekeeper might seem like the easier solution, it’s definitely more costly. And the truth of the matter is that I tried it once and it made me feel really bad: not only did I feel lazy having someone else do the dirty work, but I actually found myself repeatedly apologizing to her for having to clean up my crap!
So what I decided to do was go back to plan B, only here’s the catch: I found a way of “getting over it” which actually works and is surprisingly (I can’t believe I’m saying this…) FUN!
I call it the 10 Minute Rule, and I just recently started swearing by it:
Here’s the deal; no matter how busy any of us claim to be or how lazy we consider ourselves, the bottom line is that all of us can find 10 extra minutes in our day if we really wanted to.
How it works:
You set up a timer for 10 minutes exactly (a timer is an absolute must if you really want to get motivated.)
As soon as the timer starts, it’s basically “Ready, Set… GO!!!”
You then have exactly 10 minutes to do anything and everything necessary to help you get your home back into shape. This can include making the bed, washing the dishes, picking up dirty laundry from the floor, scrubbing the bathtub, dusting the shelves, sweeping the floor, vacuuming the rug, WHATEVER…
You don’t have to do everything on the list… You just have to keep going until the timer goes off.
That’s the rule: Once the timer goes off, you immediately stop what you are doing and postpone it for another day.
Next day, same thing. Timer –> Do what you can –> Back to life.
It’s every lazy person and procrastinator’s dream!
At one point, it actually feels like a game (which makes it surprisingly fun – sort of a race against the clock, trying to outdo your previous scores) plus, you will be amazed at just how much you can accomplish with just 10 devoted minutes of your time!
Another hidden advantage is that once you start this method, in only a matter of days your house will be exactly how you want it to be, and from there on in, all it will take is some minimal maintenance to have a clean house around the clock.
But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it… try it out yourself and let me know how it goes!
Recommended Book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
November 28th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
lol…we call this a blitz…or hit squad clean
November 28th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Great article! My husband and I sometimes use the 10 dish rule. We dont have a dishwasher so the dishes tend to pile up. So every once in a while we commit to washing 10 dishes each. When Im feeling really lazy I just wash 10 pieces of silverware, but that should count, I think,,,!
November 28th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
My clock is broken and I’m to lazy to buy a new one. Sorry.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Shorter blog post : Do it for 10 minutes.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:54 am
There is a third method that I employ, it’s called “Get on with it”. Instead of faffing about for ten minutes each day, which requires thinking about housework every day of the week, just grab the bull by the horns for one and a half hours, one day a week. It’s surprising what you can achieve in that time, as well as aerobic excersise you get if you put your back into it. Listening to loud, fast music helps too.