Time Me!

A stack of books by my bedside, a van with a back full of cleaning stuff and four crazy boys who need some attention. I have really struggled with getting on top of life. Usually I can manage things well. I create a schedule and stick with it to the bitter end, or until I'm too tired to care anymore. But lately I've let things slide and let procrastination take over again. This has been a tough semester at school. My son has visited same day surgery several times for his eye-- luckily one time only involved actual surgery. My husband started a new job-- so grateful-- that threw us into a bind since I had signed up for classes based on the idea that he would be home at night. And I threw myself into Midwifery school to top it all off. I sadly had to accept the fact that I am just not going to pass one of my classes, and need to let it slide. That isn't my favorite thing to do. I hate letting things go, and I hate not doing my best or being on task.

I feel like I'm doing all that I need to. I can't think of one thing I could let go because all of it is necessary right now. I need school so I can get my family to a better place. I need my cleaning business so we can pay the bills which is also why my husband needs to work as well. It drives me crazy, but it's all necessary. But at least I finally came up with a pretty decent solution to help me feel more on top of things instead of always anxious and crazy.

It all started when I was cleaning for a client, and I noticed some laundry needed folded. I never have a chance to get to it at the end of the appointment, but I really wanted to try and get it done. So what did I do? I set a timer. I gave myself 5 minutes in between each job to fold some laundry, and amazingly the laundry got folded and all the other jobs were completed as well-- hopefully the client was happy with everything we did. I was amazed! So I decided to apply it to my life as well.

Normally I would come home from a cleaning appointment and my husband would leave for work. I would then try to get the daily chores done in the house, all the while knowing I should be starting on homework. "I just need to finish the laundry, and the dishes. Now the kids need a snack. Oh, its time to change the laundry over. OK let me just finish folding this basket. Now the baby is up from his nap and the kids need dinner. I'll just do homework when the kids go to bed. OK, kids are in bed, let me exercise really quick and then do homework. I guess it's fine if the kids want to do to exercise too. OK I guess they can just sleep in my bed. Looks like I'm doing homework tomorrow."

Well, now I have changed my method. I now set a timer for 20 minutes. I do homework for 20 minutes. And when the timer goes off I reset it and do housework for 20 minutes. After each 20 minutes is up I reset the timer and keep rotating between housework and homework until homework is done or bedtime comes around. I was simply amazed at how much better things went. I got my homework done, I got the housework done and I even had time to read to my kids at night-- I NEVER have time to read to my kids at night. It was amazing!

So if you find you're having a hard time tackling something around the house try setting a timer. It did wonders for me :).

Empowering Fearless Birth Event

Thanks to all those who came to the Empowering Fearless Birth Event. It was a great event, and we had a great time! I was so glad I had the opportunity to go!

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I was excited to unveil my new laundry services there!

 

Overwhelmed?

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Did you know The Sassy Cleaning Lassy can help with laundry along with other household chores?

Go out and enjoy your summer! Let me do the cleaning up!

My Ten Commandment For Keeping My House Clean

So my house is never amazingly clean. It's more, I'd say, under control. Here are some rules I try to follow to keep my house from driving me crazy

I. When thou cannot clean thou shalt try for cleaner than it is

I have a little question I ask myself around here, "I don't have time to clean it, but can I make it cleaner than it is?" This could be wiping off the kitchen window with the dish rag. Will it be sparkling? No. But it will look a little better. I also wipe the stainless steel with a dish rag when I have to. That dang cleaner isn't always handy, and the stainless steel wipes were not my fave. I will rinse off the high chair tray in the sink, and leave it, soaking wet, on the stove to dry. And I will mop the bathroom sink with my hands whenever I notice it getting really dirty. It may end up a little sopping, but it will be cleaner than it was.

II. Thou shalt clean what you can when you can.

Another rule I follow is to wipe up spot when I can with whatever I can. Sometimes this means grabbing the closest rag, or wipe, in sight. If I have to use the dishrag on something unsanitary I just get out a new dishrag. If I empty a shelf, drawer, bag, garbage can, etc. I try to take the opportunity to clean as well. Moving furniture is always a 'fun' time to vacuum forgotten places and wipe down forgotten baseboards. If I see a spot I try to clean it if it is reasonably easy to do so. I can't catch everything, but I can take care of the things I can see when I see them.

III. Thou shalt keep wipes everywhere.

I love clean up wipes, and when clean up wipes aren't available I just use regular old baby wipes.

Sometimes my kids just need a little smudge wiped off their face that doesn't quite justify the use of a whole wipe or sometimes a rag has been used for one thing, but still has some life in it. I like to give everything the opportunity to be used to it's fullest extent, so I'll quickly glance around and look for some other messes that need cleaned. It usually ends up being the toilet. The toilet is always dirty.

IV. Thou shalt wipe it up when it happens, and rinse it off when you're done.

I like wipe up spills and messes when they happen. I wipe down tables and chairs when meals are over, and if I forget I'm usually cursing myself as I scrub off the crusted Malt O' Meal. I also like to rinse my plate as soon as I'm done eating. If I can't rinse them, or I forgot to rinse them, then I try to get them soaking some how.


V. Thou shalt find ways to clean while getting other things done.

Sometimes I can find little ways make things work for me while I'm working, like spraying the tub with bleach and lime away. Sometimes I'll spray my dining chairs with cleaner, let them soak, throw them in the shower, rinse them off and let them dry. Don't have time to iron. Somethings can be 'ironed' by getting it wet and laying it flat to dry. This is best used on small things like hem lines, sashes or collars.

VI. Thou shalt save what thy can for organizing purposes.

I have a little obsession with organizational things. I'm like a kid on Christmas each time I bring home new shoebox organizers. I have bought thing from Ikea for no other reason than it was an incredible ingenious object for organizing. I bring these things home and find I really have no use for them. I also save things: sturdy boxes, the packages that sheets and curtains come in, Tupperware that has lost its lid, clean Ziploc bags, etc. Then when an organizing project shows its face I pull them out and get to work.

VII. Thou shalt never put more on that thou are will to take off.

Whenever something feels especially hard, or annoying, to clean I ask myself, "why?" The answer is usually because there is too much to pull off, or pull out to get it clean. Take my shower for example. I hated to scrub the little shelf in my shower. Why? Because taking all those shampoo and soap bottles off was so tedious.

So what do I do? I bought a shower caddy or two. Now instead of 10 things to take down, I only have three.

I try to follow this rule with decorating and organizing drawers. Obviously it can become unavoidable.

VIII. Thou shalt keep things off the floor whenever possible.

I have a small obsession with hooks as well. I think I could fill my house with hooks of every kind. It's because I like to keep stuff off the floor. This just makes it easier to clean, vacuum, mop. Sometimes cleaning becomes so hard, and easy to put off, because small things become huge hindrances. One of these, to me, is the number of objects I have to pick up to do one simple chore.

Making the beds is another way to get things off the floor, and it creates a nice, clean surface area for getting other things done like laundry and organizing.

IX. Thou shalt love thy washer.

I love my washer. I know a lot of people really love the energy efficient ones. I like my regular old top loader with a middle agitator. Why? Because it makes cleaning a breeze. Once a month I'll throw in a load of rags and, while the washer fills up, I'll grab a clean rag and wipe stuff down. I'll clean off the dryer, scrub all the little nooks and cranny's I can reach, rinse off the rag in the washer when it gets too dirty and then when I'm all done I throw everything in the washer and let it do the rest.

X. Thou shalt give everything a place.

Cleaning is easier for me when everything has a place. If these places are too hard to reach all the time I find other places to put these things until a later date.

My laundry room is full of sorters for this reason, and to also follow commandment VIII.

Cleaning is so much less stressful when I can know for certain that everything I pick up as a predestined place to go.

Those are just some of the rules I follow to try and keep on top of things in this house. They're pretty basic, but they really help my stress levels stay down.

Cleaning Schedule

The pictures aren't great, but I wanted to try and describe my cleaning schedule. I have a sort of obsessive personality, and sometimes I get too obsessive and don't know when to quit. This is why I like goals. This gives me a stopping point, and lets me feel like I still accomplished something. This is why I created my cleaning schedule. This way I can separate my chores throughout the week. I finish what I need to for the day, and then I can simply say I'm done and I don't have to worry about anything else for the rest of the day-- kind of :).

I have these fun little stickers for each chore. When deciding which chores to do when I just tried to decide what I needed to do, and how often I needed to do it, to keep my house clean enough so I didn't feel overwhelmed. This way most everything stays maintained.

I divide each chore throughout the month. Somethings I do weekly, like vacuuming and laundry. Sometimes I do thing every other week, like dusting and bathrooms. I then have once a month chores like cleaning the car and mopping the floor. With my schedule now I have split up the dusting and bathrooms to be done at least once a month. With the addition of school to my schedule I had to simplify a little more, so that is how I did it.

I also like to try and spend a little quality time with my kids, so on the weeks that I don't clean I try to sit down for "lessons". I truly hate calling them that, but I can't think of a better term. This is a little of subject, but I basically just have a little box for each kid with flashcards and stuff. I try to do an art project with them every other week too.

This is how I've decided to divide out my time, so everything can be maintained.

At the top of the calender is a deep clean sticker. I'm supposed to pick a different room each month, and work on deep cleaning that room throughout the month. This is yet to happen :).

This is my Daily chores list.

This is my wipe down list. Amongst my chore sticker there is one for bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming, etc. and then one for wipe down. This is what I get done on the days I have the wipe down chores.

Below the calender I have everything divided up into these envelopes.

I also have a sticker called "Project Day". On this day I'm supposed to pick a project from an envelope, which has become obsolete, and complete it. The idea was to write down all our household projects and for sure do one on this day, but this is yet to happen as well.

So that's my cleaning schedule. Setting these up for people was a service I wanted to provide, but I'm yet to figure out a good way. However, if anyone wants me to clean their whole house on a regular basis I recommend letting me set up one of these. Of course yours will include more consistent and frequent cleaning then mine, but I still think this will work the best :).


 

Cleaner Spolight: Cleaning Bleach

I'm not the greatest with fancy tricks, and neat little tips. I don't have many secrets. I just clean things with different cleaners until it comes clean. But I thought I might try to post some of my favorite cleaners, and what I use them for. Lets start with my absolute favorite: Cleaning Bleach

I don't like to use bleach unless there is absolutely nothing else that can get the job done. The reason why is because I have ruined far to many clothes. This is also why I only like to use bleach in a very controlled environment. But bleach does a job, and it does it well so it still ranks high on my favorites list.

I keep bleach in a cupboard by my toilet. When the toilet starts look gross, or has some fun little spots inside, I'll spray it with bleach and just let it sit. No scrubbing, no having to remember to go flush, just let it sit and most the time you'll come back to find a sparkling toilet. Some spots have to wait till I have time to scrub but bleach really helps keep it under control.

So in my house I have a cleaning schedule, that I try to stick to. I'll share more on that later. The purpose of this schedule is to create a balance between the house being clean enough so that I don't get stressed, and me spending time with my kids and having fun. With the schedule I can get certain things done in a day, and when they are done I know I'm done and I'm free to do other things. My house isn't immaculate, but its under control. Sometimes events in my life cause me to re-figure the cleaning schedule and make it simpler. One of these events was my last pregnancy. I used to scrub my tub twice a month. But now I only do it once a month. The other times I just spray it with bleach and let it sit. It works great, and it is so easy.

Bleach is great for mold in bathrooms. That's one reason I love to bring it cleaning. I also use it to clean my toilet brush after each house I clean.

I like Cleaning Bleach because it's not as strong as the bleach you use in the laundry. When something in the laundry needs bleached that isn't white, or all white at least, I like to use cleaning bleach. Before bleaching any article of clothing remember to get it completely wet before using the bleach to avoid getting weird spots.

Anyway. . .those are just a few reasons why I like having Cleaning Bleach in my home. Remember to use all cleaners safely. When in doubt follow the directions on the bottle :).

New Contact info!

Still offering cleaning services in Utah County.