[VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
Do you ever just don't feel like cleaning? It happens to all of us. We like to be in clean spaces and in a clean house, but sometimes we just don't feel like cleaning. In this video, I'm going to talk about when you don't feel like cleaning and give some tips on how your planner can help with that. If you are new here Hi, my name is Tonya and I hope you are doing well. I do videos on practical and functional planning. If being organized and productive is something that interests you. Please be sure to hit that like and red subscribe button.
I have four tips for you when you don't feel like cleaning.
TIP 1
Tip number one for using your planner to organize your cleaning is to use your planner to do a cleaning brain dump. I showed an example of a brain dump and last week's video by the way do you like my Planner Binder. This binder is called the Tiffany and it is like a pale pinkish color. This binder comes with loads of organization. It has card slots, a place for documents. It has a zipper that slides easily. There's another pocket here for storage. It comes with two elasticized pen loops, so it can accommodate larger and smaller ink pens. It also comes with this nice fly leaf with a third pen loop. And on the back, there are additional card slots. There's also additional pocket organization in the back. This binder comes in a classic size with seven rings so it does fit Franklin Planner inserts. It fits daytime or desk size inserts and also some of the Simplified Planner inserts. And it also comes in the smaller compact size because some people enjoy carrying a smaller binder sometimes this binder will fit the Franklin Covey compact inserts. It also fits personal size inserts and personal wide size inserts. They're sold at Tonyaplans.com and you can save money with discount promo code TONYAPLANS10.
So, in last week's video, I showed you a brain dump and a brain dump is where you get everything out of your head and on paper. And I understand how cleaning can sometimes be something that you feel like it's another thing that you need to do, it's kind of in the back of your head. All of that goes into your brain dump where you dump everything that has to do with cleaning, decluttering and organizing on paper. So, in my brain dump, it was everything and some of the items are cleaning related and some of them or not. Get all of those items out of your head about what it is that you need to do as far as cleaning your living space. Now you can use a blank piece of paper in your planner to do this. You can use a notebook, you can use your journal, you can use whatever you like. I like to put everything that I want to clean on a Progressive Task List.
Here's an example of a Progressive Task List. I recommend that once you do your cleaning brain dump, take a moment and categorize the items between what you want to clean daily, what you want to clean weekly what you want to clean monthly. And what do you want to clean quarterly. Also have a section for projects because sometimes some of the things we want to do is kind of more considered a project than a regular cleaning chore.
So, here's an example of my cleaning brain dump that I put on the Progressive Task List. So, as you can see here this is my daily list. Daily items are your habits or items that you would like to make habits. You shouldn't necessarily have to dart to your planner to see what things you need to clean each day because they should already be habits. For example, if I soiled the bathroom, I'm not going to wait until I do my weekly cleaning to clean that I already have a habit to immediately clean up a soiled toilet for example. So that is a habit that's what goes in your daily section.
Some other examples on my daily list which are already habits are to make bed, clean dishes, clean the stovetop, wipe down countertops etc. So, an example of items that I would like to do weekly are to do the laundry the fold and put away clothes, vacuum the carpet, sweep and mop floors etc. An example of items I would like to do monthly is; I like to clean the windows, deep clean the kitchen, deep clean the bathrooms, clean out the pantry. On the back here I have a quarterly less and some of the things I like to do quarterly or to change the air filters and wash blankets. And here I have a section for projects where it's those things that you know you need to do, but you keep putting off, I will list here.
Now the Progressive Task List comes in a package like this. And they come sort of attached by twos like this, and you simply tear off the one that you need.
Now the Task List is made of a harder cardstock. So, it will last in your planner especially if it's a list that you use often. And that's what I recommend using the Progressive Task Lists for those things that you want to move throughout your planner and your list needs to be on something sturdier than regular planner paper so that it will last. I also like using the Progressive Task List because all of my cleaning items are in one place. I use daily planner pages. So, this is whole day and this is a whole day. I also think it's a good idea to put in your prioritized daily tasks list what you plan to clean that day, especially if it's not a habit and it falls under weekly, monthly or quarterly.
So, the Progressive Task List looks like this, but I made a few embellishments to it to make it look nice. I put some washi tape across here to separate the different sections. And this is the washi tape here that I got from Simply Gilded. It is like a block designed where it's silver at the top and purple at the bottom. And for the purple headers, I use this dot marker.
TIP 2
Tip number two to clean when you don't feel like clean it is to make sure you clean when you are fresh and well rested. Do not clean after you eat. We all know what happens after you eat, you feel tired, you feel sluggish. I like to clean either first thing in the morning or late at night when I clean first thing in the morning. I like the feeling of getting some cleaning, overwhelmed and crossed off my list. So, I can go throughout my day feeling good, because that's something I tend to put off if I wait to do it later in the day. Sometimes I clean up at night after everyone else in the household has gone to bed. I consider this kind of me time. And it lets me decompress. And I love to clean while listening to audio. It could be listening to music, or it could be listening to a podcast. I don't recommend trying to clean with the TV on. A lot of times, something interesting will come up on TV. And we'll stop and look at what's on TV, which interrupts our cleaning.
Tip number three, when you don't feel like cleaning is to get help and pay somebody. I'm just joking. Years ago, when I first got married and I was starting out in my career, I paid someone to clean my home. It was $98 every two weeks and a lady would come to my home and clean and it did not work out for me. And the reason it didn't and a lot of people do pay people to clean. And now I'm not saying anything's wrong with that. It didn't work out for me, because for a couple of reasons before the lady became over to clean, I found myself cleaning. So, what will happen is I knew she was coming on a certain day. So, I had to pick up around the house to prepare for her to come. So, nothing could be on the floor so she could vacuum and nothing could be on the table and countertop so she can wipe them down. By the time I did all that picking up, I could have just gone on and cleaned myself. So that was a short-lived thing. And I never did hire anyone else after that to clean my house.
And also, for this tip for when you get help is you got to realize that sometimes people don't clean like you do. And you kind of got to let that go. That is something that I struggled with where when someone else would clean something, I would kind of want to criticize it like “You missed a spot there” or something like that. And that was something that I kind of had to work on myself. There's not the wrong one suggesting how someone could clean something a little better. But it can irritate people that are trying to help you clean very quickly when you are criticized and how they clean something.
TIP 3
Tip number three really is to get help. And this is more geared toward people who have other people that live in their household. In my household, I have two teenagers that helped keep the house clean, and also my husband, and we do have a few rules in place to help the teenagers complete their chores. If you're watching us and you live alone, maybe you're retired, or maybe you stay home while your significant other works. In those situations, most of the cleaning will fall on yourself. There's a good part of that. And then there's a bad part. If you live by yourself a can't get butt so dirty because it's just you. But if you, for example, are a stay-at-home parent, and it's kind of expected for you keeping the house clean, I understand the type of pressure that can put on somebody. And that's where a planner can help you organize the things you want to do on a regular basis.
And you know, the reason I'm doing this video in the first place is because I believe that cleaning can put a type of stress on a person is one more thing that we feel we have to do.
And I want to say another thing about cleaning. I was going through the video footage and I decided to come back to my desk and record this piece and drop it into the video footage because I want to say something about the pressure that women sometimes feel to claim there's something my dad said to me and my dad is now deceased. But he said to me, he said, “Tonya, it doesn't matter that you weren't he said that when people come to your home, they will always look at the woman if the home is out of order. It doesn't matter what the woman is doing. The man can be right there home all day. It does not matter when people see unclean home.” He said, “It reflects on the woman.” What do you think about that? Let me know in the comments. I think views like that is what leads to people feel in pressure about making sure their home is squeaky clean and in order all the time and the reality is our homes can't be cleaned all the time, especially if you live in it every day, because you have to use the items in your home and they're going to get soiled. So let me know what you think about that point of view. Do you think that the majority of people feel that the responsibility of a clean home falls on the female gender? I would love to know your thoughts about that.
TIP 4
Tip number four. And my last tip is to clean using a timer. I use this tip all the time, my husband is always washing clothes, but he doesn't always fold and put them away. So, in our bedroom, there's this big pile of clean clothes that needs to be folded and put away. What I will do is set a timer for let's say, 10 minutes, I'll use my phone, I'll use my watch, or I'll use a certain piece of technology that begins with the A, I don't want to say it because I don't want to set yours off. But I can set timers with that. So, I'll set a timer for 10 minutes and try to get as much folding and hanging up of clothes that I can do as possible. And you know, what I found? Is that normally I am able to complete a chore within the time allotted. So, I think in our minds, the reason why we don't feel like cleaning is because in our minds, we think it's going to take a long time. But in reality, it doesn't. It was 10 minutes to fold and put away clothes in my household. Now mind you, I go really fast. And I have all my things there and my hangers there and I'm ready to roll. Sometimes if a chore goes over the time I allotted it, I find that I go ahead and complete it anyway, because I started. By setting a timer it makes me want to clean and do those household chores, because I think about all the minutes we have in the day, and I'm only taking 10 minutes to do these one or two things.
Well, in conclusion, you know what they say a cluttered room is a cluttered mind or something about that. I do feel there are tremendous advantages to having a clean and organized house. It helps you think more clearly. And it relaxes you when you walk into a clean, uncluttered room. Do you know when I see people do the most cleaning? Guess. People do the most cleaning when they know someone is coming over to their house. And I do the same thing. So that makes me wonder, are we cleaning because we want to clean? Or are we cleaning because we're afraid of what other people think. And I want us to release that guilt. Because really, I'm just saying some people get really stressed about the cleaning that they have to do. But I want you to think about it in the grand scheme of things. When you get to the end of life, do you want someone to say wow, she or he kept a clean house? Or do you want people to say something else about you? So, I say that too. I'm hoping by saying that that lifts the pressure from you a little bit about feeling like you got to keep everything clean all the time. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not trifling. I love a clean house. I like organization. That's my thing. But at the same time, I don't let not getting around to cleaning stress me out. And sometimes I have to push cleaning a little lower on my list because I work full time or maybe I'm caring for someone that has a medical issue. So sometimes the priority of cleaning falls lower on my list and that doesn't mean I'll let the house go for that long or anything. It just means that I chose to not get stressed over cleaning. In the grand scheme of things there are way more important things to worry about.
So, I hope you found this video helpful. What are your tips for cleaning when you don't feel like it? Please put it in the comments. I love talking to you guys in the comments. This is Tonya helping you feel more organized, so this can be your best year yet.