Thursday, July 26, 2007

Ask the organiser - how much cleaning & organising time?


I love receiving emails from my readers, like this one I received a week or two ago:

I have ongoing health issues, don't want to spend all day doing tasks (which it seems I do as I am slower), want to enjoy life more and have more balance.

I was wondering in general how much time you spend each day/week cleaning/ organising, etc. in your home? Although I think these things are important, I am having a tough time getting a balance and needing more time for fun & just stepping away from it all.

May I ask how you put in time for fun/hobbies each day/week? Do you limit your cleaning/organising time?

Here is my answer, LC.

You definitely don’t want to spend all day doing tasks – you’re right, there is more to life!

1. I have a cleaning lady who comes in once a week to do a thorough clean, especially bathrooms and kitchen (because those are the non-negotiable areas I’m really fussy about) and ironing. I don’t do ironing – ever!

2. My husband and I do a quick clean and tidy-up every other day of the week. My husband does the dishes and makes the bed and I do the rest. I would estimate that in total, we spend about an hour every day doing cooking and cleaning.

3. I use my weekend to set up and plan the week ahead so that it allows me to do bare minimum during the week. This includes cooking, getting gifts ready (if necessary), etc.

4. I also do more organising on the weekend because I cook more. Let me explain. If I cook or bake, I have to stay in the kitchen area because otherwise my food burns. (I tried using the timer but my study is on the other side of the house so I can’t hear it). Sometimes if I have to reply to lots of emails, I take a miniature timer with me but staying in the kitchen is better!

5. In between the chopping and stirring, I’ll make my shopping list, menu plan, check my cupboards and drawers to do some quick organising maintenance work.

6. I definitely make time for fun every day – I believe it’s VITAL and encourage you to add it to your to-do list every day.

If you don't schedule it in, the time will get swallowed up with "other stuff".

I read books for about an hour a day, sometimes more and blogs for about 30 – 60 minutes. And then on weekends, I read some more, we go to movies, bookshops, and so on. I actually write "finish Queen of the Castle" or whatever the book is on my weekend to-do list to make sure I get in some self-care and fun time.

7. I have many household systems in place so that I don't have to spend hours doing any one thing. It's easier to slot something into a system than to have to make a decision every single time.

Hope this helped!


Readers, do you have any other ideas on how LC can create time for fun and hobbies on a daily/ weekly basis?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi, LC here and I wanted to thank you so much for answering my question and posting it for others too.

You've given me some food for thought and I hope to hear from others as well.

I've never been a very good "stick to my schedule" type of person and tend to go more towards routines. I think I need a better mix of that.

Thanks so much!

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