Secrets of Mind and Reality

How to get your household cleaning and organizing down to a science, in the least amount of time and effort!

Most people – at least most people I know – don’t have house cleaning and organizing tasks on their short list of fun activities. When you’ve been doing it for decades, this work does tend to lose it’s luster. As far as I can tell, Brie, of ‘Desperate Housewives’ might enjoy cleaning, and organizing must surely be her forte. Oh yes, Martha Stewart, that venerable house keeper, also says she loves vacuuming in particular, and cleaning and organizing in general. I wish I did, but I must admit that cleaning the oven for the 1000th time, or washing mirrors a few times a week, doesn’t really ring any bells for me.

That said, the job has to be done. If you’re not Brie or Martha either, here are a few ways to refine the house cleaning and organizing process, such that you spend the least amount of time doing the work, with the best results and fewest repeats of organizing closets and getting rid of clutter, which as we all know, grows all by itself.

Little problems, left unattended, become big problems. You’re cooking a pot of spaghetti and get a spill on the stove. Some of that apple pie baking in the oven dribbles on to the oven floor. The kids sprayed toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror during the vigorous morning brushing. Rather than just view these little cleaning problems with dismay, just wipe them up right away. You’re done and the home is still reasonably clean. If you let them sit there, it takes twice as long to scrub off the hardened mess. Besides, it can be embarrassing if a guest shows up with your house sporting multiple splats in multiple locations.

Unless closet space is properly managed and organized, any closet is a candidate for the junk drawer syndrome. Just because you don’t see it until you open the door doesn’t mean it isn’t lurking in there. The first rule of closet organizing is to store only those things which belong there.

As some of you may know, kids sometimes ‘clean’ their rooms by depositing a collection of items they don’t know where else to put, in your linen closet. Spot such indiscretions quickly, piling the items in a cardboard box and delivering it back to the child’s room. For a first infraction, help them sort through and distribute the toys or what have you where they do belong, to give them a chance to learn these basic cleaning and organizing tasks.

If you’re the clutter culprit, use the same cardboard box method to remove items that don’t belong. Individual plastic boxes with lids are great for keeping things in their place, clean, dust free and organized. Learn to discipline yourself! Now, go through the cardboard box and put it away. If you can’t spare the time now, pencil it on to your calendar’s to-do list and get it done.

Perhaps the real secret to cleaning and organizing is to not let things get out of hand in the first place. It may sound simplistic, but, hey, it works. Make ‘do it now’ your motto.

You’ve still got to vacuum, dust and launder the clothes, but without all the clutter to deal with, and a modicum of organization, it all goes so much faster, every week.