Cleaning & Organizing

Buffy01 · Jan 08, 2023 at 05:36 PM

I clean out one drawer in my chess

and hang pants up on my pants hanger in my closet

Buffy01 · Jan 09, 2023 at 10:23 AM

Remodeling one of the bathroom today

unaluna · Jan 18, 2023 at 04:18 PM

I think my ozempic cooties are really over, like two months after taking it for a lousy two weeks. It was effective, but my whole abdomen ached so much i could barely get out of bed. Plus the pain woke me up when i tried to sleep. Plus i was like limping to the bathroom, all hunched over like a great great grampa.

But today! I just worked for about an hour, cleaning up a mess in what is my exercise area, when i can get to it! I dont know where the energy came from! Altho admittedly i was sitting as i sorted. Still!

Buffy01 · Jan 18, 2023 at 05:42 PM

Declutter one basket out from under my bedroom which I found some stuff that I been looking trying to find for several months.

Buffy01 · May 21, 2023 at 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

Hi everybody,

I want to be better about cleaning & organizing. I read a book recently that gave me an idea about making dreaded chores more tolerable by challenging yourself to do them as quickly as possible. Worth a shot.

Since it’s my day off today, I’ve got the time/energy to try this out. I’m planning on doing three things, with two additional things if I feel up to it. I tend to overdo & then quit, so it’s important to pace myself. The top three things:

1) Gather all my clean & clean-ish clothes in two places: the dresser & the closet. Right now they’re in about five places, which makes getting ready in the morning a hassle.

2) Clean out my bag. Pretty self-explanatory & “should” only take a minute or two, but we’ll find out...

3) Vacuum the room where I hang out when I’m at home & awake. This is the most labor-intensive because if/when I do it, I like to move what I can out of the room & sometimes move the furniture to get behind it.

The two alternate things, if I’m feeling up to it:

4) Clean out & organize my desk. My desk doesn’t have much storage, so it fills up quickly. It doesn’t help that I love paper.

5) Clean & organize the shelves above my desk. I purposely don’t put much up there because it would just get dusty & I like an empty spot for placing things short-term.

Sounds like you have a great plan. Keep trying it will get better.

rechu · May 22, 2023 at 10:48 AM

I finally got around to changing the bedroom curtains. The old ones were not possible to wash any more. We live near farms and the dust they kick up settles on everything and gets impregnated into the cloth. One also had the beginning of mold growth.

I had bought the new blackout curtains plus those sheer curtains that go close to the window probably two months ago, but could not get motivated to actually get around to it. Finally, yesterday, I got sick of looking at all the dust and grossness and took care of it. I cleaned the wall too and the hooks that had pet hair and dust on them.

It looks so much better. The new blackout curtain also blocks out light better, so we don't see lights like car headlights when we are trying to sleep. The material is thicker and should help keep the room warmer with the upcoming winter cold.

I was still a bit sad because the first thing we did when we moved into this house was installing those curtains.

Buffy01 · May 23, 2023 at 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

Today’s stats:

Start time: 8:49am

1) Gather clean clothes in closet & dresser: 6 minutes.
2) Clean out bag: 1 minute.
3) Spray & wipe down shower: 33 minutes.
-Break-
4) Scrub toilet: 2 minutes.
5) Sweep & wipe down bathroom floor: 16 minutes.

End time: 10:59am.
Total time spent: 2 hours & 10 minutes.

I listened to part of an audio book while I was cleaning the bathroom, which made it more tolerable.

Sound like you have a great plan.

Buffy01 · May 23, 2023 at 07:46 PM

I got a small organizer box to put stuff in that is now in my closet that took stuff off

my entertainment center

FloatThruThis · May 28, 2023 at 11:14 AM

Thanks Buffy01. I’ve hit some milestones for this goal: I can now automatically vacuum my room once weekly without setting a timer for it & I’ve also used up one bottle of my homemade cleaning solution (1 cup distilled water, 1 cup cleaning vinegar, & 10ish drops lemon essential oil).

I’m here today because the bathroom is getting gross again and I dread cleaning it. It’s only going to get worse. It’s not so terrible: the surfaces just need to be wiped down. If I just start too, perhaps the family member I share it with will help pick up the slack, maybe?

But, yeah. Ugh…

FloatThruThis · May 28, 2023 at 01:41 PM

Today’s stats!

Cleaning the Bathroom
1) wipe down mirror: 1 min
2) wipe down sink: 17 min
3)wipe down toilet & scrub toilet bowl: 8 min
-break- 10:20am to 10:44min
4) wipe down shower: 18 min
5) sweep & wipe down floor: 12 min

Start time: 9:52am
End time : 11:18am
Total time spent: 1hr & 26min

Notes: I’ve gotten much better & faster at cleaning since I do it for at least 40min now every day at work. My shower cleaner is a homemade solution: 1 cup cleaning vinegar & 1 cup blue Dawn dishwashing soap. First thing: squirt the toilet bowl cleaner so it can sit a few minutes before scrubbing. I used something called lime away that was in the bathroom already & it’s okay. I use two microfiber cloths for the surfaces, one as a wet wipe, the other dry with my other cleaning solution of 1 cup cleaning vinegar, 1 cup distilled water, & 10ish drops lemon essential oil. The bathroom looks much better now, not perfect, but better. For my mid cleaning break, I made myself some cinnamon toast for the carbs & sugar. Now I’m drinking a beer & listening to my how soon is now? Pandora radio station as a reward. I’m happy with it.

Buffy01 · May 29, 2023 at 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

Thanks Buffy01. I’ve hit some milestones for this goal: I can now automatically vacuum my room once weekly without setting a timer for it & I’ve also used up one bottle of my homemade cleaning solution (1 cup distilled water, 1 cup cleaning vinegar, & 10ish drops lemon essential oil).

I’m here today because the bathroom is getting gross again and I dread cleaning it. It’s only going to get worse. It’s not so terrible: the surfaces just need to be wiped down. If I just start too, perhaps the family member I share it with will help pick up the slack, maybe?

But, yeah. Ugh…

Your welcome

FloatThruThis · Jul 08, 2023 at 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

I cleaned out the gray cabinet today instead.

Start: 9:09am

1) top shelf: 1h, 13m

Break: 10:23am - 11:12am

2) bottom shelf: 1h, 20m

End: 12:32pm
Total time spent, including break: 3h, 23m

This felt horrible, but I pushed through anyway. I’ve identified about 30 books I want to donate to the little free libraries. In addition, I have a bag of trash & a bag of recycling. Now it’s time to zone out! I earned it.

Exactly 6 months later. I needed something to do. This gray cabinet is like a sort of catch-all for me, so it’s time to have another go at it.

1) clear the floor for a place to put stuff: 3min
2) empty gray cabinet of everything: 6min
3) wipe it down, inside & out: 5min
4) start putting it all back: 30min
#break#19min
5) finish putting it all back: 42min

Start time: 9:18am
End time: 11:02am
Total time spent: 1hr & 44min

Notes: I was glad I wrote about it earlier so I could be somewhat prepared for it to feel not great. I identified 25 books to donate; down 5 books from the time before. Still too much stuff, but I did pull out a few things to trash & papers to recycle.

Next steps: list donateable books from shortest to longest for the ones I want to read first. Clean out containers. Organize books I’m keeping so the reference books are easier to access instead of organizing them by size.

FloatThruThis · Jul 08, 2023 at 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

Next steps: list donateable books from shortest to longest for the ones I want to read first.

Listed 13 shortest to longest and added them to the to be read pile. Identified 7 to take to the little free library tomorrow, hopefully. Four are to be skimmed and saved for my own little free library if I ever get it done & placed. One is to be donated to the regular library. Good progress.

Buffy01 · Jul 08, 2023 at 04:54 PM

We just decluttering

some of our dishes to donation

FloatThruThis · Jan 14, 2024 at 02:56 PM

I’m not feeling like doing anything productive, especially cleaning. I set a stopwatch to clean the top of my desk: 25 minutes. It’s a good thing too, since I found some mail about my health insurance that needed actions taken.

Rose76 · Jan 14, 2024 at 05:13 PM

Finding misplaced mail. Wow, I can relate to that.

I'm going to look over this thread for ideas - like timing how long to complete tasks. My apartment became chaotic over the holidays, and I can't seem to get the place back together again. It is so depressing. I just want to stay in bed, hide under the covers and ignore the rest of the place.

I still have Christmas decorations half put away in boxes strewn around the place in every room. I go thru this every year - post holiday season blues.

I'm sick of eating TV dinners just because I don't want to have pots and pans to clean. That's because I don't want to cause another mess on top of all that's waiting for me to get done. I'm such a procrastinator. It's an awful trait.

FloatThruThis · Jan 20, 2024 at 10:44 AM

I had a dream I was cleaning out a drawer and found a carton of milk from 2017; also, Molly Ringwald was there. Random, but it is inspiring me to want to go through some drawers today. Yippee!

Rose76 · Jan 20, 2024 at 10:06 PM

7 year old carton of milk. That cracked me up. But, hey, whatever inspires you.

I'm doing better. Xmas stuff is almost all squared away. My place is looking much better. Now I have some momentum, so tomorrow will be easier.

LadyShadow · Jan 27, 2024 at 10:45 AM

Today's stats:

10am - Made the bed, cleaned the dishes, fixed up the couch.

I want to try and keep myself accountable here. I need to clean my whole house soon and do laundry. I think Monday I am going to tackle that.

FloatThruThis · Jan 28, 2024 at 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloatThruThis

I’ve also used up one bottle of my homemade cleaning solution (1 cup distilled water, 1 cup cleaning vinegar, & 10ish drops lemon essential oil)…

Exactly 8 months later and I had to make up a new bottle of homemade cleaning solution. I used up the rest of the distilled water plus some filtered water from the fridge for the rest. I used 11 drops of sweet orange essential oil, only because it was the first bottle I found. I marked the spray bottle at the one cup & two cup mark so I won’t have to use the measuring cup next time. I don’t use a lot of cleaning solution because I use a micro fiber cloth and the micro fiber cloth works better when not overly saturated. This is what works for me.

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FloatThruThis Grand Poohbah Member Since Dec 2021 Location: USA Posts: 1,946 2 2,147 hugs given	Jan 14, 2024 at 02:56 PM #75 I’m not feeling like doing anything productive, especially cleaning. I set a stopwatch to clean the top of my desk: 25 minutes. It’s a good thing too, since I found some mail about my health insurance that needed actions taken.
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FloatThruThis Grand Poohbah Member Since Dec 2021 Location: USA Posts: 1,946 2 2,147 hugs given	Jan 20, 2024 at 10:44 AM #77 I had a dream I was cleaning out a drawer and found a carton of milk from 2017; also, Molly Ringwald was there. Random, but it is inspiring me to want to go through some drawers today. Yippee!
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Rose76 Legendary Member Since Mar 2011 Location: USA Posts: 12,636 (SuperPoster!) 13 5,469 hugs given	Jan 20, 2024 at 10:06 PM #78 7 year old carton of milk. That cracked me up. But, hey, whatever inspires you. I'm doing better. Xmas stuff is almost all squared away. My place is looking much better. Now I have some momentum, so tomorrow will be easier.
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