Cleaning & Organizing

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.

Stats:

Start time 8:18am

1) Gather clean/cleanish clothes in closet & dresser: 19 minutes.
2) Clean out bag: 5 minutes.
3) Vacuum room: 20 minutes.

Break.

4) Clean/organize top of desk: 41 minutes.
5) Clean/ organize shelves above desk: 29 minutes.

End time: 10:46am
Total time spent, including break: almost 2.5 hours.

Hello again,

Thank you so much for the hugs & thanks Slumberkitty & unaluna! I was not expecting that when I reread this thread, so it was a nice surprise. It’s my day off today and I’d like to make it a habit to do some cleaning & organizing on all my days off, even if it’s for five minutes. I thought I’d finish cleaning my desk. Since it seems to take me longer than I’d expect, I’m dividing it up into four tasks:

1) Left drawer.
2) Right drawer.
3) Left cabinet.

Break

4) Right cabinet.
5) ?

This sounds like a good plan!

Stats:

Start time: 8:06am.

1) Left drawer: 7 minutes.
2) Right drawer: 2 minutes.
3) Left cabinet: 7 minutes.

Break

4) Right cabinet: 12 minutes.
5) Plastic tub: 19 minutes.

End time: 9:23am.
Total time spent: less than an hour & 20 minutes, including break.

Hey Float! We need all the organizing vibes we can get! I might attack my kitchen today - i have an empty garbage cart to fill.

I need to clean my room but I don't know where to start.

Starting is the hardest part.

Here’s what I managed to do yesterday:

1) Wipe bathroom mirror: 2 minutes.
2) Wipe bathroom sink: 11 minutes.
3) Wipe top of toilet: 5 minutes.

For a grand total of 18 minutes.

Here is what I may accomplish today:

1) Gather clean/clean-ish clothes in closet & dresser.
2) Clean out bag.
3) Vacuum sleeping area.

-Break-

4) Go through box of miscellaneous junk in sleeping area.
5) Wipe down surfaces in sleeping area.

The second hardest part is to just keep going.

Today’s stats:

Start time: 7:47am.

1) Gather clean/clean-ish clothes in closet & dresser: 13 minutes.
2) Clean out bag: 3 minutes.
3) Vacuum sleeping area: 15 minutes.

-Break-

4) Go through box of miscellaneous junk in sleeping area: 12 minutes.
5) Wipe down surfaces in sleeping area: 4 minutes.

End time: 9:07am.
Total time spent: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Thanks for the hugs SlumberKitty!

Today’s plan:
1) Gather clean-ish clothes in closet & dresser.
2) Clean out bag.
3) Vacuum room where I hang out when I’m home & awake.
-Break-
4) Transcribe work notes onto index cards.
5) Transcribe notes on desk onto index cards.

I can do it.

Today’s stats:

Start time 8:17am.

1) Gather clean-ish clothes in closet & dresser: 10 minutes.
2) Clean out bag: 3 minutes.
3) Vacuum room where I hang out when I’m home & awake: 20 minutes.
-Break-
4) Transcribe work notes onto index cards: 1 hour, 15 minutes.
5) Transcribe notes on desk onto index cards: put off for another day.

End time: 10:56am.
Time spent: about 2 hours & 40 minutes.

I like this idea of writing/typing this down. My husband and I have been trying to get better with keeping the house clean and organized. We have dogs and cats and live in an agricultural area with lots of dust, so, it gets challenging. Keeping a list and noting when we do things on the list could help. We did a good job yesterday cleaning out the dog hair under the stairs and organizing some stuff that is stored there, also throwing out some boxes from deliveries that were accumulating.

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.

It sounds like you are making good progress with your cleaning and organizing.

A few months ago I thought I had to move, so I tried to do some cleaning and organizing at my house, too. I made a lot of good progress on things that hadn't been cleaned up in years, but I haven't been able to finish completely because there is so much to do and it's pretty overwhelming... normally just tidying up to make sure things don't get too gross at my house is a lot for my energy level. But I am making lists to try to see what is the highest priority, and then on days when I feel up to it, I am doing a little bit of cleaning up and organizing.


I did manage to clean out a few cabinets in my kitchen and clean/organize a few areas of my basement, so it seems good to know where things are located and not have it be hazardous to walk around down there. Hopefully in another few years if I keep plugging away slowly I will see a big difference. That's what I tell myself to try not to get discouraged, anyway.

Today’s stats:

Start time: 7:45am.

1) Gather clean clothes in closet & dresser: 14 minutes.
2) Clean out bag: 4 minutes.
3) Vacuum room where I hang out when I’m home & awake: 25 minutes.

-Break-

4) Clean off shelves above desk: 6 minutes.
5) Clean off top of dresser & top dresser drawer: 27 minutes.

End time: 9:55am.
Total time spent: about 2 hours & 10 minutes.

I’ve been keeping up with cleaning & organizing on all my days off; I just don’t always keep track here.

I cleaned the fridge shelves & drawers for almost 2 hours today. I didn’t even get to the shelves in the door yet. Maybe next Sunday?

You're doing a great job! is it okay if I post in this thread too? If not I can make my own thread. I just wanted to post updates on my cleaning progress too. I spent most of the first two years of the pandemic barely cleaning. I've only just recently been able to start pushing myself to clean and organize frequently and I want to keep it up

Yesterday I wiped down all the counters and did my regular laundry.

This morning I washed my dishcloths in the laundry machine and dried them in the dryer, and I also thoroughly cleaned and changed the cats litterbox. Took out the trash too.

A few days ago I bought a bunch of folders and went through my 3 kitchen drawers that were all stuffed with various paperwork and stuff. I separated everything, threw out the stuff I didn't need, and put what was left into various folders depending on what I categorized them as. It looks so much better, and I can actually find stuff now

Tomorrow's big goal is to clean the shower

Hi Blue_Bird, yes please: post as much as you like! It sounds like you’re making excellent progress; keep it up.

Thank you!

Today so far I cleaned the cats litterbox again, vacuumed the bathroom and mopped the bathroom floor, washed my sheets and put a fresh set on my bed/made my bed. Also cleaned my shower floor.

Later today I plan on vacuuming and mopping the kitchen floor, then vacuuming the rest of my apartment and cleaning the rest of the bathroom (sink,etc)

Edit: I finished everything! also took some trash out

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It took me a little under an hour and twenty minutes to clean the inside of the fridge door today. A family member told me a neighbor who used to own a restaurant recommended a cleanser called Bar Keepers Friend that really helped. I have to clean at my new office too, so hopefully that will help make cleaning more of a habit?