Sheepish In Shropshire (I mean-GR)

***I am guest posting today over at Dot in the City about "what I'm looking forward to about fall." I'll wait while you go and check it out....okay, welcome back.***

Do you ever feel sheepish? I do. In fact, the latest "sheepish" moment was just yesterday.

And while my sheepish moment should  be that yes, I am wearing that shirt again,
its not. =) How many bloggers can claim a wine with their name? I love Barefoot!

I did that Rhythm Method post last week. It has actually gotten a lot of views (for me), but NO comments.

Now, almost all my posts get some sort of comment. I kind of was wondering why that was.

Then, I did the 10-4 Goody Buddy link up yesterday. One of the questions was, do you have a cleaning schedule. And I was like, of course. And I shared it.

Well, of the 9 of us who have linked up so far-only 2 of us have a cleaning schedule. Thanks, Hannah, (Hurely-Love in my side bar) for helping me feel just a wee bit less sheepish.

I do have a cleaning schedule. And I'm proud of it? Not really.=)

I am just a list person. I thrive on order and clean, not chaos. Chaos gives me itches.

I have written daily and weekly to-do lists for myself since about 6th grade. I have had made short term and long term goals since then too. I am a very goal oriented person.

These days I make a weekly list, that encompasses my weekly rhythm, in order to accomplish everything that I feel needs done. Part of it is to help me remember the easy to forget things. Part of it is just the good feeling I get to check things off a list. Hey, its the small things, people.

I like the smell of scotch tape too. Call me weird.

So, it is the first week of school, and the first week of the fall schedule/rhythm. You may ask, how are you doing at it, Miss Barefoot Hippie Girl?

And I would tell you, that in some respects our week looks like the blue print I gave you last week, and in some respects it doesn't.

Because, frankly, that is the thing about schedules...they are meant to be broken. Really.

First day of school. And, no, why would I go to the trouble
of taking individual pictures, let alone
of making individuals signs with their grade on them?

My week is off since Labor Day was Monday. That means that all the chores have been bumped a day. No, this girl didn't labor on Labor Day. Are you kidding? I did enough of that in my youth.

I shopped on Tuesday, started the vacuuming and dusting on Wednesday (I am actually writing this Wednesday to post early Thursday), and the plan is to clean the bathrooms and floors tomorrow.

Remember, the key to a rhythm is not to throw in the towel at a hiccup, but to start where you are, and go from there.

But, to get back to the list, cleaning schedule thing...some people are goal oriented. Some people are most artistic.

Regardless of whether you are artistic or goal oriented, no one likes a dirty house. But, I personally know very few people that like to clean. I know you are out there, just like the people who don't like chocolate. But you are few and far between.

While I don't get geeked about cleaning the thing I dislike the most about it is the time it takes for the amount of time it takes to get undone. Murphy's law states that the day you scrub the sink, the husband will shave. Or the kids will splatter mud on the walls.

Regardless-like it or not-for the most part, having a clean house is motivation enough for me to get off my butt and get it done.

Plus I have a little work force that helps me-dirty the house AND clean it up-Freckles by doing chores and reading Junie B. Jones to me while I am cleaning. BMV doing some vacuuming and a whole lot of other things. I rarely do dishes. That is the kids' realm. And I only vacuum once a week. BMV keeps it together the other couple days.

I did a little poll on my Facebook page last week. (you just may want to like it if you haven't yet) What is your favorite cleaning chore? What is your least favorite?

Now, mind you, I didn't get a plethora of responses, but cleaning dislikes were all over the place, from doing dishes, to cleaning floors, to scrubbing the shower stall, to dusting. Only two responses were given for the favorite, and they both were the same-laundry. It gets done. And you can fold it while doing something more pleasant.

See, I told you-hardly anyone actually really likes cleaning.

Remember my front garden-that I planted the wild flower blend in?
Well, it has turned out far more wild than flower.

The satisfaction I get from cleaning is that my house smells good, I can check it off my list, I am not dying from dust inhalation, and it really doesn't take that long to clean. I don't like cleaning but I like a clean house.

this week's daily to-do's with a few this to accomplish sometime this week.

I live in a moderate size house-1500 square feet. It takes about an hour to vacuum, if I am moving furniture, and getting crooks and crannies. It takes about 25 minutes (max) to dust. It takes 35 minutes to scrub the upstairs bathroom, another 15 for the downstairs, and maybe 30 minutes to scrub the kitchen and dining room floors.

And trust me, my goal is to spend the least amount of my time cleaning as is possible!

That is a maximum total time of 2:45 minutes per week. I can spare that! I spend that much time surfing the web and writing my blog every day. (yes, I shamefully admitted that)

If though, I look at 2 hours and 45 minutes as a chunk, I just don't have that kind of time! When am I going to carve that much time out? Instead, I cut my chores in half, and spend a bit over an hour on them two days a week.

Yes, that is a Jedi mind trick. Instead of thinking 3 hours!!! (exaggerating the total time when looking at the insurmountable whole) I think to myself that I have an hour, I can do....

Jena at Organizing Everyday has come up with her 1 hour blitz. She has a whole game plan laid out for focused organizing and/or cleaning for one hour. If you think in one hour increments, check her out.

But let me divide this down even further. Maybe you don't feel as though you have an hour to spare. Well, how about 5 minutes? How about 10 minutes? How about 15 minutes? We all can find 5-15 minute chunks of time in our days when we are between other things.

My mother in law is all into Fly Lady. Fly Lady is a whole plan based on little steps and small increments. To get started she has Baby Steps and she proposes spending 15 minutes per day decluttering. Doesn't that sound doable?

And by the way, I think cutting down on clutter is the key to organization and a clean house. We have so much stuff! That we then have to clean, and clean around and keep organized. I am a big proponent of "throw it out!" 7 (the book) may be a bit radical (check out Elizabeth's review) but the underlying concept is not. I have too much stuff. I keep getting rid of it, as Mr. Hippie brings it home. I am not even joking.

If you are an artistic soul, Jena has great ideas for you too. I have noticed that artists tend to like beautiful charts and printables and schedules. It is all in the detail and ascetics of it. Well, I do some of the leg work for you, and looked up a bunch of FREE printables. If you don't like any of these, Pinterest is full of gorgeous things people have put together to keep themselves on top of things. So peruse away...

Day by Day cleaning schedule
Clean Mama's monthly cleaning link
Four printables
Mommy tracked
Daily Homeschool schedule, and kid's chore list
Home school daily, weekly & monthly schedules

Well, my rhythm is beckoning. As is the vacuum and rag. I hope this was helpful and encouraging. My rhythm works for me.

Do you like cleaning and house chores? What is your least favorite? What is your most favorite? How do you get over the monotony of daily, weekly and monthly chores? What motivates you to do it? Leave me a comment with your strategies.


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