I think I keep a pretty clean house, especially with my weekly cleaning plan. However, there are those areas that aren’t cleaned on a regular basis. I also have areas that need cleaning out because they just get junky after awhile. That is why I developed a semi-organized deep cleaning plan.
I used to do this over the summer, but then I got tired of using up so much of my summer break for cleaning. Managing my mundane daily chores was supposed to be creating more time for other things, not less. Also, when I moved into administration, I didn’t have as much time off in the summer, and I sure didn’t want to use what precious time I had doing mundane chores!
That’s when I decided to develop a different schedule. I actually start this right after the first of the year, and I work to complete it as soon as I can, but my goal is to be completed by the start of summer each year.
I usually try to take a room or two a month, depending on which rooms I’m cleaning and on how much we have going on that month. I divide things up into very small chunks so that I can accomplish each thing quickly. I try to add these to my regular cleaning schedule so that I am only adding maybe 10 or 15 minutes a few days a week. You can do more, but this seems to keep me motivated and helps me accomplish more. Sometimes I might do more than one of these additions if I have time.
When I say deep cleaning, I am talking about wiping down all surfaces and getting into all the little crevices. I dust all the surfaces inside of closets, including molding, trim, and shelves. I clean out closets, organize, and throw away or donate things that I haven’t used. I pull furniture away from walls and dust everything and vacuum or clean that area. I wash all bedding and deodorize mattresses and pillows as well as wipe down all surfaces of the bed frames and vacuum underneath. I clean any blinds in rooms and deep clean the windows. I don’t have curtains, but this would be a time to wash or refresh them. I make sure all baseboards are wiped down and use my crevice tool on my vacuum to get into all the little areas around the baseboards. Ceiling fans get completely cleaned.
In the bathrooms and the kitchen I scrub all the cabinets inside and out, including the cabinet doors and trim, making sure I get into all the little crevices. I clean out all the cabinets and wipe down all the shelves/drawers and vacuum out any debris. I also generally do some reorganizing.
In the laundry room I do the same, including pulling the washer and dryer away from the wall so that I can clean behind and underneath. Well, my husband pulls them out and I do the cleaning!
In the living/dining area I do all those same things as well as getting up underneath pieces of furniture that are too heavy to move. I spend a lot of time on my hands and knees or on a ladder during many of these cleaning sessions!
When my kids were home, I would spend time in their rooms cleaning out toys, junk, etc – usually when they weren’t home! That was mainly when they were younger. As they got older, that was a task they were assigned.
I know this sounds like a lot – and it can be – but when you break it down into little pieces and you don’t expect to get it all done in just a few weeks, it becomes a manageable task. I relate it to the analogy you have heard before of how to eat an elephant – just one bite at a time.
Like I said, all this deep cleaning is in addition to what I do on a normal basis. I usually break it up into simple things like one day it might be clean the blinds and the window. The next day it might be wipe down the baseboards. Then it might be clean the two nightstands. These are just examples, but you get the idea that you just want to do a little bit each day in a room until you get that one finished. Or you may like to do all one kind of chore throughout the house before moving to a different kind of chore. You have to do what works for you.
You also may already do some of these things more regularly, or you may already have a schedule of your own for these things. I know I have seen several suggestions of what to do on a weekly or monthly basis. I don’t really have that kind of advice. I just make sure that I plan for this extra cleaning and that I put it on my weekly/daily to-do list at the beginning of the week. That helps to motivate me to get those little extra tasks done. However, if something comes up and I can’t, it’s not a big deal. I just plan for it later. Just don’t do that too much because then you will keep putting it off and it won’t ever get done.
Maybe this deep cleaning is not for you and you don’t worry about it. That’s fine too. I just know for me, I feel better and more at peace when I have a calm, clean, and organized environment. I also want what we spent our hard-earned money on to last and look as fresh as possible for as long as possible. It may be mundane, but it is manageable, and it may actually make your life feel more calm and peaceful. Let me know what you think.
Managing the Mundane 