Whew, what a week!
I worked only one day last week: Friday. It felt crazy weird and I’m still in a bit of a fog after having so many days off of work (long story short, I finally got the Rona!) Luckily, since I was not sick for very long, I was able to tackle many long-forgotten projects that had stacked up in my closets and hidden drawers. I was also able to clean the house in a more thorough manner than I have in a long time. But I’m getting ahead of myself!
I had basically one assignment this week. It needed to happen every evening, no questions asked, no excuses taken.
Wash my dishes.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well . . . kind of.
Some of us hate dishes. Yes, I just lumped myself into that category. Surprise, surprise – I am not perfect when it comes to household “chores” and necessities. I was not angry when Dana K. White told me to wash my dishes, but I was extremely tempted to roll my eyes and I’m sure I at least groaned inwardly if not audibly. But I looked at my kitchen and decided I needed to change some things.
So off I went, to wash my dishes.
I did it every night before hopping into bed. And you know what? It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Here’s what I learned from week one:
- My dishwasher is really helpful, and it’s there for a reason: to be used.
- When I use my dishwasher wisely and daily, I don’t actually have to hand wash many dishes. How inspiring.
- If I put away my clean dishes every morning before doing anything else, my counter is clear and I’m able to fill the dishwasher slowly throughout the day rather than having a massive pile of gross and hardening dirty dishes waiting for me to tackle for BOTH hand washing and putting in the dishwasher.
- When I tackle my dishes at the same time every night, it doesn’t take me very long since I am keeping on top of everything DAILY! Fewer dishes stack up because I’m dealing with it frequently.
- I feel so free, accomplished, and productive when I don’t have to worry about when I’m going to tackle my kitchen, because I have my set apart time to tackle it and (this is the best part!) it’s staying under control.
Are you inspired to try this yourself? Please consider trying it! It’s well worth the work.
But that’s not all that I learned this week. I kept reading the other two books Dana has published, and I finished one of them, Organizing for the Rest of Us. Dana talks about TPAD (time passage awareness disorder) multiple times. I felt a prick every time that little acronym came across my line of sight while I read. I kept pushing the thought aside that maybe I have trouble understanding how quickly or how slowly time is passing while I work.
Dana mentioned that she timed herself doing household “chores” or necessities that she hated in particular to help herself understand the actual amount of time she was spending tackling that particular job.
I don’t detest sweeping and mopping, and I’m always so happy after I do it; however, I have always felt that it is at least a two hour process to sweep and mop my entire house (I have approximately 1600 square feet of house.) I decided one evening last week to time myself sweeping and mopping.
I was shocked, astonished, and completely blown away by the numbers.
I apparently suffer from TPAD. I had zero concept for how long it actually takes me to sweep and mop.
- Sweeping – 12 minutes 15 seconds
- Mopping – 24 minutes 59 seconds
Do you see that?? I can sweep and mop my ENTIRE house in less than 45 minutes.
I will say, sweeping takes a lot less time for me than it probably does for most. My brother gifted me a small shop-vac to use in my house. It is a wonderful little vacuum, and I cannot remember how I handled the sweeping before I had it. It’s a bit of an inconvenience to carry around and I have to switch plugins 2 or 3 times to reach everything in the house, but it is really so fast! And now that I’ve officially timed myself, I can see that having to carry it around and change plugins doesn’t truly affect the speed of cleaning with it. I’ll link my shop-vac below for anyone interested!
I used two methods of mopping when I timed myself. The first method was to use a swiffer mop. Someone gave me an old, used swiffer jet when I mentioned that mopping was causing me difficulties. I was extremely grateful at the time, because I could not mop without leaving massive streaks on my floor. Swiffer works well; however, I’ve got an issue with it.
It’s honestly a little on the expensive side.
Shocking, I know, but I didn’t learn this for a long time. We used swiffer mops most of the time when I was growing up. I knew nothing else! But getting a swiffer mop last year, I realized how much money I can so easily spend on swiffer pads – even the off-brand, supposedly-cheaper ones. So I decided to use up the pads I had left, and then will be decluttering my swiffer mop.
That leaves me with the second method of mopping – Norwex mop and hot water.
I originally hated this method, and could not do it in a way that prevented streaks. However, I’ve learned over time to mop with the grain of the wood (duh), and to spray a little all-purpose cleaner in heavier traffic areas to help with bigger messes. I also rinse out my mop frequently, about every 2-4 feet of floor. It has helped tremendously, and I’m now returning completely to this method of mopping. I’ll link Norwex below if you haven’t tried their cleaning products (I highly recommend, and not just the mop!)
Let’s wrap it up.
I learned so much this week, and I can’t wait to see what happens this next week as I continue with week two of this little challenge. In the mean time, enjoy your Monday, and go read a book! 🙂
Shop-vac: https://www.amazon.com/DeWALT-Portable-Gallon-Wet-Dry/dp/B07BYHM9NK/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2ZSWZ5UUOL9YI&keywords=small+shop+vac&qid=1644265873&sprefix=small+shopvac%2Caps%2C562&sr=8-8
Norwex mop: https://shopus.norwex.biz/en_US/customer/shop/product-detail/1809?categoryName=Floor
