I am a very messy person by nature.
However, neatness, cleanliness, and organization are traits that are important to me. They're traits I want to improve, both because of character development, and because I think it'll improve my life and the life of my family members to be living in a clean house and not in a pig sty.
The problem is, I try to focus on working on myself, but it usually peters out because of lack of motivation and accountability.
This blog is my accountability and maybe my support group and motivation.
I am due to give birth in approximately 30 days with my third kid. My life is already pretty hectic; adding a third kid will only serve to make my life more hectic.
If I can add some peace and sanity to my life by keeping the house orderly, I know the transition from mother of 2 to mother of 3 will be a lot easier.
Hence, this challenge.
30 days of cleaning, accountability, and rewarding.
30 days in which I will try my very best to make the main living areas in our home neat and tidy 2 times a day.
My husband comes home from work approximately 3:00 PM. I go to sleep somewhere around 12 AM.
2 times per day, I am challenging myself to get the place clean to a certain standard, and post pictures of the results on this blog.
What standard do I mean?
At 3:00 PM and before bed, I want the kitchen counters to be clean from clutter, cleaned, and wiped down, the kitchen sinks to be free from dishes and cleaned out, the dining room table to be free of major mess/clutter, and the kitchen/dining room floor to be cleared from toys, clutter, garbage, etc...
This is my challenge, and it is what I will try to stick to.
2 times per day I will be snapping photographs. 2 times per day I will be posting them on my blog. Even if the kitchen is a mess. Maybe embarrassment might motivate me?
My reward? Aside for feeling good about myself and my clean home, I will be rewarding myself.
If out of the next 60 times I am going to try to get the place clean I manage to actually clean it 40 times, I will buy myself some nice earrings, something I don't need but really would like. If I clean it 20 times out of the next 60, I will treat myself out to a sushi dinner.
I will also give myself extra points for each of the following:
Make the beds in the master bedroom.
Clean and tidy the floor in the master bedroom.
Sort, fold, and put away all the clean laundry.
Make the beds and tidy the children's bedroom.
Clean and tidy the bathroom.
Mop the floor.
Empty the dish racks completely.
If I manage to do all those on top of everything else, I'll give myself some other reward, I still have to figure out what.
So, here's my challenge.
Think I'm up to it?
Why 30 days? Because 30 days of working on myself, I feel, will be enough to hopefully start off a good habit, break me out of my messy rut, and get me into a good cleaning routine.
Who wants to join me in this challenge?
Great goals. As a fellow messy, I applaud your efforts. Hope it goes well.
ReplyDeleteWishing you tremendous success also a messy who identify's with your struggles I wish you tremendous success I may have to join you as well. I'm growing uor 2nd baby and have been feeling very driven toward a goal like this!
ReplyDeleteWay to go! I'm not good with self motivation and improvement trends don't seem to last.
ReplyDeleteI'm cheering you on!
@DavetteB
DavetteBrown.com
I'm not either so good with self motivation or sticking to resolutions. Which is why I'm blogging about it. Because then I'm accountable to the wider world, which makes me more likely to stick to it.
ReplyDeleteThis rule probably doesn't work when you have kids, but I have a "10 minute rule". We clean the entire apartment once per week (dusting, mopping, vacuuming, etc.) and during the week we take 10 minutes per day to do whatever needs to be done- empty/load the dishwasher, tidy up the coffee table, etc. (doesn't include laundry since that takes more time). This keeps the apartment clean in between weekly cleanings. After a year or so of that, the rule is gone and it's just second nature for us. Good luck and I'll enjoy following!
ReplyDeleteAdding this blog to my Reader as well, I need some motivation!
ReplyDeleteSo I've been keeping this page open but too afraid to actually comment because I wasn't sure if I could commit myself to it or not. I used to stay at home, but now I'm back in school (a very frugal choice since I can go for free with help of government grants and scholarships) and I don't have as much time as I used to.
ReplyDeleteAfter I started a week-at-a-glance to help me prep for next semester, I realized I actually still have a ton of time left in my day for cleaning, cooking, studying and spending time with my family. So, I am officially putting my name in and I'll make a blog to post my results as well.
I've been working really hard on cleaning out my storage spaces, and the living room is finally clean. Now I just need to tackle my dirty kitchen.
Oh dear heavens, you are brave! Good luck with the challenge - you've set high goals! With 5 kids, I tend to seek improvement, not perfection. I always tell myself I will make my house "cleaner" not "clean" because there is always something that needs to be done. Then, I set my oven timer for 15 or 30 minutes, focus hard and clean, and then take a break to play with the kids or do something more enjoyable like cooking. With the state of my house sometimes, I may need to do this several times a day.
ReplyDeleteStacy, possibly if I didnt have kids and had a dishwasher, I'd be able to do it all in 10 minutes every day... but since I don't, and dishwashing takes me a while...
ReplyDeleteThanks Holly!
Kristin, 5 kids is different than 2 or 3. I'm also trying to include my kids in the cleaning. The problem is I generally clean so little and then spend so long rewarding myself that I need to set really concrete goals.
Erica, good for you!!!
a habit is a great idea. I'm really impressed. I have set myself similar goals and i find even after the motivation dies out and i am back to my lazy ways, i am not really back to my same self, because some things do become routine and are no longer a challenge. Good luck! I could well use a challenge like this.
ReplyDelete