Clean Enough Bliss

Walking into a clean house where the floors are glistening, the room smells of scented lilac or something equally yummy is an amazing feeling. It gives you a tremendous feeling of calm and bliss and somehow seems to make the day go better. There never seems to be enough time to get my house as spotless as I’d like it so it’s been a struggle to write about all of my thirty blissful things.

It seems as if I’d get one area of my house clean and somewhere else would get messy. There never seems to be enough time to get all the laundry done and put away, all the dishes done, and everything else that needs to get done done. I also want to spend time with my family, work on my business, exercise, and do a lot of other things that add value to my house. I’ve been thinking a lot about what constitutes a clean house and whether or not my house really has to be model clean and I’ve realized a couple of things:

Processes

I need to spend sometime working on putting processes in place that will help me keep my house clean and help me keep my sanity. I still don’t have all the processes figured out and I’ve also realized that at least until I get these processes working smoothly, they have to be processes that I will make sure get done as my family isn’t always wonderful about cleaning house and putting things away. I’m also hoping eventually to put together a class called “Process Your Life” with tips on how to set up processes that will help people make their households run more smoothly. So far these are the processes that I’ve put in place:

• Purse holder–I’ve put some hooks in the hall closet for all of my purses so that I don’t dump them all over and spend hours looking for stuff. I’m still note completely perfect at putting things away, but it really does help to have one place to look for things and if I do forget, I’m pretty good about going and finding my purse and putting it away (okay, breaktime while I go put my purse away while I’m thinking about it).
• Key Holder–I’ve put a small dish by the door and am working hard to put my keys there as soon as I come in the door. This prevents the morning rush to get ready.
• Batching my laundry–I hate putting laundry away. It is my absolute least favorite chore and if I put my clothes away as soon as I do the laundry, it seems as if I’m always putting things away. Now, I wash my clothes when there is a hamper or two full and once all the loads are done, I take them up and hang them. This lets me do laundry once a week so I don’t feel like I’m always washing clothes. I’ve also made it clear that everyone in my house is responsible for their own clothes.
• Shredding my mail–Mail has been the bane of my existance since we moved to a more upscale suburb. It seems that we are on absolutely everyone’s mailing list. I’ve bought a shredder and now most of the mail gets shredded as soon as it comes in the door.

• Banking and Online Bill Pay–I’ve signed up for online bill pay from all of my standard accounts and I’ve set it up so I can send checks to all of my other smaller accounts (water bill, trash, etc.). This lets me see everything that is going on with my money from one place. It also means that I can either eliminate some of my mail or look at it quickly and shred it.

Asking for Help

I’ve learned that with my family, I can’t just expect them to see the work that needs to be done and do it. Instead I have to ask very specifically for what I want: “Can you run a load of dishes?” “Can you cook dinner tonight?” “Can you sweep the floor?” I’d love it if they’d just take ownership and do what needs to be done around the house, but I’ve come to accept that that isn’t going to happen and if I want things done I have to ask specifically for what I need.

Cleaning Incrementally

I’ve been trying to clean up and tidy up as I go so the house does not become a disaster area. This isn’t always easy, but I’m making some progress and the house gets a little better every day.

Accepting Some Mess

My house will never be spotless as we have four active people with jobs, friends, lives, and bad habits that live here. It will never look like a model home and if I can get it to the point that it is sanitary and the worst of the clutter is gone, I’m going to be happy. As I sit here right now, the house is reasonably clean. There’s a load of dishes to be washed, but the floors have been swept, the groceries put away, and most of the laundries been done. I have a life to lead and the more time I spend obsessing over a spotless house, the less time I’ll have to live it.

A part of me would rather to continue to strive for that spotless house, but most likely it’s never going to happen because I’m not the only one that messes up the house (although in the interest of fair disclosure, I do make my fair share of messes) so I’m going to strive for clean enough and live my life to the fullest.