Thursday, July 5, 2012

My House Isn't Clean, But It Could Be...In 5 Minutes

found here
I spent the first two years of my marriage feeling really freaked out about the state of our home.  Despite my best efforts, we just cannot keep the place picked up and free of clutter.  This is just happens when a neat freak (me) marries someone who doesn’t give a second thought to leaving dirty dishes on the coffee table for days at a time (him).

I’ve begged and pushed and pleaded and tried to convince my other half that tidy-ness is the way to go, to no avail.  I’ve proposed a “compromise” many times, but all I really meant was that I didn’t want to compromise at all, I just wanted our belongings to be put in their proper places at all times.  Oh, how easy it is to confuse “Let’s compromise” with “Just do it my way like I’ve told you a million times and then everything will be fine and I’ll be happy again.”

However!  Recently, I’ve developed what I like to call the 5-Minute System.  This three-part system makes it much easier for my neat-and-tidy self to live with (and truly be okay with) our not-always-neat-and-tidy home.  Here’s how it goes:

5-Minute Rule:  We never let our house get cluttered enough that we couldn’t make it completely presentable in 5 minutes or less.  The theory is that as long as we have 5 minutes of warning for company coming over, we’ll be good to go.  No panicking, just a quick sweep and we’re ready!

5-Minute Pick-Up:  If the Rule isn’t currently in effect and the clutter is building up too much, we take five minutes to pick up as much as we can.  We do this once or twice a week.  We literally set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes and both work to pick things up around the living room and in our bedroom and put things back in their proper place or throw them away (you know, like the Dr. Pepper cans that have inexplicably collected on the coffee table).  Once the timer goes off, we’re done for the night and, usually, order has been restored enough to live with once again.  If not, do it again the next night!

5-Minute Tasks:  Throughout the week, I’ve assigned one 5 minute task to each day that’s quick and easy to complete (some of the tasks are actually in the 10-15 minute range, but we’ll say they take 5 minutes so I don’t have to change my system’s name).  By spreading out these tasks throughout the week, it prevents me from having to have one big clean-fest over the weekend, plus the rotation helps keep things somewhat presentable at all times.  Here’s my list (keep in mind, as of now we live in a 2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment, so I don’t have that much space to deal with!):

Monday:  Wash/fold bathroom towels
Tuesday:  Dust
Wednesday:  Clean kitchen (I wipe down the counters and do dishes everyday, but this is for sweeping and Swiffering the floor, clearing out the fridge, scrubbing the stovetop, etc.)
Thursday:  Clean bathroom
Friday:  every 3rd Friday, I wash and change our bedsheets (all the other Fridays, I get a break!)
Saturday:  Vacuum
Sunday:  Ironing

There you have it!  Do we have a perfect household?  Not even close.  Is this system good enough for me?  Most the time, and I’m learning to let go my OCD grip to make sure that it is good enough for me.  Or more importantly, for both of us.

8 comments:

  1. I really like this idea and I think I'm going to have to implement it at my place!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm such a neat freak, it has really helped relieve some of the stress of that for me! And I also think it would work really well for people who aren't neat freaks too - anybody can find 5 minutes a day, and then it's over with!

      Delete
    2. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a neat freak, but me living by myself can definitely get messy. Plus with my best friend back home, she randomly stops by and will bring people to hang out. Then I start freaking out because OH MY GOSH MY APARTMENT IS A MESS AND YOU'RE BRINGING NEW PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW HOW MESSY I AM. and then I make her stall. lol

      Delete
  2. This is such good advice!! I'll be in the same living space and newly married ( I don't think my fiancé is super messy but we'll see!) haha but I'm a clean freak like my mom so if things get out of hand then this will be super helpful! I'll have to copy your days of the week to-do list :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this! Sounds like our husbands are eerily alike. But isn't that only appropriate? Totally adopting your system!

    ReplyDelete
  4. my husband is the neat freak at our house. i need to implement this so that he doesn't end up doing all the work.

    ReplyDelete