Welcome to Clean Freak Confessions, a celebration for sharing personal cleaning experiences and tips from leading bloggers. Join the conversation and share your thoughts with us!
I’ve had a lot of fun reading the cleaning confessions from readers over in the side bar. One in particular hit close to home for me. Ever Hopeful writes, “I wish I was a clean freak. I came to this site hoping to find the secret to enjoying cleaning.”
Now it’s time for my confession: I don’t enjoy cleaning. Keeping my house clean (even by my low standards) is a constant struggle for me. Last week, I wrote about what motivates us to clean. Yet, for me, it doesn’t seem to matter what mode of motivation I’m seeking, I still never find myself able to actually *enjoy* the act of cleaning. As a busy mom with two active young kids, a job and loads of hobbies, cleaning usually seems to take the joy out of my day and thusly often ends up at the very bottom of my to-do list.
So, Ever Hopeful, I’m right there with you in your search to discover how to enjoy cleaning. Here are a few tips I’ve gotten from friends.
Listen (and even whistle) while you work
One trick a friend of my swears by for being able to get housework done is to listen to her Mp3 player while she cleans. Try creating a special playlist with fun music to help keep you upbeat and moving quickly while you clean. It’s also a great way to catch up on your favorite podcast episodes. There are some amazing, fascinating and entertaining podcasts available for free and make for great listening while you are cleaning. Before you know it, you’ll be so focused on the story or content of the podcast, you won’t be paying attention to the cleaning at all!
Call a friend
This is one I tried a few times with a friend of mine, and had great success. She and I shared a dislike for cleaning our kitchens at the end of the day, and we also didn’t get to see each other very often because of our busy schedules. We solved both those problems by calling each other while we cleaned. We’d have a great conversation while we each were at home, washing dishes, cleaning out lunch boxes, and mopping floors, and by the time we hung up we felt caught up with each other and caught up with our cleaning.
So how do you get yourself to enjoy cleaning? I’m not talking about how you motivate yourself to clean, but what you do to enjoy the actual act of and time spent cleaning? How do you make it fun? How do you make it go quickly? Share your ideas in the comments. Ever Hopeful and I will be very grateful!
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Music is the key to cleaning for me!
This is a strange start for an answer to your question, but bear with me…
I looove candles… but oddly I feel that it’s wasteful to burn them if the room isn’t clean. (Which is why I have ten year old candles.) Recently, I found the YUMMIEST smelling candles at CVS Pharmacy,
(http://tinyurl.com/cacot4) which smell like a clear spring day and last forever. I adore them and want to burn them constantly. To get to my beleagered point, because of these candles, I find myself a wee bit more motivated to clean. Want to burn the candle? Clear the counter first. Bedroom romance with a little scented firelight? Straighten and dust a bit first, please. It’s a little silly, I know, but “rewarding” myself with my favorite candle after tidying a room works for me. I’m not CLEANING, I’m PREPARING FOR CANDLE TIME. In the end, not only is everything cleaner, but the fresh scent of the candle makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.
amandakay- i love the “preparing for candle time”! i have a tendency to use cleaning as a procrastination tool myself. term paper to write? oh no, must do laundry/vacuum/dust/etc first! comprehensive final to study for? oh no, cannot focus while there is gunk in the bathtub! let’s just say that my very last law school exam is coming up next week and my house is spotless.