It’s time to rise and shine (those lamps). Now that we’ve throughly adjusted the bags under our eyes to daylight savings time, spring has brought on a new monster. When they say in like a lion out like a lamb, they really mean those dust bunnies with claws under your bed that you’ve been afraid to face.
One piece of profound knowledge I’ve learned in my 34 enlightening years on this earth is this. Work is never quite as bad with music. I mean, look at Maria (aka Julie Andrews). She pioneered the way to spring cleaning for us all with her ability to just twirl among the mountains and sing between beating the dust out of all the Von Trapp’s carpets.
So you’re feeling sad to tackle the hardships of housewife life? All you’ve been missing is one killer playlist (well, and some cleaning products of course…) Here is my gift to you:
Just crank up your speakers and put a little elbow in it. Ok, so I know you really came here to for all the life changing steps to cleaning (and just to see me actually DOING the work, right?) Right. So –
1. Make a list. Don’t just run into Walmart on a Sunday afternoon and pretend it’s an episode of Supermarket Sweep. That’s for amateurs. Have a plan. Let’s start cleaning you up with your list. First, before you go – see what you have at home (that’s always a rookie mistake), and then decide WHICH pieces/parts of your home you want to tackle. Do you need gloves for the oven (shudders)? Do you need a caddy to carry all those cleaning products around from room to room (sometimes the kids get distracted)? Do you prefer using old towels and tee-shirts or Viva® Towels (in Three, Eight and 12 Roll Packs)?
2. Make a plan. If you want to burn out faster than that dragon firecracker from last summer, then try to do it all in one day genius. All those Stepford wive cleaners you see on Pinterest? They know better. They know you need a plan and to take on one monsterous project at a time. If you plan to wash your curtains (yes I said curtains – wait, you’ve never done that??) – then allocate a day for that. Don’t try to start a kitchen grease fire because you leave oven cleaner in too long while you’re running down stairs to make sure the washer didn’t overload. (If I say it, it’s happened…)Here’s a great list to get your started, plus more ideas over on my Spring Cleaning Pinterest Board here.
Wait, you live in NYC like me and don’t have a grill or garage to clean? You’re already winning – just pour yourself a drink and start tomorrow.
3. What have you neglected most? This is always a revelation to me. Honestly with yourself. Ok, so you’ve steam cleaned your carpets four times in the last six months – however you were just too lazy to ever move the furniture, right? No one will ever know but you so go ahead and spend the day really doing some heavy lifting – literally. Besides, now you can skip that barre class (my playlist is way better anyways).
4. Say goodbye. No I don’t mean the Bon Jovi song. (Well, ok maybe we could add that to the playlist!) Throw. It. Away. There’s this new trend going on that says to go through every single thing you own, hold it up, look at it, and if you don’t love it, toss it. Apparently it’s messing up your energy. Yes, even that pen you stole from the bank this morning. Now, take that for what it’s worth to you – if you want to go H.A.M. (another good one for the playlist!) and literally throw out everything – good for you. If you just want to start with the junk drawer and work your way up to separation of your closet, that’s great too. Everyone has to start somewhere.
5. Cross it off. Laugh if you will but I was in a cab ride home last night watching the yellow cab channel and they reminded me something we all know. As women, we love lists. Because the glory in crossing things off that list is something tangible that you can find real success in. Literally – There is scientific evidence that the act of planning activities through to-do lists reduces the burden on the brain. It doesn’t matter how mundane it is. In fact, here’s one for you to print and cross off to get you in the mood. I mean, a to-do LIST is even ON this list. That’s pretty epic.
Alright – enough of a break. I have an apartment to clean. Until next time, yinz.
This is a sponsored post by Kimberly-Clark and The Motherhood. Thank you for supporting FFM.
