Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Cleaning Motivation - How to get started! | Clutterbug Podcast # 6

Episode Date: April 13, 2016

Where do you start when things are really overwhelming? Join my on the short Podcast as I give you a few of my secrets to getting motivated to tackle a really messy space! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So hey you guys, welcome back to Clutterbug podcast. I haven't done a podcast in a little bit, so I thought I would fill you guys in on some things that are going on in my home when it comes to cleaning and home management. I've been really busy and I think a lot of you guys maybe can relate to this as well. We got a lot going on. And the one thing that's easiest to let go when we're busy outside of the home is housework. We definitely don't want to get home after a really long. day and be scrubbing sometimes and even the days that we are home on the weekend sometimes it's nice to just do nothing and relax but when you do that it doesn't take low for a house to get out of control especially if you have little ones so i have three kids nine seven and three and it doesn't take long for them to you know have crumbs everywhere dishes laundry piling up with five people in my home. If I don't do a load a day, you know, you've gone three or four days and you're drowning in dirty laundry. And that's exactly what's going on in my home right now. My brother, who lives far away, lives in Labrador up north, had a baby. And his fiance recently brought the baby home for us to meet.

So just those few days of traveling an hour with the kids to visit the baby and coming home and plus doing kids' activities at night meant that I wasn't here doing the regular things that I do on a daily basis, which is cleaning the bathrooms, you know, making sure that the floors are clean, picking up, doing laundry. All of that stuff has been basically not done for five solid days. And wow, let me just tell you, it is noticeable. And so I've got to get back on track. and one of the things that I find is so distracting, especially working from home, being a stay-ed-home mom,

or even if you're working outside the home, is finding the motivation when things have gotten out of control to get back on top. When things are neat and tidy, it's easier to give things a quick wipe because you know it's not going to take you a long time. But when you're staring at a gigantic mess, it can be extremely difficult. First of all, to not even know where to start. and second of all to find the motivation to get started knowing that it's going to take much longer than you want to spend to cleaning. So that's the situation that I'm in now, but I've been in this situation so many times before that I know a lot of tricks and tips to make it a little bit easier.

And one of my favorite things to do is listen to an audiobook or a podcast. You can listen to this podcast while you're cleaning. I'm really a big fan of audiobooks because it sort of gives you this, same feeling as watching television or reading a book. You know, you're, you can still really pay attention, but it leaves your hands free to do things like the dishes. I love talking on the phone as well when doing it. But again, when you're holding one phone in a hand, it makes it a little bit more difficult. So listening to audiobooks, I can get so much done. If you have not tried this yet, you have to give it a try. You can download a lot of audiobooks for free. You know,

a lot of the audiobooks. You can find you. even on Amazon are absolutely free to download, or you can buy some for just a few dollars. Your local library can also offer you free downloads of audiobooks, which is great. So I just put them on my phone. I strap my phone to my arm with one of these carry around your phone arm-strap-y things. I think they're meant for people who work out. You and I both know I don't work out, but it comes in handy for audiobooks.

And that's it. I get to, you know, first decluttering. putting everything back, throwing in a little laundry, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the main rooms in case somebody stopped by and I would absolutely want to die. So I just go around as quickly as possible and pick all of that up. Once everything's clean and tidy, the next thing I do is dust. Wash the counters, wash the surfaces in dust. And I do this before I run the vacuum or mop because everything's just going to fall off the counters and the tabletops onto the floor anyways. You always start obviously at the top and work your way down.

And I try to go as fast as possible too. And it's the listening to the audiobook or a podcast. It's the zoning out that makes it really possible for me to get that done. So I went ahead just right now, right before I started this podcast. I downloaded a brand new book and I transferred it over to my phone. And that's my plan tomorrow morning. But there's also another secret. Another thing you have to do to be really.

successful when things are out of control and that is make a list. I don't know what it is, but it is magic. Writing a list of things that you want to accomplish makes it so much more likely that you're actually going to do those things. It's motivating for you to check those things off of your list. And it's the days that I say, you know, a mental list of the things that I'm going to do hardly ever gets done versus a written list. They almost always get done. And make sure it's a tangible list of things you can actually accomplish, like cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping the floors, dusting all the picture frames, doing three loads of laundry.

I mean, that is a lot of things, but that is something that can be accomplished, you know, in a four to five hour window. Don't add washing the windows and, you know, pulling out all the furniture and dusting all the walls to that. That's just not going to happen. You have to keep it really realistic. and if you only have a few hours to do it, it should just be tidy vacuum mop, you know, something really, really, really manageable to do.

And the other thing I really force myself to do when things are out of control like this, especially with the laundry, is complete the cycle. And if you are like me and you're a Peter Walsh fan, he came up with this concept of completing the cycle. So basically what he said is, you know, just like a load of laundry is washing, drying and, you know, putting it away. That's completing the cycle. Oh, my husband's hammering. That's hilarious. He knows that I'm podcasting, but he feels it necessary to be building in the next room. So, okay, so Peter Walsh complete the cycle. I definitely recommend his books, just like you wouldn't

start a little laundry and you wouldn't take it out, you know, still sopping wet before it's gone through the rinse and spin cycle, you wouldn't like start a job and not complete the cycle. And that goes for dishes, you know, washing, drying and putting away. It also goes for laundry, washing the laundry, drying the laundry, folding the laundry, and putting the laundry away. Can't say that you've done the laundry if it's still sitting in the basket clean. That isn't doing the laundry. That's just doing part of the laundry, part of the cycle. So complete the cycle of the laundry. can really help you get it back on top. So hopefully you guys, sorry for the interruption of the knocking,

but hopefully you guys are feeling inspired. And if you want to say tomorrow is the day, tomorrow is the day that I'm going to tackle this house. I'm going to get on top and I'm going to get it clean. The best way to do that is to get yourself a great audiobook or some podcasts, load them up and have them ready to go and turn off all other distractions, make yourself a list and get started.

Thanks so much for listening and tune in tomorrow for another cleaning clutterbug podcast. Make sure you also that you check up my website at www.com dot clutterbug.m. Lots of fun stuff going on over there on the website, including a test that you can take to find out what your organizing style is. Thanks so much, you guys, and we'll see you next time.