Spring Cleaning One Day at a Time

Last spring, Dawn Howard wrote an excellent spring leaning guide on Associated Content. She mentioned tips and instructions I never would have thought of on my own, like spraying the room with baking soda and water to knock down dust, and damp mopping walls and ceilings. Be sure to stop and read her article.

While I loved her article, it scared me a little. It was certainly more work than I can fit into my regular schedule. I could see myself taking down all of the curtains for cleaning, and never putting them back. I might also get one closet cleaned out. However, to do all of that work in a weekend, or even a week, seemed impossible to me.

But what about breaking your spring cleaning into little pieces. If I spent the full month of April doing one task a day, I might actually get the house fully refreshed while creating habits that would keep my home clean all year long. Here are some ideas for spring-cleaning one day at a time.

Plan your spring-cleaning tasks ahead: Print a special calendar for the month of April (or May). There are numerous free calendar templates online. Be sure to get on with plenty of writing space.

Make a list of your spring cleaning tasks: Like in Dawn’s Article, write a list of all of the tasks you wish to accomplish.

Prioritize your spring cleaning tasks: rewrite your list in order of importance, placing the things you want done most the top of the list, and the things you can get away without doing at the bottom.

Set Daily spring cleaning tasks: After writing your everyday schedule into your calendar, you can begin to insert the household tasks into your schedule. One thing you should consider is the amount of time it takes to complete a task. Save bigger tasks for weekends and days off. Tackle smaller tasks that can be done quickly for busier days. It is OK to just spend 30 minutes cleaning kitchen drawers after doing a full days work.

Do not sabotage your spring cleaning efforts: Do not start the month doing tasks that will be undone in a matter of days. Re-organizing the pantry first may be self-defeating as by the end of the month, you may find it needs to be done again. Save tasks that need to be done regularly for the end of the month as your finishing touches.

DO IT (Get your spring-cleaning done): Making a plan is only useful if you actually work to complete the plan. Do not be hard on yourself, if you find you are too tired to complete a task on day, just remember that you should not put off any task for more than one day or you will never get finished.