100 Realistic Strategies to Keep Any House Under Control Dana K. White
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2 zO R ga NI z IN g FOR T h E R EST OF U S Strategy 1 Understand the Layers of a Clean House
H ave you ever stared in awe at a friend’s clean home and wondered, What in the world do they do that I don’t do? Or have you felt like your head might explode when that friend claims she “never cleans”? Let me explain what People Like Them know that People Like Me don’t: there are three layers of a clean house, and cleaning is the last layer. If the first two layers are peeled back, cleaning won’t be as daunting.
The first layer that has to be removed to get to a clean house is clutter. It simply isn’t possible to clean a surface, space, or room that is piled with stuff. Decluttering has to happen for a house to look clean, be cleaned, and stay clean. Quick cleaning tips don’t make much of an impact in a house that’s overloaded with stuff.
The second layer of a clean house is daily stuff. Certain tasks need to be done every single day, or at least almost
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4 zO R ga NI z IN g FOR T h E R EST OF U S every day. (I will teach you the four daily tasks to start with.) Doing a week’s worth of dishes isn’t cleaning your house; it’s catching up on daily stuff. Picking up toys or shoes or math worksheets from the living room floor isn’t clean ing; it’s picking up. Not doing the absolute basics every day means that when you “clean,” you spend hours excavating the kitchen. By the time you’re done, all the cleaning energy you started with is gone. The third layer is the actual cleaning: dusting, vacuum ing, mopping, wiping, and scrubbing. When my house was full of clutter, I was forever behind on daily tasks. “Cleaning my house” was a huge and daunting project that I continu ally put Onceoff.Ipeeled back the first two layers of a clean house,
I understood those people with perfectly fine houses who said they “never cleaned.” They were talking about actual cleaning. That’s the beauty of understanding the layers of a clean house. If layers one and two are under control, layer three doesn’t feel so urgent. So, yes, this book will contain tips and tricks, but I want you to know that I understand those of you who balk at “Ten Easy Ways to Keep Your House Perfect” lists. I understand, because there was a time when I didn’t understand— and that’s the perspective from which I write this book.
Stop Treating Your House Like a Project I love projects, and I feel competent tackling them. I love planning, executing, and evaluating projects. Because proj ects are my thing, I treated my house like a project. But that didn’tYourwork.house isn’t a project, and treating your home like one does more harm than good. There’s no beginning, middle, or end. There’s definitely no end. The project mindset lends itself to putting off starting until there’s “time” to really do things right. While you wait for that ideal time, the house gets worse, which means cleaning it up will require even more effort, so you put off starting even longer. It becomes a vicious cycle.
12 zO R ga NI z IN g FOR T h E R EST OF U S Strategy 5
