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Post by momof3boys on Apr 24, 2010 9:09:06 GMT -5
Okay members,
How do you maintain for any length of time? I've gotten a spot or two clean and then kept cleaning it the next day and the next day but on the 3rd day something happened or I got too busy and then it was not maintained again. How do I always maintain?
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Post by Chris on Apr 24, 2010 10:48:26 GMT -5
I found maintenance (defending) to be harder in the beginning -- it's easier now for me. I think that my overall work in deciding "a place for everything" and dealing with my categories of stuff + setting limits on how much space + the location of the space that I would devote to say towels, clothes, dishes etc. really helped. The process takes time and during the early phases of clearing those newly emptied spaces often got filled again temporarily because they were the only SPACE available for anything = sorting etc. Just know that if you KEEP GOING it gets easier.  Oh and specifically can you say which areas you're having the most trouble maintaining? Is is dishes, laundry, a table, a section of desk or counter? Some very specific strategies could probably be thrown out for thought depending on which areas are giving you trouble.  |
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Post by dtesposito on Apr 24, 2010 14:44:37 GMT -5
This is a timely question for me because I've just started maintaining a few areas that I've identified as trouble spots--they are small, but important either because I use them a lot (kitchen surfaces, dining room table) or because they are in my line of vision all the time (2 surfaces in the living room) and it is uplifting to see them clear.
I've only been maintaining them for 2 weeks, but it seems like the important thing is to make it a habit--that means that every morning the first thing I do is clear those surfaces off again if I've filled them up the evening before. Of course, ideally I would not leave anything on them after using them, and I'm already finding myself keeping them neater in the first place--but realistically I'm going to use those surfaces. I just make sure they're the first thing I clean off when I have time to work on decluttering, so that I get used to seeing them clean.
I'd say to pick your spots, then just do your best to clean them every day. If you are very busy/distracted and don't get to them one day, just do it the next day, over and over again until you're more used to seeing them clean than messy. Make them small areas in the beginning so that it's possible to keep them clean in a small amount of time--until you get in the habit.
Even if I don't add new areas to this list for a while, I at least feel like I'm not backsliding, which is such a major discouragement.
Diane
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Post by Script on Apr 24, 2010 16:53:28 GMT -5
How do I always maintain? disclaimer: I am not perfect. My house is not perfect. But it has improved immensely. This is what is in the back of my mind whenever I do anything NOW, especially in kitchen, bathroom or bedroom: *put [it] away now. *example: I make coffee; I put away the jar of coffee. I read the paper. When I'm finished I put it in the recycle box. I undress; I put the dirty clothes in the hamper. NOW. *some people express this as The Twenty Second Rule: as in: "if it takes less than 20 seconds, absolutely positively do it NOW". Yes, we need 'homes' for all our belongings. Yes, we need to establish one in-one out rules for shopping. Yes, we need an ongoing give-away bags. Yes, we need to control impulse spending. BUT..............putting dirty clothes in the hamper CONSISTENTLY makes a heck of a difference too. xxoo from Script [recovering] |
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Post by momof3boys on Apr 24, 2010 20:44:18 GMT -5
I have problems with every flat surface basically. For instance I had the top part of the coffee table cleaned off except the remote controlls that belong there and before I know it, it's all clutttered again! The kitchen table remains another hard to maintain hotspot.
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Post by charis on Apr 24, 2010 21:21:10 GMT -5
Here is the weird thing: Maintenance to me does not mean that the thing is clean 100% of the time. But it is under control 100% of the time. By that I mean that I KNOW I will clean it and I know WHEN
Have a regular time that you will take care of that area.
If an area discombobulates itself quickly and frequently and you don't have a set day for dealing with it, you will freak out a little every time you see it and think--"messy,messy, out of control, back to squalor, not in maintenance". You will feel as if you ought to clean it everytime you look at it, so it will make you feel guilty.
If you instead, say, clear the hall table every Wednesday, or always take out the recycling before your bath, then when you look at a messy area, you will think "I do that on Wednesday"
I believe that being in maintenance is actually a lot less work than being in squalor, because in squalor I thought about the work I should do all day long. In maintenance I think about it when I do it. I still have messes, but I have control, not the mess.
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Post by def6 on Apr 24, 2010 21:21:31 GMT -5
Sometimes, mother of 3, you need to dejunk the area in order for it to stay clean. If it is too cluttered it won't stay clean-the junk takes over.
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Post by 7sweetbabiesgranny on Apr 24, 2010 21:31:27 GMT -5
At first it is easier for me because I was mad.
I had worked soooo hard and no way was I EVER doing that to myself again.
I promise it will become a habit eventually.
But yes, in the beginning I'd fall off the wagon now and then, but it didn't get as bad.
Keep on keepin on
grannie
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Post by jkordestani on Apr 25, 2010 0:17:43 GMT -5
Charis, that is brilliant, and true. It definitely gets easier with time. Once your stuff reaches a critical mass, then it is really, really hard to keep anything at zero because there is just too much stuff moving around with nowhere to put it but in that zero area. So, defend your space every day, but only twice a day. You'll drive yourself crazy if you keep cleaning it every time any little thing gets put there. What I have also discovered is that most of the stuff that is out floating around the house is the stuff I use a lot, and the stuff in the drawers and cupboards is stuff that I don't. The more I clean my cupboards and drawers, the more room I have to put away that stuff that is floating around on all the flat surfaces. Sometimes focusing on what you can't see first makes it easier.
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Post by jkordestani on Apr 25, 2010 0:21:41 GMT -5
Also, how old are your boys? Can you get them involved in helping to keep mommy's island in the sea of clutter? If they are cluttering it up too, they can help not clutter it up. My house got a lot better when I got my 8 year old son involved in being responsible for his stuff a bit more. I felt like I was always focusing on his stuff first because I knew what to do with it. It didn't involve a decision to put his stuff away, so I only did that and didn't do my stuff (which was really creating more problems than his stuff).
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