Clean or Tidy?

Confession: I am not a clean person. At all.

My brother once went to a job interview where they asked him, "What's more important - to be clean or tidy?" To this day, I'm still not sure. I think the correct answer is probably 'clean'. But I like tidy too.

The problem is that I am neither. Some might say my husband is lucky. His wife cooks and sews and creates pretty things on a budget .... but the trade-off for all of that is extreme messiness. It's just part of my nature. I'm constantly leaving things out, doors open, projects half-done, etc etc etc. It really just goes on and on. While I was working full time, it wasn't too bad. I was hardly there, so I made hardly any mess. And, our unit was teeny-tiny, so I cleaned it all in 2 hours on a Saturday (sob).

Now I'm at home a lot more, so I'm making a lot more mess. And, our place is bigger. And we have a baby. So I have had to learn a few things about keeping the place clean and tidy. I'm not particularly good at it, and I don't do it often enough.

I suspected that I wasn't cleaning my shower all that often, so I asked my Facebook friends how often they cleaned their bathroom. The most common answer? Once a week. Whooooooooops. Do I really want to tell you how often I clean my bathroom? The answer is: when I feel like it (almost never) or when someone is coming over .... so maybe once a fortnight, more likely once every 3 weeks. And the shower? Um, I have cleaned it twice since we moved here (which was almost 5 months ago). I know, some of you are gagging in disgust.

I've tried doing that whole 'schedule' thing. You know, bathrooms on Monday, mop the floors on Tuesday etc. But it didn't work for me. Some days, you get on a roll and you knock over a whole bunch of cleaning at once. But other days? You're out, or the baby's clingy, or you're not on your A-game and barely anything gets done. Like most things in my life, I need a flexi-plan.

So, I have turned over a new leaf. And, if you're me, the turning over of a new leaf requires new and pretty supplies. You might recognise the graphic below:

The idea? I have a weekly, fortnightly and "whenever I can get to it" list of jobs that need doing in our household. This way, I can systematically make sure that all the necessary areas are getting attention regularly, and that I'm not skipping out on things. I try to do all the housework during the week, so that weekends are down time with my husband, so this has been giving me a kick up the butt so I get things done! I'm sure many readers are disgusted that I would only clean the toilet once a fortnight, or mop once a week, but let me tell you, that is an improvement!

The lists are printed out 3 to an A4 page (I print out what I need, as I need it), and I cut them up and keep them in my paper stash.

I decided not to do a daily list, because there are just too many things to keep up with, and most of them you just do as they need to be done (meals, dishes, baby stuff, tidying up toys, wiping benches and tables, washing nappies, emptying bins etc). The first rule of organization is that you only do what needs to be done, otherwise you are creating a bigger job for yourself.

So, for the past 2 weeks, I have had my little lists stuck up on the inside of the cupboard where I keep all my cleaning supplies.

It's been really helpful! I feel good knowing that things are being regularly attended to, and I don't have to keep track of what needs doing - I just look at the list each day during naptime and decide what I have energy and time to tackle that particular day, or what's most urgent. And, I replace each list as it is complete - easy.

Maybe you're like me, and not the most fantastic cleaner in the world - would you like some custom designed lists for your household cleaning?

 I'm giving away 2 sets of custom lists, designed to your requirements. If you win, you tell me what jobs you would like on each list (because each household runs differently and has its own rhythm). You can choose your own colours, and I can also have a crack at different designs if you don't want my fruitful tree logo on yours! (Note: giveaway is for design only - you'll receive an email with your files attached. You can print out as much as you need, as you go.)

There's only one rule: you must be a follower of the blog to enter. It's not hard, I promise. My preferred reader is Google, but there are plenty of others. If you have no idea what it means to 'follow' a blog, it basically means that all the new posts get sent to YOU, rather than you visiting/stalking to site to see if there's an update (I know there's plenty of stalkers out there). See that little box on the sidebar that says, "Subscribe to A Fruitful Life"? Yup, that's what you're looking for. If you want some more info, you can read up on a post I wrote about it here, or my friend B's post (which covers lots of fun blogging 'things') here.

So, get following, and then comment on this post and you're automatically in the draw - easy! I will use a random number generator to pick the winners. Entries close in one week's time (Australian time), so Friday 5th August.

PS: If you don't win, but think my lists might work for you anyway, feel free to email me { a fruitful life blog (at) gmail (dot) com } to get a download of the existing lists!

Linking up to one of my favourite blogs, New Nostalgia!