Divide and Conquer

When I learned to recognize and accept that it's a physical impossibility to clean house by starting at one end and finishing at the other with the entire house then being spotless forever (unless, of course, you have unlimited time, lots of money for help, and a husband who is away on business for a month, all the kids are away at summer camp, and the phone is disconnected), I was able to get on with the task at hand.

At this point I learned to break the elephant down into bite-sized pieces so it could be eaten one bite at a time. Carpets can be vacuumed in 15 minutes. A window pane can be washed in 15 minutes. Dishes can be done in 15 minutes. Laundry can be loaded to wash in 15 minutes, and so on. It took me awhile to figure out that if I divided my housekeeping into four general classifications, it would allow me the freedom to keep on top of it and still have time for fun things. I named these general divisions:

• ROCK BOTTOM BASICS
• BASIC CHORES
• SURFACE CLEANING
• DEEP CLEANING

• ROCK BOTTOM BASICS or RBB is the term I use for crisis-level maintenance of the household. It means different things to different people, so adapt it to your own needs. Use it in times of PMS, illness, pregnancy, depression--any family emergency or crisis. RBB relates to fundamental care (not cleanup, organization, chores, maintenance, etc.)

Care for infants, dependent children, and kitties. Infants and dependent children feel more secure when their regular routine is continued, even in times of crisis. Mealtime and bed time should be as constant as possible during times of stress (as well as at other times!)

1. Fix meals/Cleanup

2. Make the bed--I know this sounds a bit much, but it only takes 15 seconds, more or less and it gives you a feeling of control that far outweighs the time you take to do it.

3. Take garbage, trash outside

4. Do the laundry, but only if absolutely necessary

5. Remember to take care of yourself--brushing your teeth and taking a shower can make things bearable.

Anything more than this is more than RBB.

• BASIC CHORES are not to be confused with RBB and are done every day. If you take more than 1 hour to do basics you need to re-evaluate.

1. Make your bed upon arising

2. Pick up the clutter in your bedroom

3. Put away clean & soiled clothes

4. Straighten books & newspapers (these should not be in sight during the day (non-use) time.

5. Do laundry (if necessary), fold, put away

6. Empty garbage & trash

7. Pick up clutter throughout the house

• SURFACE CLEANING is the kind you do for "show", i.e., dusting, vacuuming, picking up clutter. The easiest way to do surface cleaning is to hire a maid. Barring that, there are plenty of good references on how to do these jobs.

• DEEP CLEANING is done after you're uncluttered and organized. It's the kind of cleaning you do for yourself, i.e., cleaning the chandelier, polishing the paneling, anything that doesn't fit in categories 1 & 2, and is done from a list. A subdivision of deep cleaning is SPECIAL PROJECTS i.e. winding Vickie's 49 antique clocks and dusting her museum piece home, also to this list of special projects could be added pruning, etc. (Sample deep cleaning lists may be found in the appendix.)