Spring Cleaning

I hear you laughing.  'Jenn Woodward?... Advice on CLEANING?!'  Quit that.

I'm not a fan of cleaning and organizing, but I love the way it feels once it's done.  I think what I like least is when I let tasks pile up and the overwhelming feeling that I have to do it all in one day crushing me.  In order to avoid that, I've tried developing some good habits year-round.  There are times where I fall short of these, but for the most part, when I hold true, it makes the mundane tasks of life much easier.  I'm gonna keep it simple for you.  My #1 and only spring cleaning tip for you is...

A LITTLE AT A TIME!

For me, spring cleaning not only involves cleaning, but organizing.  Why is it so easy to let a drawer or a cabinet or a dresser become so cluttered and overflowing?  Stuff.  We have too much stuff.  Or maybe it's not organized like how it should be.  I don't know how it happens, but my pajama drawer gets out of control on a regular basis.  My pajama drawer includes pajamas, t-shirts, sweatpants, and tank tops.  A couple weeks ago when I had 5 extra minutes while Luke was doing something else, I cleaned out my pajama drawer.  There were a couple of things that needed to be given away, and a few things that are too warm to wear now.  Not to mention, I simply made the drawer neater... Over time everything gets mixed together (you know what I mean), and it's helpful for the sake of finding things to reorganize it once in awhile.  It only took me 5 minutes to do this task and then I was back to my normal day.

A few days ago Luke was working late and I decided to plop down on my bathroom floor and go through my makeup and skin care.  If you are a guru like me in this department, you may have an excess in products.  I also used to work for a cosmetics company, so I still have tons left over from that.  I went through it all and decided what I needed and loved using on an everyday basis and kept that in one simple bag.  I then decided on some things I might just use for special occassions and put those in another bag back in our bathroom closet.  And finally, I chose some things I simply don't use much but could perhaps use when I do other people's makeup, and put those in a bag in my extra bedroom closet.  And of course, there were a couple old items that were ready for the trash.  This task was also 5 minutes.  Simplifying such things feels so great afterwards.

I try to take the same approach with cleaning the house.  I try to plan accordingly and not do all my cleaning on one day, or all my laundry.  Sometimes this is unavoidable if we have a crazy week, but I find the more I'm intentional about it, the easier it is to "squeeze" a task in in the evening on a worknight.  One load of laundry or dust the living room or sweep and mop only the bathroom floor.  One task alone typically doesn't take a huge amount of time, unless it is a big project. 

Some of you may like to do all your cleaning and laundry on a Saturday.  Good for you.  You're crazy, but good for you.  Personally I like being able to relax and enjoy my Saturdays and Sundays as much as I can.

So if you're overwhelmed by a monstrous list of your to-do's, remember, a little at a time!!!  :)
(Oh, and if you have a house full of "helpers," enlist them!)