House Cleaning Tune Up

House cleaning ought to be easy, but, it drives many people crazy with frustration. If you are wondering how to fix your current house cleaning program, consider using Maidomatic's five step program:

Give up the Guilt: House Cleaning Troubles are the Rule Today
Understand that House Cleaning Requires Performance in Many Disciplines
Choose an Improvement Strategy that Fits Your Goals and Situation
Do the Work: That's How to Get It Faster and Easier
Periodically Re-evaluate and Change Your House Cleaning Program

STEP 1: Give up the Guilt: House Cleaning Troubles are the Rule Today

You should stop feeling any guilt at all about your house cleaning program. Lot's of people have problems with house cleaning today and for obvious reasons.

Forty years of liberation-speak, high divorce rates, and dual-career families have disrupted the transmission of house cleaning skills from generation to generation. Many people truly don’t know what to do anymore which is a shame: It is a lot easier to practice a set of habits than to develop a new set of habits.

Other factors are also stacking the deck against homemakers. Just to name a few, larger homes, more active children's schedules, and boatloads of inexpensive goods courtesy of Walmart and the Red Chinese have increased the house cleaning workload even as the time available has shrunk.

Guilt is a poor way to motivate yourself. Instead, see your house cleaning program as nothing more than a set of habits and routines which, with a little effort, can be fixed up by anyone. As the old song says, ". . . you need to . . . accent the positive."

STEP 2: Understand that House Cleaning Requires Performance in Many Disciplines

Once you have adopted a positive attitude it becomes time to figure out what to apply all your energies to. If you were suffering from guilt, you may have been thinking that you just needed to work harder. But, that's not the case. In fact, it is both more complicated and easier than that.

It's more complicated than that because there are a surprisingly broad range of skills and behaviors involved in and having an impact on a house cleaning program. And, to really make progress, the full scope of skills, time expenditures, and family member behaviors need to be aligned with the house cleaning program's goals and approach.

Here's an image to carry around: In a properly functioning house cleaning program:

Every member of the family has a role to play and plays his or her role with skill and determination
The head house cleaner—usually mom--has a disciplined, efficient set of house cleaning routines. She takes charge of organizing rooms and storage spaces, tutors children and spouses in proper personal habits, and serves as the resident interior design expert
Other members of the family make their own beds, pick up their own clothes, tidy their own rooms, clean up any messes they make, particularly in public spaces, and do their house cleaning chores according to an agreed schedule. They also don't stuff their rooms full of every toy, game, or trinket they have ever fancied
There's little to no clutter
Rooms are well organized
Ultimately, the condition of the home is made to reflect both the efficiency of the house cleaning program and the family's lifestyle.

The scope of a house cleaning program can seem daunting if your program isn't working, but, even with all the different factors involved, this is something that humans--that means your spouse, your kids, etc.--can handle. They just need to be put to work. And, once the entire family has been put to work, it will be easier because you'll have the power of the entire team on your side.

STEP 3: Develop an Improvement Plan that Fits Your Goals and Situation

Given all the roles and disciplines, it should be no surprise that, when there's a problem with house cleaning, it can feel like you're fixing Humpty-Dumpty. Where do you start? Do you just need to work harder? Do you need a different house cleaning routine? Is clutter the problem? Lack of space or storage? Family member behavior? Your morale? All of the above?

You really do need to know what to focus on first. Looking for ideas in magazines or web sites can help, but, are often far too generic to fit your situation. In fact, this is a topic which Maidomatic is trying to address with our Cleaning Strategizer utility. With just a couple of questions, the Cleaning Strategizer seeks to narrow down what you should focus on to one or two topics at a time. Press the button below to get to the on-line version of the Cleaning Strategizer:

If you would like other ideas on what to focus on first, see our article on how the Cleaning Strategizer works: Behind the Model.

STEP 4: Do the work: That's How to Get It Faster and Easier

If you have a reasonable improvement plan, then it is time to just do the work. Regular repetition of a routine is a sure-fire way to convert any routine into a habit so that, while it is still work, it becomes easier to perform, even unconscious on your part. That is how people who make house cleaning look easy do it: They do not agonize over the work, rather they follow a suitable routine and let the power of the routine and habit guide them to the results they want.

STEP 5: Periodically Re-evaluate and Change Your House Cleaning Program

As new habits take hold and problems are addressed, your circumstances and aspirations will evolve. Other factors such as job changes and the age of your children may affect your goals. Regardless, it is important to view the house cleaning program as a constant work in progress. Periodically, you'll want to re-evaluate your goals and circumstances.

What you should have learned in House Cleaning 101 is this: