What’s on your mind today, mama?
If “chores” or “cleaning” popped up, keep listening – I’ve got a life-changing hack for you to lighten the load.
Because you don’t need any more anxiety over cleaning standards, cleaning routines, or whether your house is clean enough!
So here it is: Stop worrying about crumbs on the floor.
You heard that right.
(And yes, I’m a neat freak.) Let me explain.
I want you to think about the crumbs on the floor – but only when it’s cleaning day (or time of day).
The rest of the time, live in blissful ignorance of the state of your floors. (Unless the kids/pet just tracked in a bunch of mud, of course! Sometimes extra cleanups are necessary….)
Instead of constantly telling yourself, “I should really get to those floors,” remind yourself that you’ve got a set cleaning time (Thursdays, Saturdays, every night after dinner, whatever).
You’ll get to it then. (And do a darn good job, if I know you!)
And that’s good enough for now.
This is what that looks like for me: I literally ignore the crumbs on the kitchen floor if it’s between lunch and supper.
We already swept at lunch, and we’re going to do a good floor cleaning at supper – so I don’t need to be fussing over stray leaves, crumbs, or mud right now.
You don’t need to be a perfect house cleaner.
It’s on the to-do list, and it’s happening.
Or maybe for the living room floor: Is it vacuuming day tomorrow? Yes or no? If yes, then no wonder the floor’s dirty. (It’s just about to be attended to!)
If the answer’s no, then I need to – again – not worry about it. Because that’s what I’m really doing – worrying.
- Worrying whether my floors are clean enough.
- Worrying whether my standards are high enough.
- Wondering if someone’s going to call me out for not being the perfect housekeeper.
And that’s NOT the way we need to live.
Over the years with multiple kids and different daily schedules, I’ve used a lot of different cleaning routines. So I have some experience with picking the right one for your family’s stage, and I want to share all that with you.
When I’m coaching you, we’ll go over what you’re currently doing in the housekeeping realm, any weak spots we need to shore up, and where you’re letting that “is it good enough?” mindset sabotage your cleaning efforts.
- You don’t need to be the perfect house cleaner.
- You don’t need to adhere to the perfect schedule.
- You don’t even need to get to all those annual cleaning spots!
You just need to allow yourself to rest in the knowledge that you’re doing enough.
To tell yourself, lizard brain, be quiet. I’m going to attend to this when I planned to. I already know about it; it’s on my radar.
I don’t need constant reminders to sweep up when I’ve got a post-dinner sweeping habit.
So what could you shush your brain about today?
Is there a chore that routinely bothers you more frequently than you actually do it?
Do you need to do it more often? Or just ignore the “shoulds” and leave it for when it pops up on your cleaning schedule?
Only you can know – but you already know the answer.
Lighten up, or change the habit (to something more frequent).
Either way, you’re getting rid of the mental clutter, aka orders. And that’s a good thing.
Until next time, happy cleaning! (And forgetting about it in between!)
