I've been taking a new approach to cleaning these days. I tend to put off cleaning because I don't want to be stuck doing it for 20 minutes or half an hour or even 1 hour. & My husband really doesn't want to get sucked in to cleaning for any amount of time. So together we procrastinate about cleaning...a lot. I talk about doing it and he ignores it.

When I was trying to follow Flylady (notice I say try--because I failed miserably at Flylady. I wouldn't wear shoes, I didn't want to smile and do it all by myself and I couldn't keep track of all the damn routines) I remember one of the things she talked about was doing 'crisis' cleaning. She suggested that if you absolutely had to get the house cleaned up because company was coming over that night then what you could do was set your timer for 15 minutes and clean one part of the house. Then when the 15 minutes were up go to another part of the house and clean for 15 minutes there. & to do the same when that 15 minutes were up. The wonderful thing about Flylady is that she told you to take a 15 minute break when that last 15 minutes were up and then when you were done the break to go right back into cleaning.

Anyways...the timer thing has always stuck with me. I love having the timer. I use it quite a bit when cleaning...just not usually in the way that Flylady wants us too. Really I can convince my husband to clean anything/anywhere for 5 minutes. It's even easier to convince him to clean for 5 minute intervals if I say that in between cleaning we will watch a movie or one of the TV shows we've downloaded or go on the computer for 15 minutes.

I also use the timer when I'm cleaning on my own. I like to set it for 6 minutes cleaning (I used to do 5 minutes but then I convinced myself that 1 more minute is not that big of a deal and I can do it) and then 10 minutes watching TV/crocheting/playing on the computer. In this house we are all about rewards. lol.

It might seem silly to relax for twice as much time as you are cleaning but it really seems to be working for us. I think the reason it's working is because we're DOING SOMETHING. Anything. There are still baskets and baskets of laundry to put away and papers stacked everywhere (yes--the stacks of paper are back, they are like tribbles!), and dishes to be done, etc, etc... but the dishes get washed and put away, the living room gets vacuumed, the clothes are at least washed and dried...things are happening.

It's all about Baby Steps. Me and Flylady can at least agree on that.