I Shined My Sink

Yesterday, I posed a question to my Mom friends - for those who work full time, how do you fit in cleaning? I'll be honest, if when my house is messy its 50% due to my schedule and 50% due to the fact that I'd rather spend time with my family than clean. Simple as that. We don't have time to set aside 6 hours to deep clean the house, so we don't. Of course we do dishes and laundry and clean up after the kids, but clean the shower? Um...recently? Change the sheets? Within the last month.....ish. The word "cleaning" feels like such a mountain to tackle its easy to avoid.

The Mom friend answer? FlyLady.

My first question was probably the same as yours. WTF is FlyLady? FlyLady is a woman/genius who has developed a systematic way to clean your house by tackling small tasks each day and integrating up keep into daily routine.

My next question was, what could possibly be so revolutionary about cleaning? You'd be surprised. The way she breaks down chores makes it not only manageable, but actually motivating. She believes in baby steps, routine, and taking control of the mess.

The first step is a simple one. Shine your sink. I've never really scrubbed our sink. I mean, its the soapiest place in the house - why clean it? Turns out, it was ridiculously dirty. Using her tutorial, I scrubbed that puppy and now it really does shine!!

Her theory focuses on starting habits that string together into logical routines, eventually putting you on cleaning autopilot. It starts with a clean, shining sink. Normally, dishes would go into the sink, but instead they go directly into the dishwasher. When the dishwasher is full, it gets run. In the morning, it gets emptied and then filled throughout the day. Hand washed dishes get dried and put away.

The sink. stays. clean. WTF is that about?! With a simple rinse and towel dry before bed, it stays clean without scrubbing.

When I say it out loud it sounds ridiculous. I swear, we're not dirty people! We're normal, busy people. The sink is emptied often, but we are guilty of leaving dishes overnight or leaving the clean dishwasher full all day. Neither of which are helpful.

The thing I appreciate about this system is that its not about getting it all done at once. That can feel defeating before you even start. It's about breaking down the tasks and getting them done one by one with quick upkeep (not deep cleaning) being part of your routine. Declutter for 15 minutes? I can do that. You can do anything for 15 minutes! Wipe off the bathroom counter as I'm brushing my teeth? Easy! I'm excited to continue with the Beginner Baby Steps and get into a routine. With how much I hate cleaning, I'm looking forward to making it as quick and easy as possible.

Oh, and looking forward to waking up to a clean, shiny sink every morning.

Not too shabby for an old sink.