As such, its something you do without even realizing it, or you don't even think too much of doing it. For example, if it's a habit for you to wash your dishes right after any meal, you'd naturally have a clean sink all the time. Similarly, if its a habit for you to put away the newspaper once you are done with it, your living room coffee table (or wherever it is you read your news paper) won't look like such a mess.
Some may think of it as tiresome things to do, keeping clean that is. But I believe nobody likes to step into a messy home, whether your own or somebody else's.
As such, here are some of my own routines. Most take very little time to do once you get into the habit of doing it.
- Laundry everyday. I try not to pile my laundry and wait for the weekends to do it for several reasons. For one, the washing machine does most of the washing anyway, and with the technology today, you can select the water-level and mode of washing just to ensure you are not wasting water and electricity. As for drying up the wash, I slip in some time to hang it the same night after the washing is done. It takes less than 5 minutes to do, and it sure does save a lot of time in the mornings. The washing doesn't stay wet in the machine, and gets some extra time to dry before day comes. Plus, if I keep it to the weekend, I probably won't have enough space to dry all the clothes.
By laundry, there's also the dry clothes to fold and iron. Because there's just three of us, I have an average of 10 pieces of clothes to fold including the ones that needs ironing. I fold them as soon as I pick them off the lines. I also do this for several reasons.
a. It takes less than 10 minutes to fold the clothes.
b. It helps lessen the creasing for clothes that needs ironing.
c. To avoid a heapful pile of must-fold-laundry over the weekend (even more stressful!)
Put the folded laundry away as soon as you're done folding. This also takes less than five minutes to do. - A clean sink is a happy one (?). Well, you guys understand what I mean. Always try to wash everything at once. It doesn't take that long. If I happen to have a pot with cooking stains inside (e.g. crusts after frying rice), I simply put some water in the pot, and put it back on the stove until the water boils. This normally loosens the crusts, and thus you have to do less scrubbing to get the stains out. Works every time! This beats the soaking technique, which may not loosen the crust enough, and you may end up with some amount of scrubbing. I also try to keep the kitchen civil and tidy. I mean, I don't wipe over everything all the time, but the key is to keep the main areas you use clean. Besides, a clean kitchen is a healthy one.
Which do you prefer?
- Put things back at its place. When you have a toddler, this is key! I do this at the end of every evening just before going to bed. This way, I don't stifle my daughter's "creativity" and "imagination". Before I retire, I'd take about, again five minutes to put the magazines/news papers away, chuck the toys back in its boxes, arrange the throw cushions back on the sofa. Then, I'd look back and tell myself, "That living room looks decent enough" before I step into the bedroom. Also, putting things away is a good habit to have as it means you don't end up with a big mess to clean all the time.
1. ophir.wordpress.com
2. gharexpert.com
3. sodahead.com
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