Do you know how long it takes you to mop your floors?

This evening after my nightly reset (which involves putting food away, loading the dishwasher, clearing and wiping down counters and starting the dishwasher) I decided today was a mop night. My 2 young sons had picked up their toys (with my husband’s help)  while I was resetting the kitchen. We usually listen to 3 songs but today was trash day and I needed to empty the compost so we listened to 4 songs today.  (My boys favorite as of late is Lady Gaga’s Applause. We listened to that one twice). I timed myself. The nightly reset took 20 minutes. 

Then my husband and I both helped the boys take their medicine, get into jammies and brush their teeth. The boys get to watch a show at the end of the day before bed, something they always look forward to. It’s their wind-down activity. We alternate which boy gets to pick the show each day so lately we have been watching Rescue Rangers (old 1989 version, the title song is GREAT!) or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, depending on who’s turn it is today. 

I vacuumed for 5 minutes, then I started mopping at 7:50. I was done mopping at 8:05. 15 minutes for a mop of about 1000 square feet of living space is pretty good I think. 

I think the more regularly I do something, the easier it is because 1) things aren’t so disgustingly dirty and 2) I realize it is not really that big of a task. If you had asked me how long it takes to mop my main floor, I would have said 30 minutes. In my mind it is a much bigger task than it actually is. Now that I do it about once a week, it’s really not that big of a deal.

For me, my main “house thing” is a clean floor. All else in my life could be chaos, but if the floors are clean I can deal. That is a bit dramatic but I think you know what I mean. I think it is helpful to identify your *house thing* and embrace it and focus on your house thing. Don’t push against your natural tendency. 

Also, being methodical about mopping is helpful. Our main floor kind of makes a big circle. I have a system and it makes it so I can mop on autopilot. I first move the dining room chairs and mop around the dining table pedestal.  Then I continue through the kitchen, and family room until I’ve made it back to the entry/dining room. By then the floors are dry so I can move the chairs back and then mop the perimeter of the dining room. Then I’m done. There is something therapeutic about being methodical, even in the little things. For me.

The point is, do you actually know how long it takes you to complete a cleaning tasks? Sometimes we overestimate the time it takes to complete something (like I did with mopping.). Sometimes we underestimate the time it takes and we realize certain tasks are claiming huge portions of our disposable time. You won’t know until you bring conscious awareness. This is the first step.

Do you want to start spending less time on cleaning? I’d love to be part of your journey. Check out my workbook that walks you through my proven process to help people spend less time on cleaning. Want more support? Or, come to a workshop or book a call with me.