I've been retired for six weeks now and in that time I've managed to do quite a bit with a minimal amount of effort. Last year I was able to keep up on my daily tasks fairly well, however I must admit my efforts at deeper cleaning were pretty much hit and miss. High on my priority list lately has been to get caught back up on my housekeeping without exhausting myself. I began with planning, always a good way to start, and that included consolidating all of my checklists into one Excel workbook and tweaking them to work with my life as it currently is. Surprisingly, that did not require much change.
I printed off a copy of my quarterly housekeeping checklist and got started working in fifteen minute increments. Walls and ceilings needed some serious attention around here as last year they were not a priority at all. I bopped the cobwebs I saw, but I didn't actively seek them out. Not this time around, I went after those puppies with a vengeance. If you struggle with climbing a ladder or step stool to hand wash a mop works wonders. I have a Swiffer that you can put a pad or wash rag onto and scrub the walls or ceiling with. Pretty handy.
I still stick to my daily fifteen minute chores where every day I devote that time to some type intense housekeeping. Usually dusting, vacuuming, mopping, emptying the trash, wiping down appliances or cabinetry, scrubbing the toilet or tub, etc. Doing this has literally saved my sanity and kept my house from going to shambles. I do not include laundry, cooking, washing the dishes or swish and swiping in that time or my walk through at the end of each day to make sure everything is tidy and put away. Because I've stayed consistent with my basic housekeeping tasks I found that for the most part things were pretty much kept up on and not as bad as I imagined they might be.
Quite often I'm able to incorporate my daily tasks with tasks on the housekeeping checklist and in no time I was checking the boxes and getting things completed. The checklist is designed to work over the course of three months and even if I don't get it all done I just start over and prioritize those tasks the next time around. There is no shame or guilt with this process. I just do what I can.
I was super happy when I pulled out the washer and dryer to clean behind and underneath and found it wasn't very dirty back there. I was dreading it, but because I attend to that room so well on a regular basis not a lot accumulated and that is the beauty of the process. No more marathon spring cleaning sessions or gross nasties to deal with. And if I ever have a bad week and don't feel well all I have to do is start again and by the end of one week I'm all caught back up.
Along with my daily cleaning tasks I've also been working on decluttering and minimizing a fair bit and I've even got a checklist now for that process too. I've collected several items to donate, shredded a bunch of papers and reorganized quite a few spaces in the process. It is definitely wash, rinse, repeat, but it works. Walls and curtains are getting washed, mirrors cleaned, nooks and crannies are attended to, my house is clean and I'm thrilled.