idk how this thread is still going. My system is foolproof.

1) Develop presbyopia

2) Don't wear your glasses around the house

3) Everything looks great

So when you get a maid, are there differences between "private maids" who work on their own versus the companies like Molly Maid where they send you a couple maids? I've done the latter before and 2 people for 2 hours (cost = $140) seems like overkill for an apartment.

Are there male maids? Not a very important question for getting the job done, but a bit interested in how far equality have come.

I'm guessing the main difference is you're paying $70/hr and collectively they're making $20/hr.

I'm pretty sure I am ahead of the game. I place some value on my time.

Private work usually without taxes and health insurance and any insurance at all. 1 man/hour costs here private 10 euros, from the company it is similar to what you paid.

Advantage to buy that from a company, is that if they break or steal something you won't be sitting on the costs for that. With private, it is your loss.

I agree that it is usually not worth money and stress having someone else doing chores. I don't know, which level of trust I should have to let strangers in my home.

Just re-define yourself as a prepper and you're golden.

Been cleaning awfully little lately. One of my tricks which actually worked for some time was having an "egg" clock timer, used to let it run for the full hour. So cleaned and went through magazines etc during that time. My clock has two wheels, the other is 20 minutes. Maybe I'll start with the latter, for not overdoing it.

Here we go again!

Some before and after pictures would be pretty cool. I definitely value tidiness.

One thing I'd love is some kind of system that eliminates dust. I'm sure life without those HEPA filters would be way worse but damn there seems to be a lot of mother****ing dust everywhere, and it comes back quick.

The first 20 minutes of my new life are over! Filled the dishwasher, put away some day to day magazines and flyers, and also skimmed through and discarded a couple of periodicals.

The point is you can achieve so much if you semi-daily do for example cleaning and throwing out stuff. Doing very much during just one day has never worked for me.

Anyhow, we are talking eternal processes here...

My problem with the short interval method is that I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I know at the end of 10 or 20 minutes, I will still need another 2 hours to get to everything.

I use the short interval method for doing things I don't want to do. When you know it ends, you can start doing it in the first place. I also have a feeling I should do more, but on the other hand it's better to do a little than nothing at all.

Then you can do something at least a bit pleasurable. So I scanned some, didn't find that a pita today. Read a bit of a historic magazine, tore out and threw away the read pages, leading once again to a little less in the house.

Small steps, small steps...

We are throwing out 3-4 books per day now. Makes an impressive amount with time if you do the math, even if the visual result per day is nada.

Small steps, small steps...

Avoid a mess: cook bacon in the oven. buy the wide alum foil and line the cookie sheet with it before cooking. no bacon grease splattered all over the stove top and just remove and trash the foil for no pan clean up. the bacon is just as good, if not better than if you cooked it in a pan on the stovetop.

^that.


Actually, tinfoil or parchment paper ALL the cookie sheets and baking dishes, imo.

'Cause I hate scrubbing dishes...and the environment.

Proud I got the dish washer going. Not bad for one day.

I do have difficulties to throw things out. One thing that helps with books http://www.bookcrossing.com/.

You can throw the paper in paper recycling container and tinfoil in alu recycling -> environment happy too. And if those are your biggest sins against environment, then you are actually good.

I think the only way, except with paid help, is to have daily routines in place in order to keep your home clean.
My basics are
1. Pack/unpack dishwasher
2. Hand wash anything needing it
3. Wipe sinks out
4. Clean toilets
5. Sweep floors
6. Make bed
7. Keep kitchen counters wiped down and clean
8. Brush my dogs outside to reduce the amount of hair they shed
This takes no longer then 30 minutes and means the house doesn't really get horribly dirty.

Nice strategy. Do you have any method for decreasing clutter? That of course means doing something about the common imbalance with throwing out less than what is brought into the house?

jeez...daily?

i clean my toilet like 2x a month. sweep once a week. make bed lol.

apparently i need a cleaning crew.

I am not so great at clutter. I should have clear the coffee table and dining room table on my list of things to do everyday as they tend to attract clutter, especially paper clutter. My house isn't especially cluttered but my garage is appalling. I need a serious strategy to get this sorted.
Things I have done in my house to reduce clutter is switching to paperless bills, everything comes by email now, no junk mail sign and probably most importantly I really think about things before I purchase them. How much will I use it? Where will I put it? Do I REALLY want it? Doing these things helps to reduce the amount of crap you have in your home. Also doing reasonably regular clear outs to charity is helpful.

I tend to need to sweep more due to having inside dogs and cleaning the toilet is like super quick, spray and use scrubbing brush in the bowl- it takes 30 seconds. Making bed is pulling up doona, straightening it out -another 30 seconds.
I like a clean house but I am not naturally tidy so I had to develop daily habits so things never got out of hand.

Anything new on this front? Apparently I can hold just one project at a time, have struggled with getting my alcohol problem fixed for a couple of months. Cleaning the house...well it doesn't exactly look tidy, time to do something about it yet again. Any good recommendations? Only thing not happening is a maid.