What's your housekeeping style: super neat, messy, or super messy - and why?
By dancia2007
@dancia2007 (551)
United States
March 20, 2007 5:46pm CST
I used to spend all my time being neat. Now I am messier but get more things done as long as I don't lose important things in the process.
As a caregiver I enter people's homes and help them do their activities of daily living. I am starting to get real, real, REAL tired of cleaning because I get paired with very particular people who no great job on cleaning would be good enough for them... houses that are cleaner than any house I have seen in 20 years, BEFORE I start cleaning. Yet, I hear about how DIRTY it is. I'm not going to let you see my house then... you'd have a heart attack!My personal style of housekeeping is that since I have too many irons in the fire ... and am tired of cleaning since I do it at work.... is to clean when it becomes a necessity or bothers me. I've had to raise my tolerance on what bothers me in order accomplish getting well from a disability, and also to have the time and energy to succeed with getting back into the work force. So at any given time I have a few messes going, and I have finally learned not to care. I do some pickup for 20-30 minutes in the evening on the evenings I am home, and I spend 3 hours cleaning better on the day that I have an afternoon off.
I just want to tell these people (but can't as they are connected to my paycheck): "P*ISS OFF! GET A LIFE! Care about your health first and your house second....care about your INTERNAL cleanliness so that you can get well. Is that little spot there really going to ruin the happiness of your entire day?"Am I wrong for letting my dishes stack up, not making my bed, not vacuuming frequently, and procrastinating on laundry, etc., while I am out focussing on gaining job experience and training for medical transcription, as well as doing various important things using the web? I mean, these people make me feel LOW! (Believe me, I am leaving those people.)
I either have time to be super neat so that I feel really great about my space, or I have time and energy to get things done. Not both. I still need a lot of rest even working 20-30 hours a week. I used to have adrenal exhaustion from being too much of a Type A personality and it can return if I am not careful.
Am I just making excuses for not being a neat freak any more? Or do I have a valid point that people do not see? And what's your style and why do you defend your style?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@michelledarcy (5220)
•
20 Mar 07
I like my house perfectly clean all the time. However the reality is I have 2 year old and a 5 year old so there are toys in every room and I'd much rather spend time with them than cleaning the place up.
I try to keep the kitchen in order and the rest of the place gets a quick clean every week. I like the place to be good enough so that it isn't embaressing when people visit but it has cobwebs and dust and toys everywhere.
1 person likes this
@dancia2007 (551)
• United States
21 Mar 07
Yep, it's reality... it is nice to deep clean, but man, who has time for that? I do it when it gets on my nerves, and then I move everything around.... which, I like moving things around frequently, ha ha.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
21 Mar 07
My house is now a trailer due to a housefire 3 summers ago. We are 4 people in a 2 bedroom trailer and it is a constant thing to keep in some neat order. Laundry does neatly pile up in baskets and bins until we have the money to go to the laundromat. I work part time normally in the evenings outside the home so the day is when I multitask and sometimes make a great dent in the organizing of our cramped space. I like a place for everything and everything in in its place. However, until we get back into the house I don't think that it will happen.
I am Type A and pretty mobile, that is as long as I keep moving. lol
You are the master of your ship and so you do as you see fit.
@dancia2007 (551)
• United States
21 Mar 07
Wow, such a tiny space! And I thought I had it tight in a studio. Yep, multitasking has to be the thing. When the Internet slows down to a crawl and something important is loading, I go pick something up or tend to something. I'm Type A also. It seems like everyone has their own style.
@dandino191 (136)
•
20 Mar 07
defo super neat, i know i wouldn't want to walk around the house stepping on slipt drinks and last weeks dinner all the time thats for sure
@dancia2007 (551)
• United States
21 Mar 07
A case can definitely be had for that. I try to take care of pileups around the computer on a daily basis... that's where I spend most of my time... lol.
@dylizans (27)
• Poland
21 Mar 07
I`m super messy. And I don`t care! I am still a student, so I don`t have too much time for cleaning - after classes (sometimes till 18-19 pm) i have lots of things to learn or write (I study philology). And I need some free time for myself.
My partner doesn`t mind, he actually seems to like it. We live almost 3 years together now and nothing has changed in this subject. My friends also seem to spend time at my house with pleasure.
Sometimes I wish I was neat. I make general cleaning then, and I like it. But in a short time it turnes back to normal: unclean dishes, lots of books on the floor and glasses everywhere. I guess this is how I am and not many can be changed here. Happily nobody makes a big deal of it.
@dancia2007 (551)
• United States
21 Mar 07
You are lucky that no one makes a big deal of it.
If I were sharing space I would be the neat freak and bothered by the messy person. But I am messier alone because it starts not becoming a priority over all the interesting and important things to do.
