While I hadn’t planned on dieting my way into 2009, I did include better housekeeping in my list of New Year’s goals.  I think what I scratched on the scrap paper by my computer was, “Clean Something Every Day.” That scratch paper is as far as I have gotten in recording my desired improvements for the year.  Like I said yesterday, I’m still fine-tuning these goals so that when I do finally make my list, it will be most accurate and lasting.

When I wrote “clean”, I really meant “deep clean”.  Right after Christmas I got this really big spurt of energy and desired to clean my whole house cleaner than I got it when we moved in.  Bill was on page with that, and we spent a whole day of our break cleaning.  I spent most of the day in the bathroom with Q-tips and other various cleaning supplies.  My bathroom is cleaner than it’s ever been.  Every surface got a thorough washing, including the walls, cabinetry, baseboards, floors, light fixtures…everything except the ceiling, which has that ugly popcorn stuff on it.  I immediately decided it was time to go room to room and do the same thing until my house sparkles.

I seldom have enough time to devote several hours in one day to cleaning a room.  That’s where I got the bright idea to “deep-clean” something every day.  We’re not talking light cleaning here.  We’re talking vacuuming base boards, scrubbing grime out of hard to reach places, cleaning things that only a Q-tip or toothbrush can accomplish.  In the beginning of this quest, I did manage to clean two ceiling fans and their fixtures, the back French doors, and the huge dining window, inside and out.  That’s a step.  BUT.  I have not been able to bring myself to such efforts every day.  I’m actually wondering if I ever will get to the next room with my tiny tools.

And that’s where the New Year’s Goals list refinement comes in.  If I had already made my official list, I would have already spoiled my resolutions.  Instead, I’ve found a better way to accomplish the greater goal of having a cleaner house.  First of all, it’s always a bad idea to determine to do any one thing every day.  You’re setting yourself up for failure, and I realize that.  Honestly, I don’t even like to aim for a certain number of times per week.  Then I’m constantly having to scold myself for falling down on the job.  The idea with making resolutions is to improve your efforts in life in some way, so that each year you are better than the year before.  I often aim for doing something every day so that I feel more committed to the task.  It seldom works.

When thinking about getting my house cleaner, I started thinking back to Fly Lady.  I used to subscribe to Fly Lady way back when, and I found her techniques very helpful.  I’ve still maintained some of them just because I like them, like keeping the kitchen sink sparkling at all times, but I don’t remember all the details for her plan.  Quite frankly, I don’t even want to look at her site, because I don’t want to force myself into adopting another plan of some sort, regardless of how good it is.  I do seem to remember her having a Power Hour, though.  I think it was a daily thing, but I’m not sure.  In fact, I don’t even remember what she suggested you DO during Power Hour.

Monday morning I started my own Power Hour with my own rules and such.  I had already spent some time over the weekend picking up junk around the house and getting the kids’ room somewhat organized again.  I also started with the house being relatively clean.  I determined to have Power Hour first thing every morning after dropping Will off for school.  I do the same sorts of things as always, except that now I am focused about it and try to get it all done in one hour.  Do you know, I actually enjoy my Power Hour?  I start in the kitchen and empty the dishwasher, refill it with breakfast dishes, and put away everything that is out of place in the kitchen.  I also clean all the countertops.  (I do this several times a day anyway.) Then I make my way through the house picking up every random thing I see and putting it where it belongs.  When I get to the back, I make all the beds and put the bedrooms back in order.  Then I stop at the hamper and sort whatever laundry is in there and get a load going.  I finish in the bathroom by doing my hair and makeup, if I haven’t already done them, and then hitting the sink, counter, and mirror with some Windex.  The first day it took me the whole hour to do all of this, and I didn’t even have to do my makeup and hair.  The second day, my house was in such good condition already, it only took me 30 minutes.  I still devote an hour though.  So if I have time left over, I do some cleaning chore, like vacuuming or whatnot.  And the catch is, I do all of this as fast, yet thoroughly, as possible.

Having Power Hour has done three things for me.  First of all, it has gotten my house cleaner.  Second of all, it has made me feel like I’m exercising.  Moving around the house non-stop for an hour may not be grueling exercise, but it’s enough for me to think I’m doing something heart-healthy anyway.  Third of all, having such a nice-looking house has inspired and motivated me to keep it that way.  I find myself picking up more throughout the day as it becomes messy and spending less time sitting around pouting about how messy my house is.  I didn’t really set out to do Power Hour, per se.  It just sort of came upon me.  This is Day 3, and so far I am not thinking that it’s going to fizzle just yet.  This just might be one goal I can reach.  And at some point, I’ll probably end up hittin’ the Q-tips during Power Hour.