Saturday, March 5, 2011

Simplify Saturday: Zip Through Your Zones

It's that time of year again....the time that everyone begins thoroughly cleaning their homes, getting rid of clutter, making room for some new clutter! :) Since I've been sharing a few tips from Sink Reflections lately, I figured why not continue the pattern?  So here is another simple tip from this helpful book:

Instead of manically spring cleaning all at once, why not divide your house up into zones, and work on it a little at a time?  The author suggests dividing it into 5 zones:
1) entrance/dining room/front porch
2) kitchen
3) bathroom/children's room(s)/spare bedroom or office
4) master bedroom/master bathroom
5) living room/family room/den

She decided on 5 zones because there are usually about 5 weeks each  month, so each week of the month you can focus on a different zone.  She recommends working on the current zone for only 15 minutes to an hour each day, knowing that if you don't get everything finished, you can pick up where you left off the next month!  She also gives suggestions of exactly what needs to be done in each zone.

Due to my schedule, I prefer to divide my house into 6 zones, and only focus on one each month....which means overall, I "spring clean" my house twice a year.  If that's still too overwhelming for you, you could also take 2 months to clean each zone, and by the end of the year, you'd be done with the whole house.

No matter how you divide it up, the important part is that it's broken into smaller, more managable tasks, so that it feels much less overwhelming!  And when you know you only have to clean for a few minutes, you're more likely not to put it off! 

Before you know it, you'll be zipping through all your zones!