Too Busy to Clean

Time is of the essence, but who has it these days. Unless you can afford full time help to clean up after you and every child and pet in the family, a mess is soon to follow unless of course you make it a routine. Here are some housekeeping tips to keep things running smoothly in spite of your busy schedule.

Beds – When you wake up, open up your bed and pull the sheets up and away from the bed. Open the doors or windows and get fresh air into the room. Ventilate the room for 20 minutes, stretch out the bottom sheet and then proceed to make the bed. While you are there, pick up any glasses or bottles of water, newspapers, tissues, etc.

Dusting – Get some good microfiber cloths and have them handy to use whenever you run the vacuum or sweep the floor. A good wipe down takes only a minute. Lift up the accessories and wipe on all sides of every surface.

Laundry – Clothes can pile up especially when you have children. If your hampers are full on a daily basis, try putting a load in every morning just as you wake up and perhaps are exercising and/or getting the children up and ready for school. Change the wash to the dryer (or line-dry your items) before you leave the house. If you have an extra 15 minutes, then take the things out of the dryer and lay them out flat and/or line dry. When you get home from work, you can fold and put everything away. Designate 1 day per week for the dry cleaners and 1 day per week to either wash/launder the sheets and towels.

Floors – Whether you have carpets or floors throughout the house, they have to be vacuumed or swept at least 1-3 times per week depending on how they look. Kitchen floors should be swept daily after meals and other floors in rooms can be done as needed, but no less than once per week. A quick sweep or run of the vacuum can be done in 5 minutes. Quickly put an attachment on the vacuum to collect dust from the baseboards. Choose a different room to vacuum/sweep each morning or while dinner is on the stove.

Bathrooms – A good deep cleaning of a bathroom can only be accomplished when you have at least 30 minutes in the day. You may need to address this on a Saturday or Sunday. In between, you can do the following to keep things orderly: take the trash out daily, wipe down the mirror if you see any smudges, use a squeegee in the shower, use a toilet bowl brush in the toilet, have a handy cleaning towel available under the sink to dry up the sink and polish the faucets daily. When you use the towels (hand, bath or shower), always fold/hang them neatly.

Kitchen – While making a meal, always clean up during the cooking process. This will make it easier for you after everyone has finished eating. Always clear the sink of dishes; loading and turning on the dishwasher in the evening. Clean off the kitchen table and sweep beneath and around the kitchen after every meal. Give a good wipe to the stovetop and counters. Run the garbage disposal and take out the trash. This may seem time-consuming – so you might have to enlist the help of a spouse and/or older child.

Family Room – This room is frequently used in many homes. In the evening when everyone is ready to retire, just take a moment to fluff up the pillows on the couch, put glassware or dishware from snacks and drinks away, put away DVDs, throw away newspapers, put toys back in their respective place and leave the room looking fresh and clean for the morning.

Cleaning 101 – Always put things back where they belong and as you found them. When you pass by a room and see something out of place, take a second to make it look right. Stay on top of your laundry, dusting, vacuuming and trash removal; daily attention is needed. Develop an eye for detail and organization.

The key to keeping things in order when you have a busy schedule with not a moment to spare is to do things in a timely manner and as part of a routine. Incorporating these clean up routines into your schedule can be just as natural as brushing your teeth after a meal.

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How to Maintain your Housekeeping Job

For the last several years, economic times have been a bit strange and job opportunities working as a housekeeper are simply not what they used to be in better days. This brings to mind how important it is for those doing housekeeping to find ways to maintain a good relationship with our employers so that we do not lose our jobs. This year alone, I saw 2 individuals who were well-paid lose their jobs for simply crossing boundaries and not maintaining a professional relationship. This was heart-breaking for me and disturbing for their employers. Here are some thoughts on how to avoid such problems.

Crossing Boundaries refers to many things within an employment relationship. Here are a few examples and some suggestions on how to have a better working relationship.

a) Forming unnecessary opinions about personal, religious, and political views. These are subjects that should be kept private. It is also advisable to not be over-bearing on your personal choices in for example child-rearing. If a mother chooses to "not breastfeed", this is a personal decision and completely up to the mother. Showing disdain to the mother will only make her feel bad and uncomfortable with her decision.


b) Gossiping about the family's lifestyle to others such as household workers. What your boss does in the house is private and should remain there. Telling others of your perception or observation, whether it is true of false is harmful and disrespectful. It truly isn't your place as an employee to discuss the family's activities unless the cause for concern is serious, in which case, you might consider leaving the job and notifying the authorities.


c) Taking advantage as it relates to time and responsibilities. If you are entrusted with a list of duties that you agree to perform for the salary provided, it is your job to fulfill every duty to the best of your ability and to arrive on time and work the hours agreed to. Employers are also capable of taking advantage and should realize that this could cause an employee to quit.


d) Forgetfulness and Lack of Attention to Details - It is not easy to remember everything that you must do, but that is why man invented "paper and pen" so that you could utilize both to record anything and everything necessary. I recommend that all employees form a "household working manual" describing everything that is required by the employer. This can be something that is updated on a regular basis. You can review this daily, weekly and even monthly as needed to stay on top of your job. A great way to be sure that no one is forgetting important details regarding employment, it is suggested that an employment agreement be in place.

e)Review Sessions - It is mandatory that problems and issues do not fester between the employer and employee. Decide on how often is best for you to sit down together and discuss anything that might be of concern. This is a great time to get a performance evaluation to ensure that everyone is happy.

Every attempt while on the job to keep an open line of communication and stay on top of your responsibilities will help you maintain the job you worked so hard to get.

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