Working full time & keeping your house clean!

[5k_runr]

I have a hard time keeping a clean house being at work all day...I get home from work and the last thing I want to do is clean...anyone else know how I feel? What are your tricks/tips?

Sometimes the "outside" of the house looks clean...just don't open any closets!!! :blush: :lol:

[kristen nov02]

I totally agree. Working full time makes it so hard to clean because I never have the energy to put in to it. My dh is usually the person who instigates it and forces me to join him like every other Sunday.

[HeavenLeigh]

Ha! It's darned near impossible. By the time I drag in of the evenings I don't feel like breathing much less anything else. I have been trying to cook and usually have to clean the biggest part of the kitchen up from the night before just to cook. Sometimes it's embarrassing if someone pops in w/out notice.....but oh well. I'm a single working parent.....if they don't like how my house looks *which is mostly clutter and dust---not rotting food on the floor* then they need not come over :D

[yonksgirl]

if they don't like how my house looks *which is mostly clutter and dust---not rotting food on the floor* then they need not come over :D
Or they can clean it for you! :nod:

[Sexy Strawberry]

That's my mom's case... she works full time, cleans the house, cooks, goes shopping. She does everything! My dad works too and is away from home for days or weeks sometimes, when he's at home he cooks and does some shopping but he doesn't clean the house.
My mom has a lot of energy, I really admire her. When I'm at home I try to help but usually I'm not so...

[loleeps]

UGH, I have this dilemma as well. Hubby is a clean freak and me...not so much. It's so hard to work all week and then spend weekends cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, etc! However, we just decided today to splurge on a service that will clean our house every other week. yay!! Others may disagree on doing this (my MIL for one, LOL) but it's totally worth the money to me.

[Csara]

However, we just decided today to splurge on a service that will clean our house every other week. That is awesome and sooo worth it if you can!

Honestly, I dont know how anyone who works full time (and is a parent, especially) can keep their house clean. You must all be superwomen for even attempting it. I don't work and I still have a hard time keeping up with everything. I try to do a little bit every day and that's the only way I can manage. Otherwise it gets overwhelming to have to do everything at once.

5k - my suggestion would be to make a schedule where you do maybe one thing a night and then whatever is left over take care of during the weekend. One major tip is to try doing a small load of laundry every day or every few days. It is much easier than having to do atleast 4-5 loads at once. Good luck!!

[HeavenLeigh]

I do a lil bit almost every day.....almost being the key word. I try to keep things picked up and straight. I try to do the big things (like vacuum, moping, tub scrubbing, etc....) every couple weeks if I can't do it every week. Sometimes it goes longer, sometimes it doesn't. When I'm off I have shopping, errand running, etc... to catch up on (not to mention sleeping) and it's really, really hard to keep up with.
A few ppl have offered to help but I can't stand anyone messing with my stuff. I won't even let my Mom come up to help. I don't know what it is, I'm not worried about them breaking or stealing anything but the idea of someone cleaning and rummaging around my house hits a nerve. :huh:
I am a toilet fanatic tho. My toilets have to be clean. I alcohol them down every day, sometimes more and scrub the bowls out 2-3 times a week. The rest of the house can be in shambles but my toilets are shining.

[honeybunny]

I know exactly how you feel. As a matter of fact, I quit my job so I could stay home and keep the house clean (among other things that never get done when you both work full time). But seriously, what I used to do is come up with minimum chores. There are certain things that will only be more work if you don't do them regularly, like washing dishes and doing laundry. But other things will take the same amount of time no matter how long it's been, like vacuuming and dusting. Keep that in mind when you are limited on time and energy. Also, it helps to time how long it takes you to do something. For example, if you know it only takes 10 minutes to vacuum the common living areas, then you are more likely to get motivated (maybe during a commercial break?). After all, it's only 10 minutes right... we tend to think jobs take longer than they really do. I used to also determine how often I wanted to do things. For me, I wanted to vacuum and dust, clean the bathrooms, and sweep once a week and do dishes every night. So I tried to make time to do all those jobs each week (and had to keep the house picked up in order to do it). Sometimes I didn't have energy to do it all, so I'd just do the minimum of dishes and laundry. Also, it's understandable if your closets are a mess while working full time. Don't feel guilty. Just set aside time when you can (it may take a whole weekend) to go through one closet at a time... maybe each can be gone through once every 6 months or so? And just accept that you can't do it all... stop beating yourself up about it because every couple that works full time has this problem. If your house looks neat on the outside... what else really matters? And if it's a matter of not being able to find things you need, then it is really a matter of coming up with a system to organize yourself... try to design your system around your habits. For example, if you can only file papers once every 3 months, have a place to keep stuff that piles up in the meantime... then you know that if you received the paper in the last three months, it must be in the pile. And it will remain manageable because most papers only come once a month anyway. Hope this helps some.

[5k_runr]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! :) The one thing I like to do is clean when am I home by myself. Usually DH works one late night a week and I have been on a schedule to clean that night, which works pretty well, because it keeps me awake until he gets home and the house smells clean when he gets in from a long day.

[rdy2rac with]

I try to do one chore a night. Be it unloading & loading the dishwasher, washing bottles, making bottles, doing bills (yes I consider this in my chores list) or folding a load of laundry. If I do 1 a night at least I feel like I accomplished something that day (aside from the whole working day, feeding & watering the kids & snuggling them into bed). Hubby usually does the vaccuuming (when the floor is clear), laundry (altho he doesn't fold it) & almost always ends up doing the pots & pans since it takes me a while to get to them.