Takes One To Know One

It is NOT the last day of November!  This cannot be, and I don't believe it.  But while I am accepting although not believing, I thought I would take a minute and jot down some cleaning tips I use whenever I'm tidying up my home.  If you were to see my apartment right now, you wouldn't automatically think I use any of these tips, but trust me when I tell you that I do!  And like the title suggests, it takes a messy seldom-cleaner-upper to know one! :)

Pictured: shame.

Caty's Top 5 Tips for Cleaning Up

1. Clutter your favorite spot.  My favorite spot in the entire apartment is my rocking chair.  Therefore, every time I clean up, I make sure and put as much stuff as possible in that chair to deter me from sitting in it.  If I have a load of laundry, like towels or blankets that can wait to be folded, I put that in the chair.  I'm gonna have to fold the clothes before I can sit in the chair.  If your favorite spot is in front of the computer, just turn it off!  It's one less thing to distract you.
2. Double fist.  As you go through the place grabbing stuff to be put in its rightful spot, always keep both hands full.  This just seems to get the job done faster.
3. Take it one room at a time.  This is probably my biggest problem.  As I am zooming through my apartment, I see an item that belongs in the bathroom sitting in the living room.  When I get in the bathroom to put the item away, I see the hand towel is on the floor.  I pick up the hand towel, which leads to sweeping the floor, and etc until I've forgotten about the living room.  No matter how "tempting" it is to want to multitask and clean all the rooms a little at a time, just keep it simple and stick to one room at a time.
4. Make a list.  Make a to-do list of the big things you really want to accomplish while cleaning.  This gives you somewhere to start and keeps your cleaning priorities straight.  If you are really behind on dishes, but the windows really need to be cleaned, do the dishes first.  This is a bigger priority, and if you don't make a list first, you could end up doing what I do and just looking around to see what needs to be done rightthisverysecond and not what really needs to get done sooner rather than later.
5. Do it all in one go.  If you are one of those people who can take a break and have enough self control to get back up and continue cleaning, more power to you.  I am not one of those people.  If I attempt to take a break, I am down for the count.  I will not get back up from my book/TV show/movie to keep cleaning when I could just sit here instead.

Bonus tip: Have some background noise.  I recommend either music since it's not visually stimulating, or a movie you know like the back of your hand and don't feel the need to sit down and watch.  It'll help the cleaning go by faster, and it'll seem a little more fun.

Good luck in your cleaning!  I'm about to start mine this morning as well.  Here's hoping I can keep to the tips above.