Step 4: Zone Cleaning

 

  • Divide your house into zones.
  • Writing detailed cleaning lists
  • Rotate weekly between zones
  • Create an overview
  • Body doubling
  • Use soap in the shower 3-4 times a week
  • Snooze max 5 minutes in the morning
  • Stay in this routine until it feels natural, and you succeed on most days (and get back on track fairly quickly). I recommend doing at least one rotation of each zone, preferably 2, before moving on to step 5. If you need a bit longer, do that.


Divide house into zones

Now that you have a regular routine, it is time to go a bit deeper. You need to divide your home into 4 zones. If you have only 4 rooms, it will be easy. If you have more rooms, group the rooms together how it makes sense. Suggestion:

  • Zone 1: All bathrooms
  • Zone 2: All bedrooms
  • Zone 3: Common areas (office, living room, hallways, etc.)
  • Zone 4: Kitchen and dining room


Writing detailed cleaning lists

Now that you have your zones, write down a detailed cleaning list for every task you need to get done. This is all those spring cleaning tasks you need to get done. Such as getting into the corners, cleaning the kitchen appliances, and anything else.

Next to each task, make sure you keep a box you can check off to see which tasks are recently done, and which you are still missing. This will be your ‘Zone Cleaning Master’.


The rotation

  • Week one, spend 10 minutes in Zone 1 every day, doing something from your Zone Cleaning Master.
  • When you finish a task, check it off on the list. When the week is done, move on to the next zone. Next time you are in zone 1, you pick up where you left off with the cleaning tasks that ate not yet checked off.
  • Once you check off a list, you just clear the checkmarks, and start over. This way, you ensure that everything gets done, without overexerting yourself. You can do a lot more in 10 minutes than you realise.


The overview

I keep my ‘Zone Cleaning Master’ on my phone, but you can keep it on paper in a folder, on your computer, or anywhere that makes sense. If you are multiple people working together, I would recommend keeping it in a place where everyone can see which points are checked off.

I will share my personal Zone Cleaning Master as inspiration, but adapt it to your own personal situation and needs.


Body doubling

Since you are now going a bit deeper, things can get trickier if you have a very large house. If you have a large house, you will likely also have more people. Here, it will be a huge advantage to delegate some work to all members of the household. Depending on your situation, you may or may not be the one who do the most, or keep the main overview, but that doesn’t mean that others can’t help a little.

If you are 2 adults, you can each spend 10 minutes together in the zone of the week. Or one can do the weekly task, while the other do the zone cleaning.

Children can focus on the lighter things, such as tidying, or keeping their own room/playroom/etc. Having their own space to be responsible for is also a great way to teach them good habits, and feel a sense of pride in taking care of their space.


New habits

In addition to zone cleaning, it is time to upgrade your habits a bit. Nothing major, just improving little by little.

  • Instead of snoozing up to 10 minutes, snooze only 5 minutes.
  • Use soap in your shower 3-4 times per week.

Keep up the other habits as usual.


The why

Zone cleaning the home is a way of creating more of an overview, and breaking down a big task into smaller tasks. This means that you get around to everything regularly, and you stay on top of things, rather than having to catch up all the time.

I chose to say 10 minutes, because you can do a lot more in 10 minutes than you would think, but it is not so much that you feel you spend all of your precious time off cleaning. 

Remember, you are not meant to finish the deep cleaning lists every week. It can take several rotations to get to everything, but it will get done.

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