1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,160 When your house is a mess and you're feeling the stress, what 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,840 you need is a friend in your. Ear start the. 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,240 Job and you'll see it through with Ronnie talking to you. 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Make. The chaos disappear. 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:31,320 Clean with Me podcast is here. Thanks for joining me. 6 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,520 In today's episode, I'm going to talk you through a home morning 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,640 routine which I like to compare to the opening shift in the 8 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,240 workplace. In case you're new to the show, 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,320 Clean With Me is the podcast where I talk you through 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:50,480 cleaning your house step by step Today as I guide you through 11 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:54,800 each task of the opening shift in your home, I'll also be 12 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,320 discussing the importance of the closing shift and introducing 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:01,960 you to something called the 30 * 3 method. 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,480 Let's get right into the episode. 15 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:09,160 If you're still sitting on the couch or lying in bed, it's time 16 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:14,280 to get up and moving and get dressed and looking presentable. 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,560 Because when you look good, you feel good. 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,040 So start with that step if you aren't ready for the day yet. 19 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,720 For the rest of you, you might want to quickly clean up a 20 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,480 problem area in your home or start a load of laundry. 21 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,760 A lot of times there's some glaring problem that you're not 22 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,480 going to be able to relax until you've dealt with it. 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,800 OK, maybe you need to wash a load of towels or strip your bed 24 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,800 and start washing your sheets and pillowcases or your 25 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,040 comforter. If you tend to forget to switch 26 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:53,240 your laundry from the washer to the dryer, set a timer on your 27 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,360 phone after loading that washer as a reminder to do that laundry 28 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,880 switch later on. I don't know about you, but I 29 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,680 use alarms on my phone for a lot of different things. 30 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,160 I even have alarms for reminding my kids to do their homework 31 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,640 before it gets too late. Another way to kick off your 32 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:16,040 morning routine is to open up your curtains or blinds and let 33 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,160 some natural light in. OK, if the weather's nice, you 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,200 might want to open your windows and air out your house. 35 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,000 But if you're listening to this episode in the dead of winter 36 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,880 when I'm recording it, you could light a candle or put some fresh 37 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,880 wax in your wax warmer. I have a friend who has a really 38 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:40,400 nice essential oil diffuser that sprays out a lot of mist and it 39 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,720 was just a nice vibe and it made me want to get one, but the one 40 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,080 I have isn't that potent so I ended up just putting it in my 41 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,400 room to use with lavender oil on those nights when I'm just 42 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,680 having trouble getting to sleep. Just do whatever you need to do 43 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,320 to achieve a fresh cozy atmosphere in your home smell 44 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,480 wise. And don't forget to take out the 45 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,000 kitchen trash and reline it. OK, that'll solve a lot of 46 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,240 problems right there. For that matter, you might want 47 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,360 to run the garbage disposal. By the way, on those two days a 48 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,240 week when I work outside the home at the school, I like to 49 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,000 pack my tote bag in the morning and put everything I'm bringing 50 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 to work on the piano bench, which is my launchpad by the 51 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,880 front door. You might have a different piece 52 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,040 of furniture for that, but I like to pack that bag and put it 53 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,200 by the door before I complete any household tasks. 54 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,800 That way I can relax knowing I'm ready to walk out the door. 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,440 So that might be a good idea for those of you who get stressed 56 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,360 out looking for misplaced keys and other items in the morning. 57 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,920 Hopefully by now you've done whatever you needed to do to 58 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,120 gear up for our cleaning session. 59 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,160 If not, pause the episode and make sure you are ready. 60 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,800 The next step is going to be a quick kitchen reset. 61 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,400 The first thing I want you to do is clear off your kitchen 62 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,880 countertops. Maybe you washed the dishes last 63 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,160 night to get your kitchen sanitary before bed, but you 64 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,880 left the countertops a little cluttered with other stuff, like 65 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,959 seasonings and other items that accumulated on the countertop 66 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:19,480 throughout the day. That's OK. 67 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:23,720 Or maybe you just tend to plot things on the kitchen island 68 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,800 when you get home and you've got like a week's build up a random 69 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,560 clutter, and then whoever does the dishes is just kind of 70 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,560 wiping down, you know, the cooking areas. 71 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,560 Or maybe the end of one of your counters has a lot of paper 72 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,120 clutter and you need to put those items away. 73 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,480 Let's quickly get your countertop cleared off. 74 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:48,320 By the way, for those of you who are home all day with two or 75 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,400 more young children, you'll probably need to have a morning, 76 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,160 afternoon, and evening routine. OK, this episode is about the 77 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,160 opening shift, but that's not going to be enough. 78 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,880 I recently read about the 33 rule for housework. 79 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,080 It was created by Riley Jasmine, who's a homeschooling mom of 80 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,160 five. I don't know anything about her, 81 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,880 but I can attest to the fact that it takes a lot of housework 82 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,960 to keep up when you have kids who are home all day, especially 83 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,840 if some of them are still little and not contributing much as far 84 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,520 as chores. That having been said, many of 85 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,240 you have jobs or have another routine that requires you to 86 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,200 skip the afternoon reset and do a whole house deep clean on the 87 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,680 weekend. But if you can do only one 88 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,000 routine on a daily basis, I think the evening one makes the 89 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,480 biggest impact. Just for the record, again, this 90 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,080 episode is a morning routine. But for those who choose to do 91 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,040 all three, the afternoon session is often the perfect time to 92 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,680 tackle a deep cleaning task like mopping the floors or cleaning a 93 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,400 bathroom. And the 30-3 method doesn't have 94 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,120 to be 3030 thirty. I mean, your morning routine is 95 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,320 probably going to be shorter than your afternoon routine, in 96 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,320 my opinion anyway. Once you have the countertops 97 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,040 cleared, it's time for the next step. 98 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,160 Unload the dishwasher or drying rack, or both if you're like us, 99 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,280 and quickly manage any remaining morning dishes to get down to 100 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:25,360 dish 0 so you can start the day with a clean slate. 101 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,800 Ideally, though, you shouldn't have more than just the 102 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,800 breakfast dishes to wash and maybe a peanut butter knife or 103 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,800 mayonnaise knife you used making sandwiches if you made school or 104 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,560 work lunches this morning. Let's quickly wash those few 105 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,600 items and place them into the drying rack if that's your 106 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,240 system, or load them into the dishwasher once you get it 107 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,480 emptied. At our house, we tend to hand 108 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,760 wash when there are only a few dirty items, especially because 109 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,520 my husband doesn't like emptying the dishwasher and oftentimes 110 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,280 it's full of clean dishes. So we're more likely to use the 111 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:05,160 dishwasher when we're facing what I like to call a dish. 112 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,320 Astor, one of my dear listeners coined that phrase. 113 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,440 By the way, no judgement here. If you dropped the ball last 114 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,840 night and you're feeling a little guilty because you left 115 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,720 some dirty dishes soaking in the sink, don't feel bad about that. 116 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,320 That just means you might need to listen to another episode 117 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,800 after this to get your kitchen fully clean. 118 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,760 Hopefully by now you've put away the clean dishes, maybe washed a 119 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,440 few dirty ones, and you're spraying down your countertops 120 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,040 and other surfaces and just wiping everything down. 121 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,600 But you don't have to be cleaning exactly along with the 122 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,680 show, so if your situation's different and you're overwhelmed 123 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,080 with a big mess, that's OK. Just keep moving. 124 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,000 You're making progress, and that's what matters. 125 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,280 Or if you gave the countertop, stovetop, and tabletop A swipe 126 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,560 last night sometime after dinner and there's no new mess, you 127 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,520 could use this segment to sweep or vacuum the kitchen floor in 128 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,560 case that never got done yesterday or this week, 129 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,400 depending how often that needs to be done. 130 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,240 Because we're all in different seasons of life. 131 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,040 If you've ever worked at a fast food place or you've ever worked 132 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,200 the opening shift at a restaurant or retail store, 133 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,800 you've probably heard people ask who closed last night such and 134 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,280 such wasn't done. Like they didn't do any of the 135 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,799 stuff. You know, I worked at Taco Bell 136 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,720 when I was in high school and sometimes I opened on Saturdays, 137 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,520 so I remember hearing that complaint often. 138 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,120 And of course, whatever the closing crew didn't do, the 139 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,480 openers had to go ahead and do it anyway. 140 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,920 It's the same at your house. Sometimes the kitchen isn't 141 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,240 properly closed, so the opening shift takes longer. 142 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,080 My husband is retired and I'm working, so he typically handles 143 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,320 the closing shift and then I do the opening shift the next 144 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,800 morning. And that works well for us 145 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,440 because he doesn't like the sometimes tedious job of putting 146 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,600 away a mountain of clean dishes. Usually he washes the dishes 147 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,000 after dinner. He's real good about cleaning as 148 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,760 he goes and doing all the things. 149 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,240 But then I put away the dishes the next morning, meaning 150 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,400 emptying the drying rack and dishwasher on the days that I 151 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,280 don't start work super early. Because at my work from home 152 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,520 job, sometimes I like opening shift because it's slow in the 153 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,520 mornings and then I get paid to just sit here. 154 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,040 But that's a whole nother subject. 155 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,800 But if you're in a season of life where you're both the 156 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:43,040 closer and opener, hopefully you closed last night because going 157 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,520 to bed with a clean kitchen is the ideal. 158 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:49,840 But if not, you might just need to Scroll down, listen to 159 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,160 another episode after this, and wash those dishes. 160 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,480 For now, just leave any remaining dishes to soak because 161 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,360 we're about to move on to making the beds. 162 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,080 This is just a quick morning routine, folks. 163 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,800 But before you leave the kitchen, take a moment to think 164 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,440 about what you're making for dinner tonight, in case you need 165 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,880 to start a crock pot or thaw something out for later. 166 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,880 Or maybe it's too early to set it out and you want to set a 167 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,320 timer on your phone to set it out at noon. 168 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:23,680 OK, just make those plans. Unless someone is sleeping in 169 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,640 your bed or you're washing the bedding and you don't have a 170 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,160 second set, it's time to make your bed and whichever other 171 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,920 beds you're responsible for. Maybe you have toddlers who are 172 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:35,520 too young to make their own beds. 173 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,320 By the way, special thanks to my financial supporters who have 174 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,880 unlocked the bonus episodes, which are often longer. 175 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:49,160 You too can unlock those episodes for a small monthly fee 176 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,960 or special arrangement with me. And if you're listening to Clean 177 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,720 with Me on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, the paid subscription 178 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,520 is probably already being advertised to you, and 179 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,920 subscribing on one of those platforms will give you a 180 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:08,040 seamless listening experience. That said, another option is 181 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:12,080 joining my Patreon page, which gives you an option to support 182 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,240 the show at different levels. So some people who support me on 183 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:21,080 Apple or Spotify are also supporting on Patreon just to 184 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:22,280 help me. It's so sweet. 185 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,280 Or they're on Patreon for the bonus episodes, but they're 186 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,600 supporting me at a higher level. But I appreciate every little 187 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,160 bit. And even just listening to these 188 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,320 free episodes helps me to be honest. 189 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,800 And a way that you can support the show without spending any 190 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:41,400 money is by clicking on the plus sign or follow button in 191 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,200 whichever podcast app you listen on, and then also clicking on 192 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,320 that fifth star to give me an excellent rating. 193 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,560 I'd appreciate that so much. And if you happen to be 194 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:56,320 listening on Spotify, you might notice there's a video. 195 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,120 Please let the video portion play. 196 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,280 Keep it in video mode because that helps as well. 197 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,480 If your house is super messy right now, just pick a high 198 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,040 priority area like your front entrance or your family room and 199 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,400 start picking up there. Just spend these last few 200 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,520 minutes straightening up, whether it's your entire house 201 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,480 or just a priority area, or if your floor is already generally 202 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,640 picked up and your house is tidy, run a vacuum for a couple 203 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,000 minutes or start your robot vacuum. 204 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,280 I realize you're in all different life stages and 205 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,840 situations. And for those of you who work 206 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,720 outside the home or takes kids to school in the morning, 207 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,840 remember that a successful morning begins the night before. 208 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,840 OK, so if you're struggling, maybe you should have laid out 209 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,280 clothes or took inventory to make sure you had everything you 210 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,840 needed for your coffee or other favorite morning beverage. 211 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,120 Breakfast on the go, Any lunches you'll need to pack. 212 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,040 But don't worry, I'm planning to talk about all that in an 213 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:59,520 upcoming closing shift episode. So make sure you're following 214 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,640 this show again, click plus or subscribe or follow. 215 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,120 Anyway, for the next few minutes, I want you to just be 216 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:13,720 picking up your house or a problem area of your house. 217 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:19,320 I realize, you know, you might need a little bit more time to 218 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,600 get caught up on your housework. Maybe you're new to the show and 219 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,000 it's going to take you a while to get caught up. 220 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,560 I always think of one of my listeners who wrote in that she 221 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:37,840 took some time off from work and just binged my content and got 222 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:43,320 her house under control after she had experienced a horrible 223 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:48,560 personal tragedy and had been struggling with depression, 224 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,160 Understandably. OK, Sometimes, you know, when 225 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,720 we're in a rut with housework, it can take a while. 226 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,160 It took a while for your house to get in that condition. 227 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,200 It's going to take a while to get it under control. 228 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,760 I get that. But these daily routines are a 229 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,440 big part of at least not adding to the mess and maybe gradually 230 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,600 chipping away over time. By the way, a lot of the bonus 231 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,680 episodes are whole house episodes. 232 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:21,240 And I'm going to start doing some afternoon routine episodes 233 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,680 that focus on some deep cleaning tasks. 234 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,360 OK. So I hope you got a lot done 235 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,600 during this episode. Again, thank you so much for 236 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,560 your support if you're going that extra mile to support the 237 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,360 show, but I appreciate each and everyone of you. 238 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,680 And as always, happy cleaning. I'll talk to you in the next 239 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:44,200 episode.