1 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:28,240 If you're addicted to multitasking, this episode is 2 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:29,760 for you. I'm going to talk you through 3 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,880 cleaning your kitchen, and I'm also going to talk about when 4 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,840 it's a good idea to multitask and when it's not. 5 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,080 Let's get right into the episode. 6 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,520 It's time to gear up for your cleaning session. 7 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,560 Maybe you still need to get dressed and looking presentable. 8 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,520 This is more likely if you're listening to the episode in the 9 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,840 morning. Maybe you need to kind of 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,080 freshen up and just feel ready for the day. 11 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,840 Whether you might need to run an errand later or someone might 12 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,879 arrive at the door, or even if you're not expecting anyone, 13 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:06,480 when you look good, you feel good. 14 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,040 So if you're not ready yet, I encourage you to get ready even 15 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,480 if you need to pause the episode. 16 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,600 Another thing you might want to do before we get started is get 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,200 your house smelling fresh. OK? 18 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,840 Usually one of the most important things I do before 19 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,840 starting to clean my kitchen is I have somebody take the trash 20 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,040 out and reline it, and if no one else is around, I do it. 21 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:35,000 In fact, sometimes I wonder what the neighbors are thinking 22 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,520 because of how many times a day I'm seeing taking out trash. 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,760 It just, it's never ending with eight people living here and 24 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,200 packages coming in the mail and we're taking out a lot of trash 25 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,400 here. But I like to take out the trash 26 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:55,120 and reline it or delegate that to someone else because when I'm 27 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,160 cleaning the kitchen, I need to have a place to put stuff. 28 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:04,280 So that could be you right now. And of course, having trash 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,240 that's just sitting with rotten garbage in it can stink up your 30 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,039 house. Another thing you might need to 31 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:13,840 do to get your house smelling fresh is run your garbage 32 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,640 disposal. Turn on the sink, run the 33 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:20,160 garbage disposal, especially if other people in your family 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,360 might be putting things in the sink and not necessarily, you 35 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:25,600 know, running the garbage disposal. 36 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,040 And I realize you're not supposed to put much in your 37 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,040 garbage disposal at all if you know you know a lot of it's 38 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,480 supposed to go in the trash. But you've got to get rid of 39 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,760 those little particles by running it if you do have a 40 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,640 garbage disposal. And then, of course, you could 41 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,040 light a candle or start a wax warmer or an essential oil 42 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,600 diffuser. Or maybe, weather permitting, 43 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,840 you could open some windows. Sometimes it's good to air out 44 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:59,680 your house for a few minutes even if it's cold or hot. 45 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,520 I mean, nobody's asking you to leave the windows open all day, 46 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,400 but you might want to get some fresh air circulating unless 47 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,000 it's extremely hot or extremely cold. 48 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,960 Another thing you can do if you have pets and at least part of 49 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,240 your house is carpeted, you might want to sprinkle some 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:23,880 carpet fresh or whatever brand you use, some type of a powder 51 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,440 that freshens your carpet. Of course, it's no substitute 52 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:34,040 for periodically shampooing your carpet, and also this could be 53 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,080 visible on the carpet, so maybe don't do it if you're not 54 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,520 planning on vacuuming later today. 55 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,720 But it's just an idea, even though we're going to be working 56 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,360 in the kitchen. If you do plan on vacuuming 57 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,800 after this while listening to some music, now might be the 58 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,760 time to use some carpet sprinkles. 59 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,040 And another thing to do right before any type of cleaning 60 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,360 session is to get your machines running. 61 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,040 And of course, if you have a dishwasher, that's going to be 62 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,360 running when we get into doing dishes. 63 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:06,600 But you might want to start a load of laundry. 64 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,280 In fact, I started a load of laundry before I started 65 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,240 recording this episode. My husband said, I think the 66 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,320 washing machines available. OK, it's a weekend, people are 67 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,720 doing laundry and the washer is empty. 68 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,400 So I went ahead and took a advantage of that, started that 69 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,080 machine, and then when I'm done recording this and the bonus 70 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,720 episode, which is going to be a sequel to this episode, it'll be 71 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:37,280 time to switch the laundry from the washing machine into the 72 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,160 dryer. Hopefully by now you've done 73 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,840 whatever you need to do do to gear up for the cleaning 74 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:46,440 session. Since this is a kitchen cleaning 75 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,080 session, of course we are going to be tackling those dirty 76 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,280 dishes. You're going to want to gather 77 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:55,000 up any dirty dishes from around the house. 78 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,440 Maybe you have a glass on your desk, a mug on your night stand. 79 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:06,760 Maybe there's a plate on a coffee table or a cereal bowl on 80 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,400 the kitchen table. Walk through every room of your 81 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,880 house, unless your family is perfect about taking things to 82 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:19,160 the kitchen, and bring all those cups, bowls, plates and 83 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,080 silverware to the kitchen. If you want to accept a bonus 84 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:29,000 task today, you might also want to grab something else that you 85 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,800 could wash in the kitchen that's not a dish. 86 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:37,560 For example, a toothbrush holder or a little decorative dish in 87 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:39,200 the bathroom where you keep your jewelry. 88 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,160 If you have anything, maybe a soap dish. 89 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,720 If you have anything that's getting kind of grungy, you 90 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,400 might want to take that item to the kitchen to wash it while 91 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,280 you're gathering up those dishes. 92 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,640 I just wanted to say I've been reading some articles on this. 93 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,720 Obviously it's, it's, it's common sense too, but the 94 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,960 studies kind of back up what I, I've already realized. 95 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,240 Basically, the more we multitask, often the less we 96 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:15,200 accomplish because multitasking affects your ability to focus. 97 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:21,760 Now there are certain tasks that do not require much thought at 98 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:23,600 all. And obviously, I'm going to be 99 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,200 applying this mainly to housework in this episode. 100 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:34,520 So one example of a task that I often do while listening or 101 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,800 watching something is folding laundry. 102 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,560 OK. Another one that I do kind of 103 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,200 mindlessly while I may be talking on the phone or 104 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,960 listening to a podcast about a random subject is washing 105 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,160 dishes. But I've noticed that when it 106 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,120 comes to organizing and picking up clutter from around your 107 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:04,280 house or detailing the surfaces of your kitchen, you know, other 108 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:07,720 than just giving the countertops a light swipe, some of these 109 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,200 tasks take a little bit more effort and concentration. 110 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,560 OK, for example, I use certain products on my granite. 111 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,840 I use other products on my stainless steel. 112 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,960 I like to remember where I put certain things if I'm 113 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,440 rearranging. Basically, I try not to 114 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:32,920 multitask lately when I'm actually tidying up my house 115 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,640 because it's distracting and it can slow me down. 116 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:44,040 I allow myself to talk on the phone or listen to something 117 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:50,120 while I'm doing dishes or while I'm doing laundry, but the house 118 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:56,400 doesn't really get picked up and detailed when I'm thinking about 119 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,840 other things. Obviously the exception is 120 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,760 listening to a cleaning podcast because I'm keeping you focused. 121 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,560 OK, but I'm talking about unrelated content. 122 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,200 That's for when you vacuum and mop your floors at the end of a 123 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,280 session, or for when you sit down to fold and put away 124 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,840 laundry, or maybe when you're washing a mountain of dishes. 125 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,880 I'm kind of challenging you to stay in the moment more when 126 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:28,240 you're picking up your house and detailing those smaller surfaces 127 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,280 and organizing things. You need to be more present in 128 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,880 those situations. I'll talk more about that by 129 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,240 now. Of course, you've gathered up 130 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:37,480 your dishes. Hopefully, you're already 131 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,559 putting away any clean dishes. Maybe you need to empty your 132 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,440 dishwasher or drying rack, or both. 133 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,240 And if you've already put away those clean dishes, it's time to 134 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,560 start washing your dishes, whatever that means for you. 135 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:57,280 In most situations, I recommend getting any difficult items 136 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,480 soaking. If you have a large pot or pan 137 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,960 with dried on food or baked on food, you want to fill that up 138 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:11,160 with hot water and dish soap, maybe even a dishwasher pod. 139 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,440 Or maybe if the item's small enough you can submerge it in 140 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,360 your sink. You want to get the difficult 141 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,760 items soaking first. The way I do it is I fill them 142 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,240 up and place them next to the sink. 143 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,160 You know that pot and pan that sat too long after dinner or 144 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,440 whatever. Then the next thing I do is I 145 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,760 clean out my sink, fill it up with hot soapy water. 146 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,520 I I typically just use blue dawn dish soap, but use your favorite 147 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,000 liquid dish soap and I put a little bit of vinegar in the 148 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,240 water as well. And then I start pre rinsing the 149 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,280 small stuff, the silverware, the cups, the glasses, the bowls, 150 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,320 plates, whatever. If there's stuff dried on, I'm 151 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,880 often placing them momentarily into the right side of the sink 152 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,480 where I have the hot water and dish soap. 153 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,400 When it's when I get to that item, you know, I'm pulling them 154 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,680 out one by one, scrubbing it under running water with a scrub 155 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:12,360 brush on a handle or a sponge with an abrasive side like a 156 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,920 scrub Daddy or a Scotch Brite sponge. 157 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,960 That's kind of the routine. And then I load my dishwasher 158 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,480 with plates, bowls, silverware. I strategically placed some 159 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:28,440 spatulas on the top rack. I might put a small saucepan or 160 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,760 or a 12 inch skillet in the bottom or a small casserole 161 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,120 dish. But the things that I'm keeping 162 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:40,680 out to hand wash are my large skillet and my large pasta pot 163 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:45,320 typically, and then sometimes a large rectangular casserole 164 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,280 dish. I can fit that in a certain spot 165 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,680 in the back of my dishwasher, but sometimes I choose to hand 166 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,480 wash. It just depends how much quote 167 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,600 UN quote small stuff I have to put in the dishwasher. 168 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,400 But of course, if you're hand washing, you're going to start 169 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,680 that first sink load wash that. You're going to change the water 170 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,160 as you go. But once I get the dishwasher 171 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,600 loaded, I don't turn it on right away. 172 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,720 I turn my attention to those items I had soaking and I go 173 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,000 ahead and scrub those. Obviously once in a while you 174 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,400 need to leave something for an hour or longer, but usually 175 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,080 those few minutes where you're washing the small stuff and 176 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,760 getting the dishwasher loaded provide enough time for those 177 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,680 items to soak, just for the soap to kind of dish soap to kind of 178 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:37,640 do its work. But you might not be in the 179 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,280 exact same situation, just be working on washing your dishes, 180 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,880 whatever that means for you. You have a system, you have a 181 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,480 routine. It's probably kind of mindless. 182 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,040 So while you're washing those dishes, I'm going to keep 183 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,200 talking about this topic of multitasking. 184 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,840 Let me just give you like a random example. 185 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,200 If I don't feel like taking a stand up shower and I'm planning 186 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,800 to take a bath, sometimes I think to myself subconsciously 187 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,320 that it's going to be kind of boring and that I need to grab a 188 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:12,160 book and take the book in there or take my phone in there. 189 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,280 And I mean, taking my phone kind of makes sense because I might 190 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,280 get a phone call or a text if I have that on just the edge of 191 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,680 the tub or whatever, OK, I might be glad I brought it. 192 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,800 But when I kind of laugh at myself is when I bring a book to 193 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,720 read. And then once I get in the 194 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,040 bathtub and I'm soaking and I'm relaxing, often I don't even 195 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,920 pick up the book and read it because taking a bath is 196 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,240 enjoyable enough and just, you know, thinking. 197 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,200 Sometimes it's nice to just close your eyes and think. 198 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:47,040 And I can't even count how many times I've brought a book and 199 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:48,600 then not even opened up the book. 200 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,240 I end up taking the entire bath. Then after I get out and get 201 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:57,720 dressed, I might read the book, but I don't end up multitasking 202 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,680 in that way. But my mind is always telling me 203 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,080 you need to entertain yourself. You need to entertain yourself. 204 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,440 Like while I'm doing this mundane tasks. 205 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,400 OK. I mean, that's why I created 206 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:13,760 this show because I knew that I needed to focus on cleaning and 207 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,480 that outside things like, you know, looking at my phone or 208 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,760 computer or whatever were distracting me from the work at 209 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,480 hand. So I wanted to listen to a 210 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,600 podcast about cleaning while I was cleaning. 211 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,400 And I wanted it to even tell me what I should be doing to keep 212 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,400 me from getting sidetracked. And that's why I created this 213 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,120 show. While you're working on it, 214 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,720 Dishes. I'll just say another example of 215 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:51,760 me multitasking to a fault is when I'm cooking and it pops 216 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,080 into my head that I want to tell somebody something and I call my 217 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,480 sister or something and I'm like on the phone while I'm cooking. 218 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,720 And then I end up making mistakes in my cooking. 219 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,520 I mean, I burn the bread even though I'm standing in the 220 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,520 kitchen. Or the other night I started, I 221 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:16,280 was making spaghetti with meat sauce, not spaghetti with 222 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,240 meatballs. I do that sometimes, but this is 223 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,280 where you just chop up some ground beef, brown it, and you 224 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,960 season it. Well, I was seasoning it and all 225 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,520 of a sudden I realized I was putting chili powder, cumin. 226 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,560 I was basically seasoning it for tacos when I was making 227 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,480 spaghetti, so the spaghetti was a little spicier than usual. 228 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,000 It had a slightly different flavor. 229 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,240 It was fine, but I do stuff like that all the time and sometimes 230 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,680 I make even worse mistakes where I'm using the wrong ingredient 231 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,560 or I'm forgetting about something. 232 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:52,920 So cooking is a perfect example of a situation where you should 233 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,920 be just completely focused on that task. 234 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,120 I mean, maybe you're different, but I shouldn't even be talking 235 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,440 to people while I'm cooking. OK, another example. 236 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,080 Sometimes when I'm driving, if I'm in a really interesting 237 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,800 conversation and I'm just super invested in what I'm talking 238 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,360 about, I will forget that I'm planning to go to a certain 239 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,840 store and I'll blow by it. I'll just go on autopilot and 240 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,600 start, you know, heading in the usual direction. 241 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,680 So there are definitely times in life where you shouldn't be 242 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,560 multitasking. And those might be kind of 243 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,680 obvious. Obviously when you're measuring 244 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,680 ingredients to bake bread, you know, you're and you're using 245 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,200 like a One Cup scoop, counting how many scoops of flour you're 246 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,360 putting in. You know, you shouldn't be 247 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,920 talking to anybody or you're going to forget if you're on 248 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:48,760 scoop 3 or scoop 4. But what we don't often realize 249 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,640 is that multitasking sometimes keeps us from getting our house 250 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,560 fully clean. For some reason, when I'm 251 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:02,000 letting my mind wander because I'm watching a video or 252 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,600 listening to something that's not cleaning related or chatting 253 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,000 on the phone, I'll start to clean a room. 254 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,720 But then I might wander out of the room and do something else 255 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,920 when what I really need to be doing is working through the 256 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,720 room systematically. I mentioned this in a recent 257 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,640 episode, but when I'm cleaning a bedroom, I'm kind of working in 258 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:29,000 a horseshoe pattern, You know, start at one corner and work 259 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,280 your way around the bed basically because chances are 260 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,240 your your bedroom is not huge, but you've got a good size bed 261 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,680 in the middle of it. And then you kind of you kind of 262 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,280 work your way around the room and our horseshoe pattern. 263 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,800 And it can be the same way with decluttering your counter top 264 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,600 tops in the kitchen, which we're going to get to in just a 265 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:52,760 minute. So I'm going to give you a 266 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,320 couple more minutes to wrap up washing those dishes. 267 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,280 Do it quickly. Sometimes the job expands to 268 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,840 fill the time allotted and I want you to get those dishes 269 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,240 done so let's speed it up. I'm lighting a fire under you. 270 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,040 Let's speed up the process and get those dishes done in a 271 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:15,040 couple minutes so we can systematically declutter the 272 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,800 surfaces of your kitchen and wipe them down. 273 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,319 A lot of times at the end of an episode, I encourage you to sit 274 00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:26,359 down and fold some laundry or vacuum, sweep and mop. 275 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:31,920 And that's because those tasks don't tend to require as much 276 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,040 thought. I can definitely be on the phone 277 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:40,360 with somebody or listening to music and mop my floor because 278 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,600 I'm just going, you know, row by row. 279 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:47,760 Lately I use a a vacuum in my kitchen floor and then my 280 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:51,360 husband goes over it with a mopping machine. 281 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,200 So we are doing it with machines. 282 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,000 Before I begin with the vacuuming, I sweep up anything 283 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,840 that's maybe along an edge or too large for the vacuum to 284 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,840 handle or whatever. I might do a rough sweep real 285 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,200 quick and then I go over the floor systematically. 286 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,360 But you're going row by row. It's just like mowing the lawn. 287 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,800 When you're vacuuming or you're sweeping, you're doing it row by 288 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:16,480 row. It's kind of a no brainer. 289 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,920 But for some reason, when there's a task like decluttering 290 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,800 your countertops or cleaning your bedroom or picking up your 291 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,440 living room, there's more of a chance of wandering off because 292 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,160 you're not doing it in rows per se. 293 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,680 You pick something up, you put it away, you see something else, 294 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,840 you get distracted. Or if you're like me, you're on 295 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,640 a long phone call. Sometimes you'll be cleaning for 296 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,640 a while and then you'll kind of plop down and not even realize 297 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,800 it that you're you're back on the couch or the bed again. 298 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,120 I'm going to give you about 30 more seconds to finish doing 299 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:55,280 those dishes. If there's anything left that 300 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,360 you haven't had time to wash, maybe get those items soaking 301 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:04,120 and get back to those after the episode. 302 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,880 But I want you to make sure that you don't have any dishes on 303 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,760 your countertop. Either place them in the sink or 304 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,480 behind the sink. One thing I do, if I'm, I 305 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,280 mentioned soaking a dirty pot or pan, I didn't mention the 306 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,360 glasses, but if there's kind of a ring at the bottom of a glass 307 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,240 or something and I need to soak that, I fill it up with hot 308 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:31,440 water, couple drops of dish soap and I place it kind of behind 309 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,120 the sink. And I also have a waterproof 310 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,760 surface in my windowsill. You might not, you might not 311 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,960 want to put a damp glass in your windowsill unless it's designed 312 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:44,760 for that. But mine has the granite, you 313 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,760 know, the sealed granite in the windowsill too. 314 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,720 So I'm often placing a glass there to soak or I'm placing it 315 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,200 in the area right behind the sink just because I don't want 316 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,160 glasses to get broken by being submerged in the dish water. 317 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,600 But. Everything else can be 318 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,120 submerged. And no judgment here. 319 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:08,080 If you're you're deciding that your dishes are taking precedent 320 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,040 and you're just going to keep washing the dishes. 321 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,040 Definitely if all you get done during this episode is get 322 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,360 caught up on a mountain of dishes, that's fine too. 323 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,520 But a lot of you want to switch gears. 324 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,160 So you want to get those last few items soaking and just make 325 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,280 sure that they're off of the surfaces that you're going to be 326 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,280 wiping down. Basically consolidate the mass 327 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,600 to the sink. You know, with the exception of 328 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,080 maybe placing something behind the sink. 329 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,760 And then of course, you're going to remove clutter from your 330 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,560 countertop. You're going to pick one end of 331 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,680 your kitchen and do it systematically. 332 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,040 I don't want you doing the darting around thing that you 333 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,160 might do if you were listening to a different podcast or 334 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,920 chatting on the phone. Where let's say you grab 335 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:02,520 something from the left hand end of your countertop and decide 336 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,800 that that needs to go in your junk drawer. 337 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:09,280 And then all of a sudden you're clearing the island because your 338 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,160 junk drawer was on the island. Do you see where I'm going with 339 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:16,800 this? You leave some items out because 340 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,280 you're cleaning in a zigzag pattern instead of cleaning 341 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,320 systematically. So if you put something away 342 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:28,080 that was on the left hand edge, keep working on that particular 343 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,520 area until it's fully decluttered. 344 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,240 I'm talking about random items that were left on the 345 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:41,160 countertop, but I'm also talking about small appliances that have 346 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,560 a more permanent home than your countertop. 347 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,560 Maybe your Keurig and your toaster are out all the time, 348 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,000 but maybe there's a crock pot, an Instant Pot, a blender, 349 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,120 whatever else you name the gadget that needs to be put away 350 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,120 and it's more permanent home, like in your pantry. 351 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:03,400 My bottom shelf of my pantry is for my small appliances, like my 352 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,720 crock pot and my Instant Pot. And you may need to wipe down 353 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,640 your cabinets. Definitely almost every time I 354 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,920 clean my kitchen as far as wiping down the countertops, 355 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,640 clearing the clutter and then spraying and wiping down my 356 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,600 countertops. I'm also wiping down the 357 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,360 outsides of my large appliances like my refrigerator, my 358 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:28,080 microwave, my oven, my dishwasher, especially the high 359 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:32,200 touch areas though that the refrigerator exterior around the 360 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,320 handle. OK, the top of the stove. 361 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,080 Of course, that kind of goes along with cleaning the 362 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,960 countertop. Just be cleaning those upper 363 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,160 surfaces in your kitchen. But I want you to be systematic 364 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,280 about it. Start at one end and if you put 365 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:53,280 something away, go back where you left off so that you are 366 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,520 truly clearing off your countertop. 367 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,960 And you might be doing it in one fell swoop as far as removing 368 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,440 all the clutter so that you can just get spray bottle happy. 369 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:10,160 Or maybe you're just clearing an area, spraying it, wiping it 370 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,880 down. It's up to you how you do that, 371 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:17,080 but be cleaning the upper surfaces of your kitchen. 372 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,200 And then of course, after this episode's over, I want you to 373 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,320 sweep and mop, whether you're doing that with machines or the 374 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:28,920 old fashioned way. But the bottom line is I want 375 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:34,360 you to use this show to keep you focused and on task when you're 376 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:40,680 picking up your bedroom, your living areas, because I don't 377 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,920 want your your mind to wander to something other than cleaning, 378 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,720 to where you start moving in a zigzag pattern and next thing 379 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,480 you know you've left the room. And that can happen when you're 380 00:23:54,480 --> 00:24:00,000 trying to entertain yourself with things that are not 381 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,920 cleaning related, like just listening to a random YouTube 382 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,120 video. I I've found that I get more 383 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:12,680 done when I go through my house fully present, fully focused, no 384 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,760 headphones and or I'm listening to a cleaning podcast that's 385 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,640 literally telling me to pick up. I mean, that works too. 386 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,000 But when you're not listening to this show, you might want to 387 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,320 just be fully focused when you're picking up your bedroom 388 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,040 floor systematically, or you're organizing your closet or you're 389 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:34,680 cleaning out a drawer or you're picking up your living room. 390 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:39,760 Because you're going to be more thorough then that playlist that 391 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:44,000 you've been saving those watch later videos on your YouTube 392 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,520 watch list or maybe those true crime podcasts that you're into. 393 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:54,080 Those are for the more mindless tasks like folding and putting 394 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:59,960 away laundry, doing your dishes, sweeping and mopping, vacuuming. 395 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:06,960 But when it comes to organizing, picking up clutter, it's not 396 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,040 always a good idea to multitask. And listening to the show while 397 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:15,200 you're cleaning is not multitasking because I am 398 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,280 keeping you in a certain room, which brings me to my next 399 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,640 point. If you subscribe to the bonus 400 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,200 content, you're going to go through every room in your house 401 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,840 and a lot of those whole house episodes. 402 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,960 So if you haven't already subscribed, you can visit 403 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,440 cleanwithmepodcast.com to learn how to do that. 404 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,480 If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, the Clean With Me 405 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,200 Unplugged are already being advertised to you. 406 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,440 It might be as simple as just clicking Start trial depending 407 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:48,800 on which app you're listening on. 408 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:53,640 And you can support me on Patreon regardless of which 409 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,960 podcast app you listen on. And the Patreon episodes do 410 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,520 integrate with some podcast platforms. 411 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,320 Not to sound super technical, but you might have to listen to 412 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:11,640 them on Patreon itself, or it might be coming up in your audio 413 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,920 feed once you subscribe depending on the app you use. 414 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,760 So definitely visit my website to learn more. 415 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,800 Clean with mepodcast.com Special special thanks to those of you 416 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,000 who are already supporting the show. 417 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,800 But even just listening to these free episodes helps me, so I 418 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,880 appreciate each and every one of you. 419 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,200 Be sure to sweep and mop your kitchen after this and just 420 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:39,960 beware of multitasking when you're picking up and organizing 421 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,880 your house. That's the thesis statement of 422 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,800 the episode. Either be listening to a 423 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:52,360 cleaning podcast that's telling you to stay in that room or just 424 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:58,040 unplug for a while and do that. Then reward yourself with those 425 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,560 playlists you want to listen to while you're doing the more 426 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:06,040 mundane aspects of cleaning. Hopefully that makes sense. 427 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,000 Happy Cleaning and I'll talk to you in the next episode.