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Would you believe that for 
almost 1/4 of Americans, keeping

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their home clean is more 
difficult than their full time 

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job? 
This statistic comes from a 

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recent survey by Bissell. 
They looked at the cleaning 

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habits and challenges of 2000 
Americans and found that 24% 

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thought keeping their house 
clean was harder than their full

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time job. 
I'm Ronnie and you're listening 

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to Clean With Me, the podcast 
where I walk you through 

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cleaning your house step by 
step. 

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When you clean along with this 
show, you'll get more done in 

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less time so you can spend the 
rest of your day doing what 

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matters most to you. 
Thanks for joining me. 

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In today's episode, I'm going to
talk you through a daily reset. 

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This is going to be kind of 
fast-paced, but don't let that 

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scare you off because I am going
to allow for some flexibility so

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that you can adapt it to your 
current situation. 

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Basically, I'm going to have you
do 4 to 6 things to get your 

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house under control in just a 
few minutes. 

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Contrary to popular belief, 
keeping a clean house doesn't 

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have to mean spending hours a 
day scrubbing or folding. 

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Often it's the little things 
done consistently that make the 

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biggest difference in your home.
No, there's not a magic bullet 

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for keeping your house clean. 
You're going to have to do the 

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work. 
You are going to have to scrub 

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surfaces at times. 
But keeping your house tidy with

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these daily routines can help 
you avoid feeling overwhelmed 

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when you do your deeper cleaning
session where you spend an hour 

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or two and you you do scrub 
those surfaces. 

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And let's face it, you want your
house to look good in between 

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cleaning sessions. 
That's what a daily home reset 

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can do for you. 
It's time to do whatever you 

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need to do to gear up for a 
quick speed cleaning session. 

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I will say that I'm going to 
have you do one load of laundry 

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in this episode. 
So now is the time to maybe 

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switch the clothes from the 
washer to the dryer. 

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Or if your washing machine's 
empty, start a new load. 

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Whether it's kind of a survival 
load of underwear and towels and

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maybe someone's uniform, or 
you're going to strip a bed and 

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start washing sheets, now's the 
time to start that load of 

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laundry. 
And one load a day doesn't 

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necessarily mean seven days a 
week, but what it means is on 

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most days you're doing a load of
laundry from start to finish. 

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I feel like I really only need 
to do laundry every other day. 

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But if I shoot for every day and
then it doesn't happen on some 

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days that works. 
That's that's kind of what I'm 

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doing lately. 
And if you've been listening to 

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my show for a while, I don't 
always do the same things. 

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My routine is always evolving. 
But lately I feel like shooting 

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for one load a day is ideal. 
And then on that one day where 

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you're gone all day or whatever,
you don't do it that day and 

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maybe you end up getting 5 loads
done during the week. 

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That having been said, having 
just a weekly laundry day works 

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for a lot of people. 
So one of the four to six things

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I'm going to have you do is 
start a load of laundry. 

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And you might need to also set a
timer to remind you later to 

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switch the clothes from the 
washing machine into the dryer. 

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OK, the cycle is probably one 
hour or less, so maybe set a 

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timer for an hour from now. 
And if after you start that 

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load, you open up your dryer and
there are dry clothes in the 

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dryer or dried blankets, towels,
whatever, dry laundry, go ahead 

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and quickly fold and put away 
those items. 

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That way, later when you do your
laundry switch, your dryer will 

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be empty. 
And then I encourage you to set 

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another timer when you put your 
laundry into the dryer later so 

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that you'll be reminded to take 
it out, fold it, and put it 

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away. 
OK, that having been said, you 

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could count the load that's in 
the dryer right now that you're 

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about to fold and put away, or 
that you've already started 

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folding and putting away as part
of your one load. 

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If you're the type of person who
doesn't mind letting the clothes

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sit in the dryer. 
Some types of laundry are more 

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prone to wrinkling than others, 
so sometimes, you know, there's 

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some. 
There's definitely something to 

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be said for setting a timer, 
pulling things out of the dryer 

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as soon as they dry, folding 
them while they're still warm to

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prevent them from getting too 
wrinkled. 

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But at the same time, if it's 
it's a load of towels and 

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underwear or maybe just 
T-shirts, that's not really 

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going to apply. 
But I do want to challenge you 

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to do a load of laundry from 
start to finish. 

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But at the same time, I give you
permission to leave something in

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the dryer if that's kind of your
system. 

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Because it is a valid system to 
just have the rule that when you

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take things out of the dryer, to
free it up so you can put stuff 

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into it that you fold and put 
away the load at that time. 

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Again, wrinkles could be a 
concern or not, depending on 

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what kind of laundry you're 
washing. 

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And maybe you're using fabric 
softener, dryer sheets and 

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things like that to prevent 
wrinkles. 

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But the bottom line is that you 
not only put your clothes into 

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the washing machine each day, 
but that you also follow through

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and dry them. 
And then you also fold and put 

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away a load, whether it's the 
same load or previous load. 

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The key is avoiding that 
residual clean laundry pile. 

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That's why we want to fold 
things when we take them out of 

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the dryer, whether it's 
immediately after they're dried 

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or just the next time we open 
the dryer. 

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So hopefully that makes sense. 
Hopefully you've started a load 

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and you've set a timer and maybe
even folded and put away a load.

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Isn't it amazing how quickly you
can fold and put away one load 

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of laundry? 
And some of you are like, well, 

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duh, you know, I do that every 
day or whatever. 

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But if you tend to have a, a 
clean laundry pile that you're 

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adding to, you might be having 
these folding marathons where 

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you're folding and putting away 
more than one load and it feels 

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overwhelming. 
But it really only takes a 

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couple minutes to fold and put 
away just one load. 

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That's a big part of having a, a
daily cleaning routine, even if 

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it's just on weekdays or just on
certain days, you're breaking 

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your housework down into smaller
pieces. 

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And yes, there's still going to 
be a deeper cleaning session at 

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sometime during the week, but 
it's going to be a lot less 

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overwhelming if it doesn't 
involve mountains of laundry or 

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or a sink full of dishes or a 
house covered in clutter. 

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OK, we're going to do those 
maintenance tasks today. 

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And yeah, I can't say enough 
about this because life is so 

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much easier when folding and 
putting things away becomes a 

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short task instead of a long 1. 
And it keeps your wardrobe and 

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linen supply and rotation so you
always have what you need and 

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you're not wearing the same 
things. 

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Or picking up a dirty towel off 
the floor to dry off and your 

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bedding smells nice because some
days you're just looking for 

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something to wash and that 
causes you to wash your bedding 

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more often. 
OK, let's move on to the next 

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step. 
This next part is where the 

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flexibility comes in. 
Because for some of you, I'm 

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going to have you make the beds.
But if you don't really care 

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that much about making your bed 
and you're facing a dish shaster

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right now, your kitchen is more 
important. 

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Gather up dishes from around the
house. 

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Start pre rinsing and washing 
those dishes. 

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Whether it's you know empty, 
reload and run of the dishwasher

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or your hand washing. 
I want you to go straight to the

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dishes if you have a huge pile 
up. 

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But for a lot of you, you have 
just a reasonable amount of 

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dishes. 
Maybe The Dirty dishes from one 

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meal, or maybe an amount of 
items that will fit into one 

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dishwasher load or that can be 
washed in one or two small sink 

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loads. 
You know, whether you're facing 

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a dish shaster or just the 
usual, you know, dishes to do. 

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If your dirty dishes are not 
totally out of control, it's 

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time to make the bed OK. 
This is such a quick and simple 

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task, a lot of people skip it. 
I used to be one of them. 

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But But it significantly 
improves the look of your 

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bedroom and just help set a 
productive tone for the day. 

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And if one of your household 
goals is keeping your bedroom 

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cleaner, it definitely starts 
with making your bed daily and 

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early in the day. 
Don't get into the habit of 

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making your bed just right 
before your spouse comes home or

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something, OK? 
It's a springboard task. 

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And if you want it, if you want 
to experience the full effect of

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that springboard that springs 
you into action, you've got to 

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do it early in the day. 
Now, I'm not going to say make 

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the bed as soon as you get out 
of it because I realize you 

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might be the first one up in 
your family. 

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You might have a spouse or 
toddler in the bed when you 

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first get up. 
I'm just saying make it early in

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the day. 
It's not as important as keeping

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up on dishes, but arguably it 
could be the springboard task 

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that gets you motivated to clean
the rest of your house, 

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including doing dishes. 
So just something to think 

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about. 
If this is not a day that you're

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changing your bedding, it's only
going to take you about 60 

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seconds to make the bed. 
That's why it's so surprising 

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that people skip that step. 
It it's just one of those things

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that you don't feel like doing 
for some reason, I guess because

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it feels optional, but it's so 
simple, so easy. 

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But the reason I had some people
head straight to the kitchen is 

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this is a really short episode 
and I wanted to make sure that 

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you make an impact on your home.
Those of you who are doing 

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dishes can always go back and 
make the bed while the day is 

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still young. 
I'm just worried that the 

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kitchen segment is not long 
enough in this episode for those

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of you who have an entire day's 
worth of dishes to do or even a 

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couple days worth. 
But making your bed makes the 

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entire room instantly feel more 
put together, and it's also a 

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small act that gives you a sense
of control that could carry 

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through to the rest of your day.
If changing your sheets is a 

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priority right now, then by all 
means change your sheets 

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completely. 
Hopefully you have an alternate 

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set so that you can completely 
change out your bedding. 

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If not, just strip your bedding.
But for those who just quickly 

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made the bed, you're ready. 
You're probably ready to gather 

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up any dirty dishes from around 
the house. 

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Maybe a cup on a night stand or 
a forgotten plate on the coffee 

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table or dining room table. 
Let's get all those dishes to 

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the sink area and then quickly 
walk around your kitchen tidying

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up. 
You know, maybe you need to put 

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some seasonings away or some 
empty packages in the trash. 

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Just remove clutter. 
There might be items that don't 

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even belong in the kitchen. 
There might be appliances that 

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need to be put away because you 
don't use them all the time and 

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you have too many different 
items out. 

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Just do a quick straighten so 
that you'll be ready to wipe 

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your surfaces down after 
spending a few minutes on 

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dishes. 
Don't worry about spraying or 

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scrubbing the countertops just 
yet. 

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Just you're getting them ready 
and then of course, the next 

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thing I want you to do is 
quickly do the dishes. 

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OK, I'm going to give you about 
5 minutes. 

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I know it's not a lot, but 
remember I said I wasn't going 

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to give you a lot of time. 
This is just a quick daily 

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reset. 
And ideally you should be 

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washing dishes either after 
every meal or at least twice a 

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day if if you're eating a lot of
meals at home. 

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You know, if you're eating all 
three meals at home, twice a day

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might be OK. 
But I would love to see you get 

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into the habit of not letting 
the dishes sit, because doing 

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them after every meal keeps 
build up from taking over your 

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kitchen and it's always tempting
to leave the dishes for later, 

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especially after a big meal. 
Or maybe it was all you could do

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to make dinner after a long day 
and you want to just collapse 

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after dinner And obviously be 
working on your current dish 

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pile while I talk. 
Maybe you need to pre rinse your

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silverware, glasses, bowls and 
plates and fill up the sink and 

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start that first sink load. 
Or maybe you're doing a quick 

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empty reload and run of the 
dishwasher. 

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Or maybe you're getting some 
difficult items soaking, hand 

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washing the rest or putting the 
rest in the dishwasher. 

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I know they're all different 
situations and everybody does 

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things differently and whether 
or not you have a dishwasher can

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make a huge difference in your 
routine. 

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I get it. 
But be working on dishes right 

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now, whatever that means for 
you. 

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With some things in life you can
procrastinate and the job is the

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00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:49,680
same if you do it later. 
But doing dishes is not the 

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same. 
When you let the food dry on and

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harden, it gets way harder. 
Not that it's that difficult, 

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but it becomes more time 
consuming. 

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And whenever you do dishes after
a meal, you want to take just a 

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couple of minutes to throw away 
trash, put a few items away, and

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then wipe down the kitchen 
counters, stove top, and table. 

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If you're eating at the table, 
maybe it's your coffee table 

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00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,160
that needs to be wiped down 
after a meal. 

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00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,640
But don't beat yourself up if 
you have not been consistently 

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doing your dishes after meals. 
I get it, life happens and 

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different people struggle with 
different things, but I think 

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dishes are a struggle for a lot 
of people, which is why I talk 

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you through it so many times on 
this show. 

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Keep plugging away on those 
dishes. 

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You may be getting close to the 
finish line if you're just 

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00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,560
cleaning up after one meal. 
However, if you feel like 

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00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,760
there's no end insight and 
you're just not getting down to 

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00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,760
dish 0 even every day, something
needs to change. 

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00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,440
Maybe you need to purchase some 
paper plates, paper bowls, 

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00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:10,240
disposable silverware for a 
while just as a temporary fix so

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you can get caught up. 
When I was raising younger 

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children, my youngest kids are 
teenagers. 

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The rest are adults now. 
But when I had little kids and 

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00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:24,880
was overwhelmed with housework 
on days where I was experiencing

251
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:31,840
a pile up of dishes, I would 
often order pizzas that night 

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00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,800
and just serve them on paper 
plates or on paper towels so 

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that we did not add to the mess.
And that doesn't happen often 

254
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:48,600
now, But that used to be kind of
my wild card that I would play 

255
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,680
in an emergency, and that was 
ordering pizzas and not dirtying

256
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,520
a single plate. 
Cups and glasses were never 

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00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,840
really a challenge for me 
because most of the time I've 

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00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:05,040
had a dishwasher. 
There was a house where I did 

259
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,800
not have a dishwasher. 
But I had the right idea during 

260
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,520
that era. 
And in some ways, I think not 

261
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,200
having a dishwasher has its 
benefits because at that house 

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00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,560
where there just was not a 
dishwasher, I was consistently 

263
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:27,359
washing dishes throughout the 
day because I kind of lived in 

264
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,280
fear of a pile up. 
I didn't want some overwhelming 

265
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,800
pile of dried on stuff. 
And it's not that I'm just some 

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00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,320
kind of housekeeping guru. 
It's because I was raised with a

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00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,520
dishwasher. 
And first thing I thought when I

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00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,600
moved in and realized I I didn't
have one was I'm going to have 

269
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,000
to keep up on these dishes. 
Granted, I had a smaller 

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00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,360
workload. 
I only had two kids at that time

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00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,040
and 1 was an infant. 
So we weren't dirtying up as 

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00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:00,600
many dishes as say, during times
when we've been a family of five

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00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:05,200
or six or seven. 
Wipe down the kitchen counters, 

274
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:09,000
stove top and table. 
By the way, if you're enjoying 

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00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:14,040
this content and you're getting 
a lot done, please take a moment

276
00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:19,880
to give this podcast a five star
review and positive rating on 

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00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,880
whichever app you're listening 
on. 

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00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,920
It would be greatly appreciated 
and special thanks to those who 

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00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,000
have already done so. 
OK, Hopefully you've have had 

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00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,680
enough time to do the dishes. 
You can always pause the episode

281
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,840
or rewind it. 
That's kind of an old term, 

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00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,160
rewind. 
Do people even say that anymore?

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00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,080
Anyway, the next thing I want 
you to do is a 5 minute pickup. 

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00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,480
We're going to spend the next 5 
minutes picking up. 

285
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,560
This is probably going to be in 
your outer areas like your 

286
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:57,120
living room or family room, or 
maybe you have two living areas.

287
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:04,400
You're going to return items 
like books, blankets, gaming 

288
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,880
controllers, TV remotes to their
proper places. 

289
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,120
You're going to straighten couch
cushions and throw pillows. 

290
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,160
You're going to clear whatever 
off of the floor, whether it's 

291
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,760
shoes or some other clutter 
toys. 

292
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,440
And of course, you're also going
to be clearing your furniture. 

293
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,480
OK, There might be items on the 
couch that don't belong, you 

294
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,280
know, a sweater that was 
haphazardly tossed onto the 

295
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,680
couch or maybe a throw blanket 
that's crumpled up and needs to 

296
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,560
either be draped over the back 
of the couch or folded neatly 

297
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,600
into a square. 
And if you don't have a lot to 

298
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,040
pick up because some of us try 
to keep these living rooms, you 

299
00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:53,160
know, perpetually tidy, you can 
always start dusting the 

300
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,320
furniture. 
But tailor this episode to fit 

301
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,120
your current situation. 
You might be just removing 

302
00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,520
clutter off of the floor and 
furniture, and then maybe you'll

303
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,200
wipe surfaces after the episode 
or tomorrow just be working in 

304
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,640
your outer areas, getting them 
picked up and vacuum or sweep 

305
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:17,240
ready, we'll call it. 
In a messy room, if you tell 

306
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,920
yourself you're going to sweep 
or vacuum afterward, that's 

307
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,360
going to help you resist the 
temptation to leave a few things

308
00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:26,960
out. 
You're going to do it right 

309
00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,600
because you're getting it vacuum
ready or sweep ready or Roomba 

310
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,960
ready if you have one of those 
robot vacuums. 

311
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,120
I don't, but some people do, so 
I'm just throwing that out 

312
00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:38,560
there. 
And the times in these episodes 

313
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,640
are approximate because I do go 
back and edit them, you know, 

314
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,960
for a better listener 
experience. 

315
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,640
So sometimes I might say, you 
know, we're going to be doing 

316
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,600
this for 5 minutes and it ends 
up being 4 minutes or 6 minutes.

317
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,400
I apologize for that. 
But I want you just to be up and

318
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,280
moving while I talk. 
And you're going to get a lot 

319
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,120
done, I promise. 
Maybe this is your cleaning 

320
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,200
session where you're working 
alone. 

321
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,920
You know, if you have kids, 
maybe you're cleaning while 

322
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,280
they're at school or during 
their nap or while they're 

323
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,360
playing outside or after they go
to bed or before they get up in 

324
00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,080
the morning. 
However, some of you can 

325
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,520
delegate to your kids. 
And when you're picking up a 

326
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,800
room and you find things that 
belong to other people, you can 

327
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,760
always call them in and say, 
hey, come, come get this and put

328
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,240
it, put it away. 
You don't want to always be 

329
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,280
returning things to someone's 
room. 

330
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,120
And I'm talking about school age
kids who are old enough to pick 

331
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,760
up after themselves or even 
older teenagers and adults. 

332
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,640
You want to mention, hey, can 
you come get your shoes? 

333
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,120
Because you want them to be 
mindful of the fact that they 

334
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,800
left it out and not just think 
that the house cleaning fairy is

335
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,880
going to come behind them and 
pick up after them. 

336
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,520
That said, you don't always want
to leave other people's stuff if

337
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,120
if they're not around, you're 
going to go ahead and just pick 

338
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,120
it up because the goal is to get
your house presentable. 

339
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,920
Right now. 
I'm just talking about when they

340
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,720
are there. 
Get them involved in putting 

341
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,320
their own items away. 
Now today we're talking about 

342
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,960
your living areas. 
But as far as your daily reset 

343
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,480
routine, you might not need to 
reset your living room every 

344
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,520
day. 
You might not have kids 

345
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,240
spreading toys out. 
You might not be in that season 

346
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,040
of life. 
But I challenge you to choose 

347
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,840
one space each each day and just
spend 5 minutes putting things 

348
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,640
back where they belong. 
And that space might not be a 

349
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,000
living room, family room, 
hallway. 

350
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:48,280
It could be an office, a guest 
room, a bathroom, a bedroom. 

351
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,480
But small resets like this keep 
the mess from multiplying and 

352
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,640
making you feel overwhelmed. 
Maybe it's going to be a few 

353
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:02,800
days before you spend a lot of 
time deep cleaning, but you want

354
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,000
your space to feel tidy 
throughout the week. 

355
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,280
And it's possible you might not 
even have the time or energy for

356
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,720
a big clean this week. 
Maybe you go 2 weeks in between 

357
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,360
deeper cleans. 
Everyone's workload is 

358
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:19,880
different. 
Everyone's lifestyle is 

359
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,040
different. 
Everyone's priorities are 

360
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,880
different. 
But everyone, and I mean 

361
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:32,200
everyone, can benefit from doing
small things each day that allow

362
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,320
you to keep up on housework and 
that keep your house looking 

363
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,680
presentable in between deeper 
cleaning sessions. 

364
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,720
OK, this last segment is another
flexible segment. 

365
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:49,800
I want you to either reset your 
bathroom sinks and counters and 

366
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,360
floors, basically a bathroom 
straighten. 

367
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:55,400
I'm not talking about the deep 
cleaning that you do in your 

368
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,400
bathroom where you scrub with 
chemicals and you clean the 

369
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,520
mirrors. 
I'm talking about clearing 

370
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:06,520
clutter off of the vanity area, 
making sure you've got plenty of

371
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:11,360
toilet paper and stock a fresh 
hand towel, and then picking up 

372
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,280
items off of the floor and 
taking out the trash. 

373
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,720
It's what I call a bathroom 
straighten. 

374
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:24,400
You can either do that or if the
floor is more of a problem in 

375
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:29,000
your main living areas and 
kitchen, then you're going to do

376
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,120
a quick floor sweep or vacuum or
both. 

377
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,400
OK, So again, for these last few
minutes, you're either going to 

378
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:44,240
straighten one or two bathrooms 
and I talked a little bit about 

379
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:49,040
what that involves, or you're 
going to do a quick floor sweep 

380
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:54,360
where you vacuum your main 
living areas and kitchen or 

381
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,920
alternatively your bedroom floor
might need attention. 

382
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,360
We have to vacuum our bedroom 
floor often because we have a 

383
00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:06,600
sliding glass door in the 
bedroom and sometimes the dogs 

384
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,960
track in stickers that we don't 
want to step on. 

385
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,520
So vacuuming that bedroom floor 
is just a just as much of A 

386
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,640
priority as vacuuming the living
room and hallway, which are more

387
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,280
visible areas. 
And of course, the kitchen is 

388
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,800
probably the most important 
floor of all to keep clean 

389
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,720
because you don't want to track 
pests. 

390
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,920
You've got to get those crumbs 
up and you've got to sweep or 

391
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,640
vacuum before you can spot mop 
those sticky areas. 

392
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,560
If someone's spilling in your 
floor, if you know, you know. 

393
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,680
So maybe you're working on 
floors right now or maybe you're

394
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,880
doing a quick bathroom reset. 
And if you did not have a lot of

395
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:56,560
clutter on your bathroom, vanity
or floor, and it didn't take you

396
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,920
long to take out the trash or 
maybe your wastebasket wasn't 

397
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:03,320
even full, of course you can do 
a quick wipe down. 

398
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,160
It's definitely ideal to do a 
wipe down in your bathroom once 

399
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,800
a day to prevent grime from 
building up. 

400
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,600
I don't talk about this as 
often, but just like it's harder

401
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,520
to wash dishes that have been 
sitting, it's harder to scrub 

402
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,160
any surface that's not getting 
cleaned often enough. 

403
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,440
A lot of people just have the 
habit of, after using their 

404
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:31,640
bathroom sink, wiping down the 
vanity area. 

405
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:35,240
I'm talking about when a little 
water gets splashed around 

406
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,480
because you washed your hands, 
your face, brushed your teeth. 

407
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:45,120
That moisture that's getting 
splattered onto the sink and 

408
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,800
vanity kind of allows for an 
opportunity to clean because you

409
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,600
can grab a hand towel or a paper
towel and wipe that up. 

410
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,000
Obviously you're going to be 
cleaning with a disinfectant 

411
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,480
during a deeper cleaning 
session, but I'm talking about 

412
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,480
these little touch ups. 
And if it's possible for you to 

413
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,160
keep cleaning products in the 
bathroom, you could, you know, 

414
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,400
spray your mirror even and wipe 
it with a microfiber cloth just 

415
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,240
as part of your routine after 
you get ready in the morning. 

416
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,600
And you can use something 
natural if you don't like 

417
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,720
spraying chemicals. 
It could be a bit a mixture of 

418
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,360
vinegar and water, maybe with 
some essential oil in it to make

419
00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:25,280
it smell good. 
You can always research things 

420
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,080
like that online. 
I'm not so much about the 

421
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,760
products and the ratios as I am 
just getting you through the 

422
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,240
actual tasks of cleaning. 
Some people keep disinfecting 

423
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,240
wipes in the bathroom to wash 
the flusher handle and the 

424
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,960
exterior parts of the toilet. 
A lot of young moms will wipe 

425
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,800
down the bathroom surfaces while
supervising a child in the 

426
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,120
bathtub, and that would be a 
situation where you would not 

427
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:56,200
want to use heavy chemicals, 
obviously. 

428
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,400
But you can still wipe things 
down using natural products or 

429
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,560
just water, you know, as a way 
of touching up your bathroom in 

430
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,240
between deeper cleanings. 
I hope you got at least four 

431
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,960
things done during this episode.
If you chose to work in the 

432
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,000
bathrooms instead of the floors 
or the floor, do the floors 

433
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,200
instead of the bathrooms because
I really didn't give you time to

434
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,760
do both. 
Maybe put on some music and keep

435
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,760
working after this, or listen to
another episode that focuses on 

436
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,520
an area that you need to work 
in. 

437
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,920
Like maybe your your bedroom 
needs an overhaul. 

438
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:31,520
Maybe you made the bed but the 
rest of your room's a problem. 

439
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,400
If you've made it this far in 
the episode, you would probably 

440
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,800
benefit from cleaning along with
longer episodes. 

441
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,320
Special thanks to those who are 
already supporting the show 

442
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:46,840
financially and have unlocked 
those episodes either through an

443
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:52,640
Apple Podcasts subscription, 
Spotify subscription, or by 

444
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,280
joining my Patreon page. 
OK, for those of you who don't 

445
00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,360
know this, you can unlock longer
episodes for a small monthly 

446
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,080
fee. 
I don't expect anyone to do it, 

447
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,560
but I sure appreciate it when 
someone does. 

448
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:11,880
And I feel like your house will 
thank you, your spouse might 

449
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,440
thank you, but mainly just do it
for yourself. 

450
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,000
I appreciate each and everyone 
of you. 

451
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,840
And as always, happy cleaning. 
I'll talk to you in the next 

452
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:20,320
episode.
