being in "the Zone"

I read this book about 10 years ago and it changed my life.  Really.

 

At the time I was a young mom trying to take care of little ones and keep a tidy house.  I know, I know.  IMPOSSIBLE.  But this book helped me atleast keep it under control.  I still use it to this day.

 

The idea behind this book is to break your home up into ZONES.  Each week you spend a few minutes a day deep cleaning in the ZONE for the week.  

 

 My Zones are broken up like this:

Zone 1:  Formal living and dining rooms, laundry room

Zone 2:  Kid's rooms

Zone 3:  Family Room/ Media Room/ office bathroom

Zone 4:  Kitchen

Zone 5: Game room, my office, upstairs bath, hobby closet

Zone 6: Master bedroom and bathroom

 

This week I am working in Zone 4 (kitchen).  The list looks like this.

Zone 4:

Kitchen

Declutter, 27 fling boogie

(this is a term she coined for throwing out 27 things you dont need in the area)

Empty the dishwasher

Wipe counters

Trash out

Clean trash can

Declutter kitchen desk area

Bar chairs clean

Polish kitchen chairs

Clean fridge out

Clean fridge bins

clean stove top

clean oven

Sweep

Mop

Clean drawers, organize

Clean cabinets, organize

magic eraser spots on walls

disinfect switch plates

clean garage door

clean pantry door

disinfect door knobs

Kitchen windows

dust blinds

clean microwave

Dust

windex outside of the dishwasher

Water plants

Light fixtures

Under the sink

dust above the fridge

Organize meds

Under the bar

Clean out freezer

Garage freezer

organize the pantry

wipe down baseboards

 

Anyway.  That is the jest of the system.  I set a timer for about fifteen minutes and do as many of the jobs on the list in fifteen minutes that I can.  I pick up where I left off the next day.  Some days I might have enought time to get it all done in one day.  That works too.   

You should give it a try if you feel like things are out of control at your house.

Happy Zoning!