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I’ve been trying to figure out how to start with my first real blog entry (with content). I didn’t want to start too small to lose my readers but also didn’t want to start with lots of juicy content and it get lost in the blogosphere.

As I’ve been thinking about this for the past week I’ve been turning this question over in my mind of, “How do I start?” It occurred to me as I was cleaning my apartment over the weekend that I could literally start with how I start.

When my place is a mess and I know I need to do some cleaning up, how do I get started?

The teenager immediately comes out of me with thoughts like: I don’t wanna clean; I hate cleaning; I wish I had a cleaning lady or someone to help, etc. 😩

In years past, I would let these thoughts take over and I would listen to them. As a result, I ended up not doing anything and instead I would watch tv, eat, sleep, or anything else other than cleaning.

Over time I’ve gotten better at sucking it up and doing at least a little bit of tidying. Now I fully appreciate how much a clean and tidy home reduces my stress, my anxiety and frustration, especially when I’m coming home from a busy day.

I am proud to say I have been able to push past the whining and the laziness of not wanting to spend the time, energy, and thought on cleaning and tidying my home.

So the question remains: Where do I start?

1. Put something in the laundry.

   I gather my towels from the bathroom or I strip the bed. I throw one of those two things directly in the washing machine and get that going. For whatever reason, just doing that one step makes me feel so much more accomplished. Yes! 💪

2. Start in one room.

   Like the bathroom because it is usually the smallest room in the place and you can feel like you can make a pretty big difference in the least amount of time (paying homage to the laziness).

3. Put away any items that are out on the countertops or tabletops.

   In the bathroom, I tend to leave out hairclips or ties, my curling wand, hairspray, a comb or brush, or other stuff out on the counter. Put them away in their homes where they’re supposed to go. (more on creating homes for things in future posts)

   Everything must have a home. 🏡

4. Put the items that don’t belong in the bathroom wherever they are supposed to go.

5. Circle around the apartment to see if there are any items around that are supposed to be in the bathroom.

   Gather those and put them in the bathroom where they belong.

6. Move onto the next room.

   Which is usually the bedroom for me. Again put items away that belong in there and set aside the items that don’t. Once everything in that room is put away, put the other items away wherever else they’re supposed to go. And again gather any items that are in the rest of the apartment that should be in the bedroom and put those away.

7. Rinse and repeat with the living room and the dining area, then the kitchen, entry, and another other rooms you have.

I almost always do the kitchen last.

Why?

I used to do the bedroom last. I focused more on the kitchen/living/dining area because I have an open concept floor plan and those are the areas I am in the most often. Also if someone comes over we are usually just chillin in the kitchen/living/dining spaces so the bedroom has not been as much of a priority.

But,

the bedroom is actually a very high priority

and arguably a higher priority than the living or dining areas.

The bedroom is where you sleep. You spend at least 8 hours per day in that room. Our bedrooms need to be clean and tidy for two reasons.

1. If the bedroom isn’t tidy then the mind will try to settle down to sleep with the chaos of the room.

2. If the room isn’t clean then during the (ideally) 8 hours we are sleeping we are breathing in the dust and dirt in the room.

So make sure your bedroom is a high priority.

Here’s a great video from Clean My Space on how to clean and tidy your bedroom in 30 minutes.