It’s here! I have been contemplating the idea of this
challenge for weeks before it was even officially in the works, and I can’t
tell you how excited I am for this! Read intro to challenge here. Also, as soon as I put it up
on social media and had a couple of you tell me you were interested, my home
and relationships were almost immediately attacked spiritually. Some things
were said by loved ones that made me want to give up at this “homemaking” thing
altogether!!!
Yikes, a little bit of a rollercoaster there. But now I am
even more confident this challenge has me EXACTLY where God wants me this year.
So without any more chit-chat, let’s dive into Month 1!!!
February 2020 Habit:
Cleaning Bathroom 3x a Week!!
It depends really on your personality whether the habit this
month sounds daunting for you, but I wanted to start with something that is
actually surprisingly easier to stay on top of then you might think! As with
all 10 of the habits that we will go through this year, I will lay out 3
different versions of this task so you can pick the one you can do best
depending on how busy you are. I will also give a couple tips n tricks for the
habit, as well as some ideas for getting your kids involved if you have any.
My challenge to you is to pick the hardest level that you
think is possible for you! If you work full-time, have a ton of activities, and
are running children all over the place, please just do level one, and know
that you are doing an amazing job at creating habits! Whereas if you stay at
home a lot, find yourself with frequent extra time, and often think “I’m
bored,” do the hardest level! You know what your life is like, so you will know
which is best for you. I will try my best to do the hardest level, unless I
have a crazy week and need to dial back. Again, Instagram will be where you can
find my whole saga of successes and failures in this.
Level 1:
For the simplest quickest version of this habit, I want you
to focus on your toilet. Take a rag, and your preferred cleaner, and make sure
to clean that thing 3x a week. If you have more than one toilet, at this level
I would recommend you wash down the most used one 3x a week, and the other
toilet(s) once a week, inside and out. Then take 3 minutes after doing that to
tidy/wipe down something else in your bathroom. Whether that means taking out
the trash, wiping down the counter/sink real quick, or sweeping the floor.
Whatever is most urgent and most likely to cause a stink! (scroll down to tips
n tricks for some things I’ve found really help keep bathroom smells
away). And that’s it! Save the rest of
the bathroom cleaning for the weekend. It takes about 30 seconds to clean a
toilet that is regularly cleaned so you will be out of that bathroom in 3.5
minutes. This adds up to 10.5 minutes for the entire week!
Level 2:
If you have a little more time, and are ready to tackle more
than the toilet regularly, this level is for you! For this level, I want you to
wipe down every surface in your bathroom(s). As well as washing the toilet, I
want you to quick wipe down the sink n counter every day. On top of this, each
day wipe down a section of your tub/shower, so the whole tub gets clean by the
end of the week. Continue to then add another 2-3 minutes of tidying to the
routine. Take out trash, wipe down mirrors, put out fresh towels, etc. Because
you have already wiped down all the surfaces, this 2-3 minutes will allow more
of those extras to get accomplished when doing level 2. Remember at this level,
you are doing these things in ALL of your bathrooms. For a time tally, the
wiping of the sink n counters when done frequently is 30 seconds, the toilet is
30 seconds, and the tub is 30 seconds. This adds up to 1.5 min. So you are out
of the bathroom in 4.5 minutes(multiply this times amount of bathrooms), with a
total of 13.5 minutes for the entire week!
Level 3:
Want to take it all the way? Challenge yourself to always
have an immaculate bathroom, where a guest could drop by any minute, ask to use
the bathroom, and you could send them in the right direction without a single
worry or care? Well than this level is for you! Here’s what you do. 3 days a
week, you clean every single surface in your bathroom(s). Toilets, sink n
counters, tub/shower, floors, mirrors, any small furniture if you have some in
there. You check the trash and towels and make sure everything is where it
belongs 3x a week. You sweep, mop, and/or vacuum depending on the surfaces in
the bathroom. Maybe set out a nice candle or decide to hang a new picture. Is
this sounding way over the top? Let’s break it down to the timing. Toilets
cleaned regularly take 30 seconds, sink n counters take 30 seconds, cleaning
the entire shower regularly (unless your hubby or you works in a really grimy
profession) takes about 1 minute. Wiping down the mirrors and sweeping/mopping/vacuuming
the floor combined when done regularly takes about 2 minutes. The rest of it
should take less than 3 minutes since you are doing it 3x a week. This adds up
to a total of 7 minutes a day(multiply this times amount of bathrooms), with a
total of 21 minutes for the whole week!
Hold up! What did that just say? Read it again. Have an
immaculate bathroom ALL THE TIME in 21
minutes a week?! How is that even possible? Because, your bathroom is
cleaned so regularly, you are only really doing quick maintenance on it.
Welcome to the beauty of habits.
Tips n Tricks:
Bathroom is stinky even after cleaning?
- Clean with hydrogen peroxide. Especially around toilet, but everywhere else as well. It kills the odor-causing bacteria.
- Light a candle or a run a diffuser for a few minutes when you are done cleaning to replace the cleaning smells with a scent you love(use whatever method your family has decided is healthy for you).
- Put baking soda and boiling water down your drains to help dissolve clogs that might be causing smells.
- Put baking soda in your fresh trash liner to help soak up the smells of whatever you throw away.
Other Basic Bathroom Cleaning Tips
·
You can use the same cleaning rag for the whole
bathroom. Start with the tub as hairs are wiped up easier with a dryer rag, and
finish with the toilet as the bacteria there is NOT something you want to wipe
on any other surfaces. Wipe the rest of the surfaces in-between those two.
·
Dawn dishsoap and warm water will clean most
things nicely.
·
Toothpaste stuck in the sink? Fill sink with
hottest water from the tap as you can, and let it sit for a couple minutes. Usually
wipes right up after draining.
·
Don’t ignore your floor or your trash for too
long when in a hurry. They carry a lot of bacteria.
Get Your Kids
Involved:
I have to start off right away by saying, this challenge is
NOT for you to just hand off to your kids and expect them to learn how to clean
your home. You are their model, and if they are involved at all, you should be
doing it right alongside them, leading by example.
That said, you definitely do want your older kids to have
habits established before they leave home. Or maybe you, like me, have littles
that just don’t leave you alone enough sometimes to even get those 4.5 minutes
in to clean the bathroom. How can you include them?
- Mini Spray bottles and extra rags: I hand these to my toddlers all the time, and they will “wipe down” the fronts of the cupboards or other less gotten to areas while I do my cleaning. It also really strengthens their hand/finger muscles. You can start dong this as soon as they are big enough to stand on their own and hold the spray bottle.
- Have them take out the trash and put a new liner in. Or do this yourself if they are too little and let them help put baking soda in your new liner.
- Put them in swimming clothes, and hand them rags in a shallow amount of soap and water in the tub, and let them scrub the tub. This activity might make your cleaning take a little longer than normal, but it will keep them entertained to boot!
- For middle aged children, have them pick one of the bathroom tasks, and you can spend those 3x a week training them how to clean that area while you do the rest of the bathroom. Then the next week they can pick a different area, so by the end of the month when you have established the habit, they have learned how to clean the whole bathroom.
- For older kids/teenagers, maybe show them what you are doing in your main/bigger bathroom, and then have them start creating the same habit in your smaller/less used extra bathroom. For instance, if you have a half bath, this would be the perfect place for a teenager to get involved and learn.
And voila! After a month of this, you will have created a habit. Remember, that starting March 1st we are going to work on a second habit, while continuing to do this habit. If you have a really crazy week, and you might not have the full time to devote to each habit, the top priority should always be the habit you are currently cultivating, followed by the most recent month you finished, and so forth. Because once something truly becomes a habit, it is not something that you will go back to leaving undone and/or forgetting about it. And once you have all 10 habits under your belt, you will find that your whole home is in WAY better condition on a regular basis with a lot less effort than you thought it would take. So take what you've learned here, and get started! Remember to share how you are doing on my regular Instagram posts, or tell others about your successes on your own social media!
Find other posts in the 2020 Habit Challenge here:
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