Where do you begin and SECRET NUMBER 2

1. I don't have enough time.
2. I'm always busy with the kids.
3. I work and I am just too tired.
4. I wish the house were clean.

These are things I thought for years. Once I retired I didn't have any more excuses so I finally did what I should have done years ago - divide the house into sections and make a schedule.

I have quite a large house.

These are my sections

kitchen + casual dining
dining + lounge
TV lounge room
master bedroom
second bedroom (my parlor)
third bedroom (office)
laundry
2 bathrooms
sewing room, gym, craft room (upstairs rooms)
front porch
back patio

Each section gets a tidy, dust and wipe down once a month. I do our bathroom and toilet each fortnight.
The windows and blinds are done separately.

I have proved that gradually the house becomes clean and I have also proved that the schedule is very bendable and most things can go two months without any noticeable untidiness once they reach a level of clean that you are happy with.

I cannot prove that scheduling works when you have small children to work around but I'm sure it would be worth a try. 

I am not naturally a tidy person and even though everything has a place I am the type who walks past something that has to be put away. But now it doesn't bother me because every part of the house gets a tidy up each month. The kitchen table never gets as messy as it used to. My sewing room gets a tidy every month making sewing much more fun. The corners in the laundry never look dusty and grimy any more and the venetian blinds can be cleaned in a matter of minutes.

A load has been lifted.

I am no slave to housework but now I always feel comfortable when someone walks in. I can show off my souvenirs through beautifully clean glass doors in my display cabinet. We can sit down to tea at a spotless dining room table or out door table. Life is just easier.

SECRET NUMBER 2:

When you start, only give the area a normal clean. For example, spray and wipe a dirty window once. Allow several minutes cleaning. Next month several minutes should get the window almost clean. By month three a  few minutes gets your window almost perfect. Month four and you can spend time on getting right to the edges and into the corners and your window is perfect.

Getting it Done and SECRET NUMBER 1

It is the third Tuesday of the month. So what! you say.
This means that when I look at my housework routine I have to vacuum the bedrooms.
Here they are - 3 bedrooms, the toilet and bathroom and laundry. I put the stop watch on and it took me 12 minutes.

What else is on the list?

Dust the two venetian blinds in the lounge room. They are a bit of an aerobic workout cause I have to climb on the big desk for one window. 5 minutes and 35 secs.

Now I have to clean the sliding door and the window that face the pool. You can see them in the picture.
13 minutes and 15 secs and that included about 1 minute to walk into the kitchen to get the paper towel and spray then put it away at the end.

This door and window have been cleaned quite a few times now. This is the dirt from the inside of the door.

And that is the house cleaning for the day.

While my oatmeal cooked for breakfast I stacked what I could in the dishwasher and washed up the cutlery that I refuse to put in the dishwasher. While my oatmeal cooled in the bowl I put the clothes and hand towels in the washing machine and got it started because Tuesday is one of my washing days.
Today I have done a load of clothes and a load of bath towels. About 10 minutes each.

Vacuuming 12 minutes
Dusting 5 minutes 35 secs
Window cleaning 13 minutes 15 secs

31 minutes plus 10 minutes dish washing and 20 minutes clothes washing.
A total of 1 hours work.

SECRET NUMBER 1
Divide your house into sections. Rooms, floors, windows, blinds. For example. my floor vacuuming is split into three sections - bedrooms every Tuesday, kitchen dining every Thursday and lounge every Saturday.
Assign each section to a day on the calendar month.