Cleaning House?
A quick FYI if you’re here for some kind of writing-related post here…
That title is literal. This post is about cleaning my house. Well, my flat, anyway.
It is also about writing. Kind of.
The thing is, I’m not a naturally tidy person. I hate guests arriving out of the blue, I don’t have kids to tidy up after, and there are lots of bits of traditional housework that I just find… pointless.
I don’t own an iron, as a for-instance.
But. I also like to live in a clean, tidy space. Who doesn’t? I don’t want to fear my letting agent saying they need to do a check. I don’t want to be embarrassed if my mother visits. I also can’t write properly if my house is a total tip. There’s too much guilt and distraction, and it makes me anxious. None of those things are good.
*Alt text: an arm wearing a very pink rubber glove holds a yellow and red spray bottle that likely contains some sort of cleaning solution.
I had to get my act together a bit when I was hosting young people, because part of the deal was I was meant to be a role model. It helped that I had a dishwasher and a back garden with a washing line, things I don’t have right now, but it wasn’t terrible. Things didn’t pile up.
They do now.
I live with my partner in a 1-bedroom attic flat. We don’t have a dishwasher because it wouldn’t fit in our tiny kitchen, and obviously it’s quite hard to dry clothes without a washing line or tumble dryer… my partner works in manufacturing, on his feet for up to twelve hours a day. We did at one point have an agreement that if I cooked he’d wash up, but some nights he was just too tired so it wouldn’t get done, and I wouldn’t want to do it because we had a deal and then stuff would pile and pile until I couldn’t cook because there were no pans and we’d order a pizza.
Yes, I’m partly blaming untidiness on our takeaway habit. So what?
Anyway, I’m not often one for resolutions, but I did decide in 2022 I want to live in a tidier flat. Because it’s small, it actually doesn’t take that much cleaning, but also because it’s small, it doesn’t take much for it to start looking grotty and disorganised.
It will help me write, that’s the big push for this. I won’t spend fifteen minutes before opening Word being like, “oh no, I’m such a bad, selfish person. I can’t believe I’m going to write a fantasy novel when my house isn’t clean.” Because, it will be.
Also, it ties in quite nicely with the resolution I’ve made for my writing, because what my plan for keeping my flat clean and my plan for writing my 2nd novel both involve forming habits.
I may have mentioned I did a fantastic writing course last year tutored by Jenny Colgan. She was fabulous, very no-nonsense about the absolute maze that is publishing, and the lesson she shared that most stuck with me was not just the obvious write every day but actually, the way more specific write 500 words a day, every day. When that feels comfortable, make it 600. Then 700. Eventually, you’ll be writing 1000 words a day you can knock out a draft of a novel in 3 months.
And: when you’ve written your 500 words… stop. That way, it’s not some endless chore you then give up on after a week because you’ve got a constant migraine from all the typing. It’s… a habit. Part of your day.
And the thing is, I often feel like I don’t have enough hours in the day to write as it is. Let alone clean. Especially when I end up having one of my fairly regular migraines and lose a whole day. Especially when on top of this I work full time already, so writing feels like another job. So… does… cleaning.
That’s why Jenny’s advice to do a small amount daily, and crucially, stop when you’ve achieved that is so genius. I can probably write 500 words in 30 minutes, if I’ve got a plan for where to start. And, even when I’m tired from a day at work, I can usually spare 30 minutes in an evening, especially when I’ve already told myself to STOP after my 500 words are written.
Alt text: pale green alarm clock on a background that is half pale pink and half the same colour as the alarm clock.
Now, if that can work for writing… why couldn’t it work for cleaning?
That is what I’m going to try. I had a quick look on YouTube and as you might imagine, I immediately found a bunch of North American SAHMs with spotless houses and million-plus YouTube subscribers. I am in awe of people like this, and basically want to know all their secrets, because HOW IS YOUR HOUSE SO TIDY WHEN YOU LIVE WITH SEVERAL TINY WHIRLWINDS?!
Turns out, there are a number of different structures people use, like the Clean Mama system or Fly Lady. I’m not above admitting I fell into a very clean rabbit hole, but my overall feeling was “uh, that’s not quite for me” because a) I don’t need to do laundry every day and b) I’m not going to dust. I mean, maybe once a month, but not WEEKLY. Come on.
But - both systems recommend doing a little bit of cleaning every day. About 30 minutes, that’s all. Don’t LET it stack up.
Habit forming.
I know, there’ll be people reading this like YES, OBVIOUSLY, COME ON… but to me it feels like a little bit of a revelation, and I’m going to give it a go.
In 2022, I’m going to have a clean flat, and I’m going to write a novel in 6 months.