ah ceduke! nothing wrong with you that can't be cured by coming over here and dealing with my floors too;)
thanks for all the thoughts and responses. I do have a swiffer and use it, and we do also have the forerunner of the swiffer, the cloth version. Also, we have a great Miele vacuum. So the tools are there, but once a week "just ain't enough". And we don't even wear shoes in the house! but a hairy feline beast and dusty old plaster walls make for a lot of dust bunnies.
as for laundry and dishes that is no problem, we are in a smooth easy rhythm there. Laundry has to be hung to dry in the flat(no dryer, and no laundromats, and no outdoor clotheslines permitted in the city) and that means unattractive hanging items on the rack and often elsewhere if it needs to be properly hung to eliminate wrinkles. I enjoy laundry and running the dishwasher and uncluttering, so those things count as little pleasures that can make me feel smug and happy. Nonetheless, it doesn't look great to walk into a place and see laundry hung from every possible rod or door.
JuliaJayne, I'm all over 1-5, and DH has 1,2,3 and 5 covered, but we both fall down on 6!
I am a big spring/fall cleaner/declutterer, but it is the daily grind that I am either too exhausted to do, or, simply, DON'T WANT to do. I feel as though I have had enough to deal with during the day, plus work at home in the evenings sometimes (teacher) and when I am off I want to be OFF. I use a timer on my phone to motivate me to attack certain areas, and follow the 2-minute rule (if something takes 2 minutes, do it now). I am a big fan of developing systems (learned that from mom) and letting them run themselves. Bathroom gets daily swipe, dusting gets a lick and a nod unless I spot dust&cat-hair tumbleweeds, but the floor, oh, the floor.
Although there are areas which definitely need attention periodically, I don't generally have a problem with clutter. Not enough space to be cluttered in. However I have a big problem with PEEP!
through reading all these great responses I came to some realisations: it is not as bad as I always think it is. I have perfectionist tendencies and when things aren't perfect I feel helpless and overwhelmed. I once had a roommate who shouted that I was a "clean" Nazi and I needed to relax; I started thinking that maybe Everything maybe doesn't have to be Perfect All the Time. But I want it perfect.
My second insight from these responses is that no, it is not "lazy" to get help. We both work long hours and want to play on the weekends, or, at least, relax. I have toyed with the idea of hiring a cleaner and have tossed out enquiries but haven't actively pursued it. We can afford it.
and a third insight--our place is simply too small. It is what would be considered a bachelor apartment in North America. I don't know what to call it. Except small. No storage basement, no garage, no cellar, no attic, no coat closet, no linen closet, no shoe racks, no kitchen cupboards (okay, one, just for glasses and dishes.) 3 kitchen drawers: one for cutlery and one for pots and mixing bowls and one for everything else (from tupperware to cheese grater to salad bowl, which doesn't fit anywhere else) No food storage area. Almost no food preparation area. Mini-bar-sized fridge finally went the way of the dodo, and now have what I once would have once seen as comically small fridge. But it is bigger than the mini-bar lol!
We cannot actually keep more than what we use, but we are grown working adults and refuse to live like dorm students with one glass each etc. We entertain, we need chairs and dishes and multiple-season clothing to wear, we insist on keeping one small box of Christmas decorations, we insist on having one extra set of sheets, etc. etc. For me the idea of uncluttering is to live a richer life by purging out the unnecessary, not suffering by not having enough to function smoothly and enjoying an abundant life.
Somehow I am beginning to believe that the floors are more of a signal of my rebellion against living in so cramped a space.
