Git-R-Done!
LARRY THE CABLE GUY
MY SISTER KEITHA IS an inspiration to me.
She came to visit me on Wednesday and by Saturday the house was a wreck. We’d been too busy talking, making my brother watch Jurassic Park (he was twenty-three and he’d never seen it!), and driving all over town doing fun things together. I wanted to get my home in order before Sunday so my family could relax. I also knew that I’d put off the cleaning until the last possible minute.
Now it was Saturday evening. I decided to get the babes a movie so I could just focus on cleaning. When I got home from Redbox, I walked into a tornado—a cleaning tornado.
Now mind you, I am like a butterfly. I flit around from thing to thing, getting something done here and then there, getting caught up in distraction and flowing along with the breeze. I take my time when I clean; in other words, I’m slow. Really slow. (My sister couldn’t believe it took me forty-five minutes to clean my girls’ bedroom. Sorry, Sis.)
Remember, I like to listen to music, and as I’m cleaning I look through the things I’m dusting or rearranging, ponder on something for a bit, remember that I have to answer an e-mail, think about that shirt I want to wash, and oh yeah, I need to get a new whatsit the next time I’m out. Wouldn’t the pillows be prettier if I arranged them like this? Yes, much better. Okay, now where was I? The dishes, right . . .
Writing this is kind of how I clean. I’m already distracted and need to get back to the story at hand. Where was I?
Ah yes, my sister, the tornado.
So I come home, walk into the kitchen, and see that it’s clean. (Let’s just pause here and say a little “hallelujah” because I didn’t have to clean it.)
She’s in there whipping those pans into shape. “Wow, you’re fast,” I say. “I’ve only been gone for ten minutes.” She clears the dining room table, scrubs it clean, picks up trash, and tells my kids what they need to do to help—no movie until the house is clean. I’m just standing there, watching, and she says, “If you just work fast and get it done, then you’ll have time to do the things you want to do.”
Just like that, matter of fact.
Before I knew it, I was running around cleaning, and so were my children! We all became cleaning tornadoes and within fifteen minutes, the upstairs main spaces were clean.
How to Be a Cleaning Tornado
GIVE YOURSELF A CHALLENGE AND DO IT IN A SET AMOUNT OF TIME
There is something about a challenge and a time limit that makes you focus and move. It is incredibly effective to go into cleaning mode and just do the work as fast as you can. One of the inspirations I have is from the 31 Days to Clean: Mamas of Little Ones Facebook group. They give each other challenges that have to be done within a set time frame. They hustle and do whatever they can in that ten or fifteen minutes’ span of time, and then they encourage one another and do virtual high fives before moving on with their days. Which brings me to this . . .
DON’T CLEAN ALONE
The women in the Mamas of Little Ones Facebook group live all over the United States and yet they clean together and encourage each other daily. They’ve been doing this for about a year now. These women have not only come up with a system (Task #1, 2, 3, 4), but they jump on when they have the time and just ask, “Anyone up for a challenge?” Within a few minutes someone else jumps on and they pick a task and go for it together, even though they are miles apart. I love it. Here are some of the quotes I’ve seen in the group:
“I am SO THANKFUL to have ladies to work with today! I need encouragement and motivation!”
“Okay lovely ladies! On to #1!!! WE can do this!!!”
“BREAK!! What did you get done so far?”
“I got started on the kitchen and took a phone call from my doctor . . . Second half will be stronger!”
“I got all the dirty laundry moved to the laundry room, sorted, and a load started, and I exercised for ten minutes!”
GET HYPERFOCUSED
If I have to clean fast, I’ve got to get focused. No music, no organizing, no e-mails, no nothing. Just hone in on the task at hand and go, go, go! I’ve seen my sister do this, and it works wonders! Once I finish the task at hand, then I can listen to my music and slow clean or organize something else that isn’t a priority.
GET THE BABES INVOLVED
It’s amazing what a child can do when there is a clear focus about attaining a goal together quickly. I couldn’t believe everything that my children finished with my no-nonsense sister directing them. They had no option but to clean, and so clean they did! I admit that I am not as firm with making the children help me. I either move too slow myself, which doesn’t motivate them, or I get upset that they are not cleaning fast enough. (They get distracted so easily; hmmm . . . I wonder where that comes from?)
Watching my sister helped me realize I just need to say, “Okay, loves, we’re a family, a team, and we’re going to get this done in this amount of time and then we can play.” I find that when I give my children specific age-appropriate tasks, they do the work. It also helps if they know they have a reward when they’re done: They can play, go outside, watch a movie, get a treat, or something else.
READ PROVERBS 31:17-21
What are some of the benefits the Proverbs 31 woman received from working hard and “gitting-r-done”?
What are some of the benefits you have found when you git-r-done?
Do you have a friend, a sister, a mother, or a mentor whom you admire for the personable touch she has created in her home? Ask her for some advice and/or tips on how she does it.
MARTHA CHALLENGESWEEP, VACUUM, AND/OR WASH YOUR LIVING ROOM FLOOR.
15 MINUTE CHALLENGE
Just for fun (wink wink), give yourself a fifteen-minute challenge.[1] Pick something that needs to be done in your house, perhaps just cleaning a main space, and set your timer for fifteen minutes. Get hyperfocused and get as much done in that time frame as you can. See if you can recruit your babes to help as well!