Have you ever received that last minute call, “Guess who’s coming over for dinner tonight honey?” Or you suddenly remembered that so-and-so was stopping by to go over notes for an upcoming meeting.
Maybe you have family coming by but you got lost in a good book. Suddenly you look at the clock and realize you have an hour before they arrive.
All of these scenarios can leave anyone feeling overwhelmed and unprepared. But this is where speed cleaning comes in.
Speed cleaning requires fast movement. In fact, you need to set a timer so that you have a deadline to meet. You might even consider putting on some loud music to get you motivated.
Once you have figured out how much time you have to clean, which could be a few hours or less than an hour, determine how much of it will be spent cleaning. Let’s say in the morning you learned someone was coming by for dinner.
Sure, you might have a few hours. But if your house is a total mess, it can still feel like mission impossible. In this case speed cleaning would work in 10 minute increments.
Set the timer for 10 minutes and tackle the kitchen. Whatever doesn’t get done, so be it. You set the timer again for 10 minutes and take on the living room. You continue this through each room. If you have five rooms, that’s 50 minutes to accomplish more than you might think.
Now if you have less than an hour to clean, you might give yourself 15 minutes to go through the entire house. This will require focusing on what’s most important, the stuff that is more visible to others. Again, set the timer.
Speed cleaning requires focus and not getting sidetracked on projects. Of course, this process can also go much faster and farther if you recruit help.