On organizing...

It's been a while since i shared my organizing inspirations. LOL. I think I'd rate organized living as one of the 15 most fulfilling feelings in the world! this evening, imran was asking me if i knew where somethng was. imagine his shock when i told him, 'it's the third paper in the second last file in the filing box which is on the far right on the right shelf in the closet'. i know exactly where everything is!!!!!!!!!! it's soooooooooo time saving! (with the midterms coming up in two weeks, thats a definite bonus!)

ive also set up a schedule for myself so it doesnt feel as though im cleaning all the time, every day.

Imran takes out the trash and recycling everyday. I also sweep the floor and do the dishes everyday. Also, every day, we spend five minutes towards a quick tidy in each room - make the bed, wipe the bedsides, pick up clothes/socks etc. It usually doesnt even take five minutes in most rooms. Eesa's room usually takes the longest coz of his toys but even then,, while he makes the bed (yes, he knows exactly how to!!!), i pick up the toys and hang clothes etc. this way we're done in under 10 mins.

Mondays we clean the kitchen throughly and tuesdays is bathrooms. wednesday is for the living room and dining (dusting and wiping/sweeping/vacuuming everything and i mean EVERYTHING). thursdays is for office and entry way (entry way closets too). friday is sweeping/vacuuming(it's on its way!) and dusting the bedrooms. I also clean the blinds on friday mornings.

this way im not obsessively cleaning away already clean rooms. And since everything is mantained well, it usually doesnt take longer than 45 minutes to an hour each day. When i clean the rooms, i clean from top to bottom in a 360, around the room from left to right.

The highlight of this has been the fact that we also ordered a new vacuum!!! once that arrives, cleaning would hopefully be a breeze inshaAllah. I'm really picky abt vacuums so we never got around to buying ourselves one ever since we moved. i had a list of requirements in my vacuum and wasnt willing to compromise until i found the right one. I hate vacuums with bags (coz of all the discontinuing they do) so I needed a bagless one. I needed it to be 1o amps or 12 amps - 7 amp ones are simply horrible! (ask mannam, they work like men without food!) I needed one with a HEPA filter (theyre excellent for removing dust mites in mattresses, sofas and pillows!). i also didnt want a stick vac (again, they dont have the power). and i wanted it in any colour but red and black! (don't ask me why!!)

i'd narrowed down to three that i really liked. about 2 months ago they went on sale(all during the same week) and were sold out within 15 minutes of store opening on saturday. there was almost an 80 bucks difference in price and i wasnt in a rush so i wanted to wait out for hte next sale. We almost missed it this week too since there were none left in store. We were going to get a raincheck on it but settled on buying it online instead. although it was only 50 bucks off this week, Alhamdolillah i'm super excited abt it. What i like the most abt this vacuum is the fact that it comes with a handheld vacuum too - which makes it soooo convenient for the crumbs that make their way under the sofa cushions!

oh lastly, coming back to the organizing!! another trick that i find time saving is that I keep a basket with me while i'm cleaning so that if i come across something that doesnt belong in the particular area, i just put it in the basket. The next day, when i go from room to room to do my morning 5 minute clean up, i carry the basket with me and replace everything to its place! otherwise, if something is not where its supposed to be, i know it hasnt been replaced and is still in the basket!

I've been looking for random inspirations these days. I've been bugging friends/cousins for their stories/ideas. if you've got some...share!