A few days ago, I was volunteering at my kids school and was asked to deep clean the bathrooms. I am highly qualified to do this as I’ve been cleaning bathrooms since I was ten, because my mother believed that boys should know how to clean.
Now, two things struck me that I’d never encountered in cleaning bathrooms before. First, I had a cleaning cart that was a mess and dirty, and second, instead of a home bathroom, I was dealing with cleaning multiple toilets, stalls and urinals. I though about it for a minute, about how I would coach someone else to address these two new factors, and concluded that first, I should prioritize my tools. So I promptly emptied the cart, cleaned it, organized it and prepared myself for success. Secondly I had to decide if I should clean each stall start to finish, or clean all the bowls, then all the seats, ect.
I ended up deciding to do everything in stages, and while that’s a batching mentality, which I typically would avoid, I decided the building in time for chemicals to sit was a good route to take, so I did everything in stages, switching tasks as I allowed the cleaners to do their magic. I cleaned two bathrooms with three stalls each during the time I had available.
To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to cleaning the bathrooms, and my attitude wasn’t great to start. However that quickly changed when I was cheered and applauded by the office staff upon my arrival and announcement of my mission. I quickly realized I was the hero and “got to” clean the bathrooms, not “had to”.
My perspective completely changed, I’m now excited that I have 6 more to do and will share any updates I find! How about you? Ever had a task do a 180 degree spin on you, or have skills finely tuned in one area of your life perfectly align with a new project and you didn’t see it coming? Please share, and Mom, thank you for teaching me how to clean well.