My sister suggested listening to podcasts or a book using wireless noise canceling headphones. She said it helps her stay on task and in her house it gives her the added benefit of not hearing her kids or dog.
@mom60, yep that’s what I do!
I regret opening this thread. 
For those of us that are somewhat housekeeping impaired, this kind of thread is probably a real eye opener about how organized some people are with this. Housecleaning routines, comparisons-one more thing that women need to worry about! 
@Hoggirl - 1,300 sq ft 2 bed, 2 bath. I put my headphones on, and I have an album I’ve listened to for housecleaning since 1987 (really!) it’s the album Genesis by, yes, Genesis - it’s 45 minutes long and it plays more than once - I find the album moves every part of my being and I lose track of time. (I also have an album I listen to when I go to the dentist…completely different and have done so also since 1987)
I happen to be a creature of serious habits. Most of them are very good habits, like being methodical and almost obsessive compulsive in the ways I approach certain tasks in my life. My 3 1/4 mile daily walks, for example, same (basically) time every day, same location, never (ever!) bored. At work I have routines that others stare at in disbelief but then ask me to teach them because my work is consistently on point and easily traceable - if say 3 years from now someone wanted some work I did, I have a color system and coordinating excel spreadsheet I created for myself (years ago!) and within minutes I can find anything I did from any period of time. My work files are flawless, and when we went to work from home, I was the one they came to to create and implement all the procedures for electronic files and systems so that all of us from around the country could easily access anything. That took me exactly 2 working days. I’m not a robot, and I have very strong interactive personal skills, I just happen to like and appreciate order. And no, my house is not perfectly in order. My bookcases are a mishmash, but my dishes are not. I’m not fastidious about my wardrobe, but I am always on time. Always. I meditate and chant Sanskrit mantras 2x a day (20 minutes in the morning, and during my walk in the evening) and have since 1983. My 3 close friends think my physiology changed when I started that. Maybe. I have few memories prior to my 10th birthday so I can’t say I’ve always been like this. I am a self-diagnosed ‘dyslexic’ and I think when I figured that out was when I really began putting (almost mechanical) procedures into place for myself. I also am a very good, and patient teacher (no I’m not a teacher). More than once I’ve been told I’d have made a wonderful lawyer. I can’t see it.
This answer is a perfect example of who I am. I was posed with a simple “how many square feet do you have” question and I had zero choice but to dig deeper to try to explain (to myself most of all) why and how I do things. I only do this in writing. If asked in person, I’d have said ‘1,300 square feet.’
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Housecleaning is my job and my business went down by 2/3 when Covid hit. Consider having your housekeeper come back, maybe when you will be gone for the day and then if it makes you feel better wipe down high touch surfaces with wipes when you return. We (I) need the business. If you trust me with your home and all of your belongings, you should trust that I would be careful with sanitizing with the utmost care.
My routine? When I need the floors mopped,I spill cat food on the floor, and the three kitties lick it clean. ?
/Just kidding! ?
We don’t have a no shoes rule but there are always a lot of shoes by the front door because my son and I are either barefoot or in slippers. My husband needs an actual shoe because of plantar fasciitis so can’t begrudge him that. We have all hardwoods so I only need the vacuum occasionally, like when I lose a needle in the couch cushions and realize that it’s time to vacuum the couch. Mopping is mostly needed because of spills in the kitchen.
@JustaMom - I loved reading your fascinating answer! When I was a busier person (being a working mom, having places I needed to be by a certain time, and especially when I was a homeschooling mom) I was much more disciplined and structured about organizing my time and life. I accomplished so. much. more. Since I no longer have much of anything I HAVE to do (and now with COVID nowhere to go), I have slacked off on my routines. I was never as structured as you but certainly much closer. I need to get my groove back but find I am lacking the self-discipline. Everything that needs to get done gets accomplished - just not very efficiently. There seems to be little reason to be efficient. I will think about your listening to Genesis and cleaning your house this afternoon!
I would like to be like you.
I’ll second the idea of picking a podcast that is your cleaning podcast (so similar to the Genesis idea - man, I LOVED Genesis!!). Most podcasts are at least 30 minutes, many closer to an hour. Tailor it how you need it. Maybe two days a week you clean while listening to a 30 minute one and the other day an hour one.
I love sinking into a podcast and shutting out other stuff around me!
We had a housekeeper until the last few years. Now I do it all myself.
One day a week, I vacuum and dust all the rooms that are used, as well as the front staircase, which has a fur-attracting runner. On another day, I will clean our bathroom and maybe the powder room. Pre-Covid, we had frequent guests, so I would do the guest room and bathroom as soon as a guest left.
The kitchen floor needs vacuuming daily because of the dog hair.
This is a large, 200 year old house, so dust is an endless battle. Every few weeks, I have to damp mop the floors to keep it at bay.
When the kids home, we had a housekeeper every other week. We scurried around to straighten our mess the night before, and then she did the real cleaning. It was a fantastic feeling to come home to a neat and clean house!
I made decent money at my job, and we never felt bad spending some of it for the housekeeper. She was a grandmother in need of money to help her single daughter raise the grandson.
My steam mop is something that generates some steam as you mop your floor. It helps to clean the floor with out a traditional mop and bucket. I found it was so much easier and cleaned my floor much better than a Swiffer.
The handheld steamer works on bathroom grout but would work on floor grout with a build up that needs to be cleaned. Obviously for someone that wants to annually clean their grout or someone like me that needs to fix up rental properties not taken care of.
@Xplorenature - I’m curious about a steam mop. Do you recommend the one you use? Name?
I was kidding about using my cats licking power to clean our wood floors.
I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/Karcher-Hard-Floor-Cleaner-Yellow/dp/B07C894N4L
Works great for me.
Because the cats shed like crazy, I also use a rubber broom ? - kind of like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Valley-Traders-Telescopic-Rubber/dp/B07GY1BLP9/
Great for quick sweeping!
That rubber broom is interesting. No pet hair at our house, but I’ve been wanting a wider broom that would be safe on hardwood kitchen floor.
I use my rubber broom on hardwood. It is awesome. Gets the dust and crumbs and cat hair, too!
7 kids/5 still in and out of our big, cluttery house. I just don’t even notice the clutter until someone is coming over and, then, OMG–I see it through their eyes. We usually use the “blanket method,” (developed by S#2) when we have to clean up quickly. We pile everything that is all over the living room floor on a large blanket, which we then pick up and dump behind the couch. Then we vacuum.
I do like sweeping, vacuuming, and washing (by hand) floors. I’m really good with bathrooms. Enjoy washing windows. Hate dusting. Kitchen is out of control. Our house is extremely lived-in. I could never get a cleaning service because I’d be too embarrassed
My steam mop is a Bissell. It is probably 5 years old so there may be better options now. I wanted something that was lightweight, didn’t use chemicals, had cleaning pads that I could throw in the washing machine rather than purchasing new ones and had a long cord. As I mentioned previously, I opted out of the Shark because it required pumping the handle which wore me out helping a friend mop a large area. My Bissell doesn’t work well behind toilets but I sweep then hand mop. Since we have an empty nest it doesn’t need to be done often. When company comes, husband helps with the cleaning.
I will do some comparing between the Bissell and Shark. @Xplorenature, can you please share your model as I imagine there are more than one. I want the washable cleaning pads, too.