Clean house is sign of wasted life, Is it true ?

 
I always like clean ,tidy,neat  and fresh house. I think as we spend maximum time of our day in the house and thus it should be hygienic enough , pollutant free, clear and fresh to live in. Clean house helps us to be away from diseases and  gives pleasant feeling as well.Being mother of two children I am more careful and try to maintain  clean and disinfected house, clothes and utensils.

My day starts with cleaning and it ends with doing the same.My cleaning activity includes dusting , mopping , sweeping and  cleaning fans ,shelves ,closets , wardrobes ,kitchen trolleys ,electronic gadgets as and when i find time from my daily routine. I spend daily at least 2 hours for making house and things in it stain free and clear.
I get  tired many times  by doing these activities and take rest on the excessive cleaning day. My energy gets drained completely with it ,but still I repeat it often.

Problem comes when i am sick ,I get too much irritated with dirt and untidy house .More than my illness dirty house irks me . My family and friends tease me saying  its symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder.As i feel uncomfortable to see dirt,dust  anywhere in  the house.

interestingly  I met many women (having  OCD  just like me :-)) like me who want their house clean and neat always .Actually cleaning gives pleasure and satisfaction to them.These women love clean house and all the things in it .Their house ,floor , cupboards ,curtains , windows , fans , electronic gadgets, beds  and everything  is always clean ,stain free. As i am part of this cleanliness freak league I never felt odd and life was going on.

The question here is this much cleaning of house and things  worth of time? Spending so much of time and energy on it ,is it  correct? 

I never thought about this until an incident happened with me. I went to an exhibition and met one of my relative aunty there . While exploring in exhibition together we came across one poster stating “Clean house is sign of wasted life”.

It was shocking to read it , Whoever wrote this ,I felt angry for the person , as  how much I  love to keep my house clean always.I started discussing about this quote  with my aunty with a expectation of displeasure from her as well.

But she presented totally different side of the quote to me . she said , “ Why would anyone write a quote like this if it won't mean anything ?” the author might also be mother ,father of someone and might be well educated about health and importance of hygiene ,But still he/she  has this statement to say. There must be purpose behind it ,and it's totally meant for people who spend excessive time / give importance (Or have OCD for cleaning ) on cleaning house. For clean house loads of efforts/ time of a person are necessary ,which means a life is behind it.

She suggested cleaning is important but not more than self. We women spend so much of time on family ,friends ,relatives and then cleaning house and thus we hardly get a time for ourselves. Aunty said she had done same things for whole life and now she dosen't want her next generation also doing same things.

According to her  we should  prioritize  tasks , activities and don't forget to take out time for our self as well. I thought about aunty's opinions for many days ,She was totally right ? If house is less clean ,curtains ,bed sheets washed few times in a month it will be ok .But giving time to self is important,which women ignore many times.

if i give some time from my cleaning schedule to my hobbies , I 'll be more delighted , satisfied and happy soul.As usually I can't find time with daily routine  to do things I love.

And yes I decided to change myself (cleaning habits)and concentrate more on things which give me pleasure. This quote is totally true ,i realized it when i implemented it. I spend so much of my time on cleaning and making house and things in it tidy all the time .

I started prioritizing things and tasks from my daily routine like : Is it truly necessary to clean windows , curtains, doors, carpets , blankets ,closets,kitchen trolleys every now and then ? The answer is “NO”, if you are cleaning it by giving your time and efforts ,instead decide schedule/period when its necessary to clean these things. If i cleaned curtains ,doors, windows once in month i started doing it once in two month. Now I do dusting after every 2 days instead of  doing it regularly. Its not the case i like more dirt in my house ,but how I do it depends on the the time I get .

Time saved from this I utilized for blogging, reading, writing and coding. Initially it was difficult to see little dirt as well but , I changed my habits slowly to get 30 minutes daily from my previous schedule.I am extremely  happy to get these  30 minutes for my self.

Outsourcing these cleaning tasks is one more option, which not only will save your energy and time but also it will give the satisfaction which you get only after seeing clean ,tidy house. I try to get much cleaning work done from my house maid.

This one line poster and my aunty's explanation about it has truly changed my life and I am writing this post with a hope , It will be helpful for someone else too.

This blog post is author's personal experience.It's dedicated to all wonderful supermoms ,super women.

photo credit: highmarkb Interior via photopin (license)
photo credit: Er w via photopin (license)