I've been following feeds on Tumblr for a while now, and I did swipe the Alien Spouse Tumblr name but I haven't actually posted anything there. I find it's tricky enough to keep up with my blog, Facebook and Twitter, let's not add another epic time suck to the game right? Still there are a number of great Tumblrs that I enjoy reading, and I have come to particularly like "Unfuck Your Habitat".
It's a sort of support hub, with motivational swearing, rewards in the form of celebratory gifs (The acolytes of UfYH regularly post before-and-after photos on their own Tumblrs, which they tag for the UfYH guru to share with the group and award gifs as appropriate) and a database of cleaning techniques. The really genius part of the whole thing is that it follows a very basic rule, which is not to try marathoning your way through all the cleaning in one go, instead cleaning sessions are broken up into 20/10s; that is, work for twenty minutes and then take a break for ten minutes, and repeat until you have finished or run out of time for that day.
There is an app for the iPod (but not yet for the Android - She's working on it though!), and I bought it the other day so that I could both support the Tumblr and use the tools it provides. Rather hilariously Apple will not allow any app to have the word fuck in the title, so it's been renamed Unfilth Your Habitat; equally hilarious and annoying is the fact that ALL of the negative reviews are about the use of bad language, when that's clearly mentioned in the app description and signposted by the bloody logo. Honestly people.
Anyway...
So Doc and I have a new agreement in place where in we intend to bring the flat up to code, and then each do a one or two 20/10s a day to keep the place in order. Today Doc did the recycling, cleaned the litter trays and emptied the bins - He marathoned it, because that's what he was in the mood for. Then I used the apps 20/10 timer (I picked a very fun techno ring tone as my transitional alarm - Love it!) to clean the bath & the toilet; and then thoroughly scrub the bathroom floor (on my hands and knees with a scrubbing brush and everything). It took four sessions to get it all done properly, but that was a lot less intimidating to me than marathon cleaning and I think I did a better job than if I'd allowed myself to get tired and frustrated halfway through.
I think we'll overhaul the kitchen next, and then it's just maintenance all around. It feels distinctly pleasant to have such an elegantly manageable plan in mind, let's just hope we can stick to it.

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