How to vacuum
I had employed a cleaner for the last decade to come to my house twice a week for a total of 5 hours a week in order to vacuum, iron, scrub toilets, wash baths, floors, windows. I had never lifted a finger in my own home and had no idea how to.
After we moved away from London to downshift I read as many books as the local library stocked on home management and soon found out that little and often is the best approach with a general focus on one room or area per week (this works especially well if you can divide your house into approximately four zones so you are then back to the first zone each month).
Setting the timer for 15 minutes and doing some rather than nothing works really well for me as I could easily spend 15 minutes sitting on the sofa thinking ‘Grrrr I’ve got so much vacuuming to do it’s going to take me ages especially as I have to get the vacuum out, plug it in, blah blah blah’. The minute my brain thinks about vacuuming I now set the timer for 15 mins and get going. More often than not I have done LOADS by the time the beeper goes, feel great about my achievement and am back sitting with the kids before they have even noticed I’ve moved.