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So....So....Clean! In Just Two Hours A Week (my friend Kathy)

by J. Walker Lorhan

122 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-1671; ISBN 1-4120-1293-7; US$15.50, C$17.99, EUR13.00, £9.00

Hate cleaning your house? This book will help you break the cycle. Learn the revolutionary Rotating Cleaning System that will liberate you from the drudgery of cleaning your home.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book DO YOU HATE CLEANING, BUT LIKE A CLEAN HOME? Do you avoid having company because the thought of cleaning your whole house is overwhelming? Do you spend your whole weekend, every weekend, pondering cleaning your house, and then late Sunday night, you start? Every time the doorbell rings do you fear someone will see your dirty house if you answer the door? Break the cycle. Learn the Rotating Cleaning System that will create a gleaming house in just two hours a week. Spend more time on those things you love to do and never be embarrassed about a dirty house again. So....So....Clean will change your life.

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About the Author J. Walker Lorhan was born in Saint John, New Brunswick and stayed until she finished high school. She then ventured to the big city of Toronto where she entered the engineering program at the University of Toronto at the age of 16. She spent many years working in the field of engineering while bringing up her three incredibly marvelous kids. One of her daughters has given her a grandchild, Evan, who is currently experiencing the terrible twos. Her experience in managing large engineering projects was the foundation for preparing the book. The content of the book was groomed during hard times when she had to clean houses to put food on the table and a roof over her head. Watch for her novel Mirror of the Soul soon to be released, in which T.J. Hammond uses her telepathic powers to keep a rare blue diamond, found in the Ural Mountains of Russia, safe from the criminal element.

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Sample Excerpts or Table of Contents

C O N T E N T S

Chapter ONE - Kathy Hates Cleaning 11

Chapter TWO - The Weekend 19

Chapter THREE - Clean vs Tidy 27

Chapter FOUR - The First Step 35

Chapter FIVE - Preparing The Schedule 45

Chapter SIX - Fifteen Minute Cleaning Jobs 63

Chapter SEVEN - Five Minute Cleaning Jobs 73

Chapter EIGHT - Easy/Very Easy Five-Minute Cleaning Jobs 87

Chapter NINE - 'The How To' and 'What For' 95

Chapter TEN - Some Cleaning Tips 105

Chapter ELEVEN - Kathy's Place 113

Addendum - First Step Process on Kathy's Place 121

Chapter Two - The Weekend

I live in a two-bedroom condominium apartment, which I share with my adult son. I do the cleaning on Friday nights, so I can spend time doing the things I like on the weekends. I still have vivid memories of years gone by, when every day was a workday. During those years I was working full time in a high powered, extremely demanding engineering position while bringing up three children and I shouldn't forget, a husband who, rightfully so, required some of my attention. In those days I cleaned all day Saturday from the time I awoke until I went to bed. I was a perfectionist, a condition which age has thankfully tempered. On Sunday I would do six loads of laundry and the same evening do the ironing. I wonder today how I ever managed. I know some of you can easily relate to this kind of schedule.

If only I knew then, what I know today. I could have completed all my household chores in one day. Actually, my business at the time was managing major engineering projects. Don't let me mislead you, I didn't manage these projects alone, but my involvement certainly taught me how to schedule a multitude of items in order to reach a target date. In order to develop my RCS, I adopted the same principals that I used in business.

Consider the cleaning job as a project. Every project has a start date and a completion date. To effectively meet the end date, you must prepare a schedule of items to be completed within specific time frames. My RCS is designed to reach completion within two hours. The hardest part is getting started. If you have a schedule and know that you will complete the schedule within two hours, it is easier to get started. Even on my worst days I'm able to pull out my list, look at what I have to do and say, "Okay! Let's just do it! Two hours later I have done the job. I'm a little tired, but feel good and I don't have to think about cleaning for another week. Anyone can cope with two hours of cleaning a week.

This past year is not one I wish to repeat, did yield at least one positive thing, an effective Rotating Cleaning System. This actually evolved after I acquired several units to clean in my building. I think I was becoming feeble minded because I couldn't remember from one week to the next what items I had to clean in the different units. In the course of preparing the schedule it became blantly obvious to me that I was over cleaning, as in too often, some items and not cleaning other items as often as necessary. Some items will actually stay looking clean if you clean them once every eight weeks. (Once you get the dust under control that is!) Preparing the schedule allowed me to ensure that all items were cleaned on a regular basis and without duplication. This saved me considerable time. As an example, one of my units took me 3 1/2 hours to clean when I first started and this same unit now takes me only two hours and yes it is just as clean, probably more so, because nothing is overlooked. Everything is cleaned and cleaned again before most people would consider it dirty enough to clean. To clean something before it gets dirty sounds a little paranoid, but you will understand why as the book progresses.

Would you like a Friday, which is truly a T.G.I.F. day? As I said before, I'm a strong believer in the 'weekend'. We all deserve our downtime. This belief probably stems from my earlier days whenthere was no such thing as downtime. Most people I know today use their weekend to clean house, go to the grocery store, do the washing and ironing, mow the lawn, mend clothes, make repairs and so on. I get tired just thinking about such weekends and I can't figure out why people look forward to them. Except for my son whose weekends are comprised of volleyball, squash, tennis, golf and partying. He has a cleaning lady - me! The plain truth is that most people finish their five-day job only to go to their two-day job, and then back to their five-day job. Are you nuts? Isn't a five-day workweek enough? Okay, so I know you're not nuts, probably just going nuts from this schedule. As you know I used to do the same thing. I just didn't know any better.

Let's break the cycle. You already have to work five days a week. When I say this I'm including those who go out to the workplace as well as those who stay at home. Believe me, I know how hard you work and for you I really do hope that you can break the cycle of working seven days. As long as you are in a work mode, by all means work, but only work the five days. Some with a very demanding schedule will work six. But for God's sake don't work seven. Even He took the seventh day to rest.

Give this idea some thought: washing - one-night; ironing - one night; groceries on the third night; cleaning (remember it will only take you two hours) on the fourth night and those extra chores - the fifth night. Sound impossible? Most of you spend your evenings now puttering. This energy just needs to be harnessed. Think about it! Most chores only take two hours or less and none of them are back breaking. Just two hours each night then you can foresee a glorious weekend to do as you wish. Now, for some I know weekends are not totally free days, but let's hope the organized workload helps make them more enjoyable with some free time for you. This book is going to save you hours; try to utilize them to your advantage. You have the choice. You owe yourself at least one day off from work a week. Think of all those things that truly bring a smile to your face. Is it playing with the children when you don't have something pressing waiting for you in the wings, or taking them to the local library for the Children's Story Hour? Is it going to visit friends, collecting rocks along the seashore or luxuriating in a bath, having a facial then curling up with a good book. Maybe it's going skiing or to a movie or working on your favourite hobby, I spend my weekends trying to write a novel and believe me it can be very trying. You probably have very little time for these things that bring a smile to your face. So, consider your options and I hope this book will help you break the cycle.

Enough said, it's your choice!

One thing is for sure, that unless you win the Lottery, you will have to clean your place this week, next week and the next..... There's always going to be death, taxes and dust bunnies.

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Catalogue Information

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