PROPERTY NEWS - According to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average South African worked 43 hours a week in 2017. That makes us the sixth hardest working nation in the world, just 4 hours away from the number one spot shared by Colombia and Turkey.
"Contrary to popular opinion, South Africa is one of the hardest working nations. After long hours at the office, school runs, grocery shopping and all the other day-to-day tasks, most homeowners simply don't have the time to clean their own homes. And, what with the rising fuel costs and increased VAT rate, many can no longer afford to hire cleaning professionals either.
Homeowners will need to get creative with their time to ensure that their homes are cleaned regularly," says Adrian Goslett, regional director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.
He warns that neglecting your cleaning duties can have detrimental effects on your family's health. Anyone with allergies knows how badly dusty shelves and unswept floors can affect their sinuses and worsen their congestion.
More than this, mould, mildew, and other harmful bacteria can build up in areas like bathrooms and kitchens if surfaces aren't cleaned and disinfected regularly.
"A build-up of dirt can also end up costing homeowners more than they realise. When it comes to the point when homeowners eventually decide to sell, the home depreciates substantially in value for every room that has cleanliness issues.
"Sometimes the build-up is beyond the help of some bleach and scrub brushes, and homeowners will then have to reinvest money in the home (re-grouting tiles, replacing stained carpets, retouching severely stained cupboards, etc.) before they can sell for full value," Goslett warns.
According to his advice, homeowners should develop a ten-minute rule: "It's difficult to find the time and motivation to spend a few hours in any day cleaning the house. But, it is comparatively easy to find just ten minutes a day to get a few chores done," he suggests.
Rather than trying to spring clean the whole house once a week, try to tackle one cleaning task daily. There are various ways of achieving this.
Either, you can choose to focus on just one room at a time, or you can choose to tackle just one chore at a time. Spend just ten minutes each day cleaning that room, or doing that specific task (scrubbing the shower, or cleaning the windows, for example), and by the end of the week, your home will be much cleaner than if you had waited for the day when you had enough time to clean the whole house thoroughly.
"If you share a home with somebody, it is also a good idea to share the workload.
"Either you can get twenty minutes of cleaning done daily by tackling separate tasks, or you could tackle the same task together and half the amount of time it takes to complete it. If you have children, then encourage them to help with small tasks like cleaning their own room or helping with the dishes after supper - it is a great way to teach them about cooperation, responsibility and other valuable life skills," Goslett concludes.
Whichever way you choose to tackle it, the important thing is that you find the time to keep your home clean. It might seem like a thankless and never-ending task, but the reward for completing it reveals itself in subtle ways, like in the health and well-being of your family - and isn't that the only thing that really counts?
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