If you cleaned really frequently in small bursts (say, for 20 minutes a day, almost every day?), starting from your “satisfactory” point, would that be enough to maintain the satisfactory point more or less continuously? Then each 20-minute burst of work would come with the “satisfactory state” reward.
Yes, this is what I try to do, and it is what I am able to do for, typically, a couple months at a time. Having someone else remind me that this is better than three hours all at once is good though. For some reason, I find myself slowly ignoring this advice from myself if I don’t hear it from somewhere else every now and then. (avoiding this problem might be another good “stupid question”...)
I used to have the same problems, but I solved it with a Beeminder goal of doing 10 minutes of cleaning per day (6 days a week).
Even with very little money on the line ($0 or 5$), I still had enough incentive to actually punch in 10 minutes on the microwave timer and turn into a Tasmanian Cleaning Devil until I heard the ding!!
I feel strangely accomplished afterwards (both for having the discipline to fulfill my commitment on Beeminder and for having an orderly house). I was and still am able to maintain extraordinary levels of cleanliness ever since!
If you cleaned really frequently in small bursts (say, for 20 minutes a day, almost every day?), starting from your “satisfactory” point, would that be enough to maintain the satisfactory point more or less continuously? Then each 20-minute burst of work would come with the “satisfactory state” reward.
Yes, this is what I try to do, and it is what I am able to do for, typically, a couple months at a time. Having someone else remind me that this is better than three hours all at once is good though. For some reason, I find myself slowly ignoring this advice from myself if I don’t hear it from somewhere else every now and then. (avoiding this problem might be another good “stupid question”...)
I used to have the same problems, but I solved it with a Beeminder goal of doing 10 minutes of cleaning per day (6 days a week).
Even with very little money on the line ($0 or 5$), I still had enough incentive to actually punch in 10 minutes on the microwave timer and turn into a Tasmanian Cleaning Devil until I heard the ding!!
I feel strangely accomplished afterwards (both for having the discipline to fulfill my commitment on Beeminder and for having an orderly house). I was and still am able to maintain extraordinary levels of cleanliness ever since!
I’m not very good at it either! :)