Communication is one of the most critical life skills. You spend years learning how to read and write and years learning how to speak. But what about listening? What training have you had that enables you to listen, so you really, deeply understand another human being?

How could this factor into having a clean and organized home?

Who Lives with You?

The other people who share your home with you are part of keeping your home clean and organized.

• Do they have a higher tolerance for clutter?
• Do they think that the kitchen can be cleaned up tomorrow, or do they insist upon having everything cleaned before going to bed?
• How clean is clean?

These are other questions that could be part of a meaningful discussion on keeping your home clean and organized.

Have You Hired a Cleaning Company?

If you have a cleaning company helping you with your house cleaning, a similar conversation is necessary.

• What should they clean, and what should they not touch?
• Is window cleaning part of their process?
• Do you want them to clean up a carpet stain or point it out to you?

If There Are Issues

Suppose partners or family members do not do their fair share or even contribute to more clutter and disorganization. In that case, it is time to have a conversation.

• Do not be condescending.
• Seek first to understand.
• Look for opportunities in the conversation to establish common ground.

If you use a cleaning company and something is not the way you want it to be, talk with them. Talk with precisely the right person who can have an impact on resolving the issue.

Do not start off accusing the person or company of wrongdoing. Instead, try to understand what they understand. You may have a different understanding as your perspective may be different from theirs (most likely it is). Seek first to understand the issue from their perspective, then, with this understanding, express your viewpoint. Find a solution using both views.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

This habit will work in essentially all situations. Whether at home or in the office. Keeping a house clean and organized is not easy. Get the people you share your home with to pitch in. If you need the support of a cleaning company, then consider A Clean Vision. We have been serving the people of the Upper Valley with home cleaning support since 1993. Give us a call at 802-295-6065.

And in closing, seek first to understand, then to be understood.