Cube Cleaning Challenge

I have so much to do around my house that sometimes, I just don’t know where to start. So, instead, I created a game to let the fates decide! I divided my house into 12 zones (6 upstairs and 6 downstairs) and stamped letters on cubes to represent each area. Then, I stamped 2 cubes with times (15, 20, 30 minutes), and a set of options to mix things up a bit. I’ll roll a die for upstairs, and one for downstairs, plus dies for the times for each. Then, I’ll roll the options cube and do what it says. I also made myself some tracking sheets (not pictured) so I can log what I did each day/week so I can keep track of my points.

I did a trial run of the system a few weeks ago, and it really worked well. Since I’m starting it officially on July 1st, I’ll make my week start on Thursday, so I can have a full week right from the beginning.

Downstairs

  1. Kitchen (K)
  2. Pantry ¶
  3. Dining Room (DR)
  4. Living Room (LR)
  5. Entry/Stairs (ES)
  6. Porch (PO)

Upstairs

  1. Office (O)
  2. Bedroom (B)
  3. Guest Room (G)
  4. Bathroom (BR)
  5. Craft Room (C)
  6. Hallway/Stairs (HS)

Challenge Time (2 cubes)

  1. 15 minutes
  2. 20 minutes
  3. 30 minutes
  4. 15 minutes
  5. 20 minutes
  6. 30 minutes

Challenge Options

  1. Keep As Is (K)
  2. Switch Location (SL)
  3. Swap Time (ST)
  4. Skip One (SO)
  5. Double One (DO)
  6. Keep As Is (K)

The rules:

  1. Roll the dice at least 2 nights a week, and one weekend day during the school year. During the summer, roll the dice at least 5 days a week.
  2. Tasks accomplished during the time can be decided upon in the moment, and need not be fully completed in the specified time (working longer than the specified time is okay, but both zones must be completed unless a Skip is rolled).
  3. No breaks during the scheduled time, except in an emergency.
  4. Unless a Switch or Skip is rolled, work must be done in the specified area for the entire time- there is probably always going to be something to do in each area.

Scoring Points:

  1. Each day that I roll the dice and actually do the tasks, I will earn 2 points. Extra 5 points a week for following Rule #1.
  2. Rolling the dice additional times during any day and doing the tasks will earn two points for each successfully completed roll, but do not count as additional days during the week.
  3. Once the points total 100 points, I get some sort of reward (TBD).

I think I’ll be able to make decent progress using this system. It’s little time chunks, I can do more than one roll per day if I want, and I can take a break in between each area if I want. It’s supposed to make it fun, not exhausting :slight_smile:

And, it’s not stated in the rules, but dishes and laundry do not count towards the point totals. Those are mostly hands-off anyway.

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This sounds like a great way to motivate someone who responds well to gamified activity. Well thought out and great execution! Good luck this month!

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Thanks! I like that it takes the decision making out of my hands. And, if it’s in a room I don’t really want to tackle, it’s not a long time chunk.

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Genius. Starting is half the battle.

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Hey, whatever will help motivate you is a cool thing! Do you have rewards set up for yourself for reaching certain points or goals?

When I hit 100 points, I get something, but I’m not sure what. I do have a big Stampin’Up order I’m waiting to place, so maybe it will be that. :slight_smile:

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Well, we will be rooting for you!!! CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!

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Interesting concept :smiley:

The only potential issue I thought of is … what happens if one room, say the bathroom, doesn’t get rolled for a couple weeks and a swap location doesn’t either. Could get stinky :woozy_face:

This is the second time someone has suggested dice-based cleaning in the last week or so; perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something. :laughing:

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This is so clever and well-thought-out!

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Thanks! I’m just about to start on today’s task. I rolled:

LR-15 (Living Room-15 minutes)
O-30 (Office- 30 minutes)
SO- Skip One

So, I get to skip the office for now! But, since I’m only hitting one area, I’ll probably do at least one more set of rolls.

@Cindy - LOL! So true! I can definitely do tasks without rolling the cubes, so hopefully that won’t happen. I’m single, so a quick swipe & swish every few days keeps the bathroom from stinking :wink: When I roll the cubes, it can be for things like organizing the cabinets, dusting, deep clean the tub, etc.

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And, I forgot to share a key component- the cube timer! It has times of 15, 20, 30, and 60 minutes, so it even works for doubling the time (for 20, I just have to run it twice).

Now, of course, I could have used my phone, but I was worried that it would become a distraction. So, while I’m working, the phone is in another location.

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This is genius. What a great idea to turn boring housework into a game.

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I love the idea of turning housework into a game and giving yourself points. A couple of years ago I put a bunch of random chores in a bowl and would draw it to see what I had to do that day. It worked for a while, but I love the idea of giving yourself points! Ha!

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I tried that, too, but I kept throwing back the things I didn’t want to do, so it didn’t work too well for me!
:rofl:

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@AIMR and @gozer, I do have a set of task jars I created (a To Do jar and a Done jar) but I wasn’t great about using it. Keeping track of my points is definitely motivating! I got home late last night and knew I needed to earn points in order to earn my weekly 5 point bonus, so I worked for an hour before I went to bed.

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I need a system like this to help me shed a few pounds…points for exercising and not snacking? lol

You go! Sounds like it is working for you!!

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Congrats! Your project is one of this week’s featured projects! You are awesome!

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This is such a good idea. I get overwhelmed not knowing where to start.

Clever! Would be great to motivate kids (especially during summer vacation), too.