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20 Moving Tips from a Realtor and Cleaner

9/4/2020

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I have a realtor friend from one of my local networking groups who shared this presentation a few weeks ago and I LOVED it! I asked Mary Ann Alig of Berkshire Hathaway if I could share her presentation and her answer was simple. "Ken, you can share it ONLY after you finish it with the cleaner's perspective!" It's a deal Mary Ann! I have been in the cleaning industry for over 15 years and have worked with a ton with families, their realtors, and movers to help them transition to their new home. So here you go Mary Ann, I've added my two cents to your list to make it an even 20 tips! (Note: Mary Ann wrote #1 - #17)

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Are You Locking Your Windows?

8/21/2020

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I've been cleaning homes since 2006 and have noticed a dramatic increase in home security as technology improves. Alarms have gone from wired to wireless. Cameras surveil various angles and locations of the home. Garages have keypads. Families are more secure than ever and they can do so at an expense less than it used to cost. This happens so predictively that economists give it a name.

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State Of Cleaning In A Post-COVID World

7/10/2020

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I was asked by cleaning industry leaders to give a state of our industry talk on a virtual summit. I completed the talk today and thought some of the takeaways would be useful for my own community.

COVID-19 has raised the bar in our industry. Prior to COVID, the typical house or office cleaner had no governing body to report to other than the Departments of Labor and Taxation. There was also no formal licensing requirement in our state, nor was there an obligation for cleaning providers to be insured against liability. Cleaners had the right and freedom to self-select their own standards of excellence. Thus, the industry has been flooded with uninsured, unskilled, and unprotected cleaners.

During COVID, the Department of Health and Governor Wolf threw their hats in the game by qualifying our industry as "essential" under personal services to home and small business owners. By allowing our industry to operate when others could not, a microscope was placed on each of us. The post-COVID client is ultra concerned about germs and containing them. They want to minimize the spread of the virus and other pathogens. They want cleaning companies that are fully insured, fully protected, and implementing a COVID-19 disinfecting protocol.

Therefore, the leaders in my industry believe that cleaning company owners will start making the shift from teams to solo cleaners in your homes and offices. This is a WIN-WIN for the client and the company. The company achieves more efficiency and higher profits with solo cleaners for their clients. They are also providing safety measures to protect their cleaners and train them in the science of cleaning & disinfecting to better service their clients. The clients get the same single cleaner in their home EVERY time. They will never wonder who will clean, how many cleaners will be in their home or office, where they've been, and who they've been in contact since the last visit.

As you bring your cleaning services back to your homes and offices or as you screen companies to hire, please keep these trends in mind. The government is still NOT regulating us. However, there will be many companies reported and I personally believe that many of the cleaners I mentioned above with low standards of excellence and safety will be shaken out. This is a good thing as it gives you, the consumer, more trust when you search for a cleaning service to know that if they're still standing, they've probably fought to do so.

I operate my company, Carfagno Cleaning Incorporated, as a solo (or single cleaner). My COVID-19 Disinfecting Protocol is outlined on my website. As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions on the cleaning industry or have questions about your specific cleaning need. 
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Dirt + Disorder = Overwhelm + Anxiety

1/31/2020

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​Emily is a working mom that I'm sure many of you will relate to. I cleaned for her family for a year as they were transitioning to having twin girls and job changes for her husband. Emily battles stress and so much of it revolves around her sanctuary, the place where she lived, worked, and connected with each of her family members. In one conversation, I brought up a science correlation between clutter and stress in women. Emily related so much that it opened the door to some great conversations of how my cleaning service was de-stressing her life.

Emily would see the dirt and disorder around her house and it would create overwhelm and anxiety, causing her to get less done. "When my house was clean, that stress was gone and I could function better." The other intriguing point Emily made was this. "Knowing the cleaner was coming, forced me to organize my house and pick things up before you showed up." I was scheduled biweekly, which created a 14-day cycle of accountability to "clean before the cleaner" by picking up, straightening up, eliminating stuff, clearing counters and desks, etc. Emily shared something powerful. "A clean house improved my emotional state every time you left". I am not a psychologist. I'm a cleaner that has seen the story of Emily year-after-year in every household that hired me to clean. Let's dig into the science of clutter and dirt, so we can help the women in our lives to DE-STRESS!

Sherrie Bourg Carter wrote a powerful article in Psychology Today on March 14, 2012 entitled, "Why Mess Causes Stress: 8 Reasons, 8 Remedies The mental cost of clutter". I would like to extract the 8 points that Sherrie makes about clutter and add my own comments. 
  1. "Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren't necessary or important." This hits the nail on the head for Emily. She works in a corporate recruiting role from home while caring for 3 little girls. She is home all day and has the time to see, feel, and smell every single stimuli. The dirt and dust has a distinguishable smell and texture that makes her squeam and emotionally tighten. It's easy to see how impactful a recurring house cleaning service can be!
  2. "Clutter distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on." Emily said this exact comment above. Her mind and emotions would wander to the dirt and clutter, causing her to be less productive during work hours. This point alone proves how vital it is to hire a presentation cleaning service that knows how to help you create space in your home office and business office. Can you imagine how much more time we would all have with our families if we had less distractions during work hours?
  3. "Clutter constantly signals to our brains that our work is never done." This one is deep! It's more science to back up Emily's comments.
  4. "Clutter inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow most people to think, brainstorm, and problem solve." Emily's quote above echoes this exactly!
  5. "Clutter frustrates us by preventing us from locating what we need quickly (e.g. files and paperwork lost in the "pile" or keys swallowed up by the clutter)." These last two further prove the priority and importance of a clean work space. If you work from home like Emily, hire a presentation house cleaning service and get on a regular schedule. Or if you work at a business office, make sure you stress the importance to your office manager or boss the need for an excellent office cleaning service so you can perform at maximum productivity. Personally, I've been cleaning both houses and small offices for years and I see the same things in work spaces. For example, there are 2 offices I clean every Thursday night and the employees clean their desk clutter before every cleaning visit so I can clean their desks. There is no doubt these workers are more productive the next day.
  6. "Clutter makes us anxious because we're never sure what it's going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile." I've been married for 16 years and have 5 kids. I rarely see the laundry pile empty and have seen first-hand the stress it adds on my wife. And that's laundry, where we all have a plan to clean it on a regular basis. Clutter just keeps piling up. If hiring a cleaning service is all it takes to get you to attack the clutter, do it!
  7. "Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally." We talked about the working hours part of our day. What about the relaxing part after a long day? We have the kids to bed and just want to veg! I, like most husbands, am totally fine. But the women out there like Emily are seeing and smelling the dirt and clutter. Although they are trying to relax, they feel unable.
  8. "Clutter creates feelings of guilt ("I should be more organized") and embarrassment, especially when others unexpectedly drop by our homes or work spaces." This is the one Sherrie! Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two times of year where these feelings of guilt and embarrassment are at their peak. Emily pointed out that they have guests come over during the holidays and at other times throughout the year. Sometimes these visits are even "unexpected". Knowing they have a cleaning service takes one more thing off their list and reduces their overwhelm on the guests. Prior to having a quality presentation cleaning service, Emily and her husband would literally get out of bed and clean the house for these unwelcome, er... I mean, unexpected guests. When Emily told me this, she sighed and said. "Now, we just relax and then go to sleep in peace."
How do you FEEL when DIRT and CLUTTER rule your home? Do you feel like Emily? Stay tuned! My next newsletter will dive into "3 Tips to Finding Your Next House Cleaning Service".
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How to Make Your Goals SMART in 2020

12/30/2019

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Christmas is over and a new DECADE is upon us. This is the time of year that many start to turn the corner from the current year and set serious goals for the new one. Just look at the book stores and online sellers. They advertise heavily to the public on health, health, health. Why? Because it sells. We set health goals more than any other for January 1st. Let's dig deep into human psychology and discover WHY these goals fail. Then we'll unpack a framework that can help you make your goals work for you in 2020.

STEP #1 - Before we look at 2020, let's look back at 2019 and search for clues as to what worked and what did not. I have an entire podcast episode and show notes on how to do this using John Maxwell's "Think Week" annual process. Check out John's blog article and my podcast for the full details. Here is the summary. Between December 26th and 31st, pull out your 2019 calendar and journals. Look at the goals you set during the year and ask yourself this question. "Did I achieve this goal?" If you answer "yes", ask yourself, "why did I succeed". If you answer "no", ask yourself, "why did I fail". Here are some other questions that John Maxwell uses to assess his year.
  1. What did you enjoy?
  2. What were some of your proudest moments?
  3. What did you spend too much time on?
  4. What didn’t get enough of your time?
  5. In what areas were you especially effective?
  6. Where did you fail?
  7. What can you learn from your mistakes?
This exercise may seen tedious, but it will open your eyes to your INTENTIONS vs. your BEHAVIOR.

STEP #2 - We need to understand the NEED for a big vision and goals. First of all, do this exercise. Ask yourself what you want in 2020. Then ask yourself WHY. Once you answer, ask WHY again. Do this 5 times. This peels back the layers of the onion until you have reached the core of what you really want and why. I promise you. It will fuel you through 2020. Now that you have a vision, you need to understand why goals and accountability are so important. Do you know that out of every 100 people, 83 have no goals, 14 have verbal goals, and 3 have written goals. The ones with verbal goals are 10 times more successful than the ones without goals and the ones with written goals are 30 times more successful. There is even a higher echelon of individuals that write down their goals and are held accountable to achieving them. This is me. Is it you? I highly recommend that you get a big WHY for 2020. Then you set goals around that why, write them down, and ask someone you admire & respect to hold you accountable to achieving them.

STEP #3 - Let me briefly share the framework of a SMART goal. 

Specific – Make the goal answer WHO it includes, WHERE it will occur, WHAT you want to accomplish, and WHICH constraints could affect it.
Measurable – Make the goal simple to track and quantify. What gets measured, gets managed. Either use a numeric or Yes/No structure.
Attainable – Make your first goal realistic to start the Momentum Cycle. Subsequent goals should be more aggressive as confidence grows.
Relevant – Your goal must matter to your WHY. If the goal accomplishes "stuff" for you, but doesn't get you closer to your dream, it's not SMART.
Time-Bound – Give your goal a deadline or it will never get accomplished.  Deadlines create tension and tension creates action.

Make sure your goal is truly SMART. Then add accountability to achieve it and ensure it's tied to a big vision for your family this upcoming year. If you do, you'll be proud of your accomplishments 1 year from now.

The information in "Step 2" and "Step 3" is a summary of a 60-minute SMART Goals Masterclass that I taught for my SMART Cleaning Tribe. You can watch it for free on my website.
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Cleaning Tips to De-STRESS the Holidays

11/15/2019

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I asked this question on my Facebook page this week. "What's the #1 stress going into Thanksgiving?" Here were a few of the common answers.

“Entertaining the overbearing members of your family."
"Family... believe it or not. To many personalities, some don't get along, have different beliefs and such."
"Family!"
"People who are so stressed they take it out on you!"

​It's vital to understand that stress builds as a result of many things as my Facebook post proved. Many of these factors are beyond our control, but there is one major source of stress that we can control. I will elaborate in my next article, "Dirt and Disorder Creates Overwhelm & Anxiety" ,where I will share an important scientific finding along with Emily's story. You will relate to it big time. Here's a sneak peak. Clutter creates guilt and embarrassment, especially when guests are coming over. We know that these guests are coming very soon. Let me help you eliminate these potential feelings of guilt, embarrassment, and anxiety from my 15 years of presentation cleaning.

Know Where to Clean & Declutter.

I was trained by the realtors and stagers of Coldwell Banker Prime Properties for many years on how to do exactly this. I learned that buyers are emotional and make their decisions based on first impressions. Therefore, I was trained to add sparkle to the first impression areas as well as strategically cleaning the other parts of the home. This would "present" the home best for the prospective buyer. Let's apply this mindset to your holiday guests. Declutter and clean these areas really, really, really good! If you can't eliminate the clutter, move it to an inconspicuous storage area. Don't wait! Declutter this weekend! This leaves you 10-12 days before the guests arrive. Clean these 6 areas as best you can leaving the toilets, sinks, counters, dining room table, and floors for the final 2-3 days. This short burst of effort will move you from embarrassing to impressing!
  • Front Door & Decorate Accordingly - Clean the side glass panels and door glass. Sweep the porch. Rake the leaves in the front walkway area. Put something festive on the porch. This is literally the first impression of your home.
  • Main Entryway to your Home - This is the second impression, so make sure it looks clean and decluttered. Put a shoe rack or pad by the door to encourage your guests to remove their shoes. I'm telling you! This one tip will save your floors and your sanity this time of year!
  • Family Room, Powder room, Hallways & Stairs - Guests will want a clean powder room, halls, stairs, and entertainment room as they will spend most of their time there.
  • Dining Room - Naturally, you will be spending a lot of time in here with your guests for meals & conversation. When the convos get tense, make sure the room is decluttered and clean so you aren't distracted and can focus on your next strike back. Okay, that was for the Griswold-type families. I'm sure you're one of the normal families who genuinely enjoy each other's company.
  • Guest Bedroom & Bathroom - If you have guests staying with you, present their sleeping quarters well.
  • Kitchen - This is last as you're cooking and making a mess in the kitchen. Not many will judge you on this! Touch up the kitchen as you can.

Rally the Troops.

Every family dynamic is different. You may be a early 30's couple with 1 baby and all of the work falls on you. You may be in your 40's with 3-5 school age kids. Or you may be in your 50's or 60's with the kids and grandkids coming back to the house. Where ever you are, assign roles to keep the house clutter free and clean throughout the holidays. Husbands, I am speaking directly to you. There is NO pass. Don't say, "I work hard and I'm on vacation."  You may not understand it completely, but serving your role in the family to keep the house clean and clutter free will help your wife so much to keep her sanity. Kids, now I'm speaking to you. Do you want to eat and get gifts this holiday season? You are a part of the family and need to support your role with a good attitude.

Hire a Cleaning Service!

This is for the families that want to outsource most of the first two tips! Not everyone can afford to hire a service and I DO NOT recommend hiring an amateur. In another upcoming article, I will highlight the process to finding a great cleaning service in your area. If you can afford it, get a referral from someone you trust, make sure they are insured, and give them a shot. A qualified business will be a great ally as your guests arrival date approaches. They will know exactly which areas to presentation clean and how to advise you on where to declutter as I've taught you in the first tip. They will work alongside you over these next few weeks and throughout Christmas to restore your home and remove your anxiety.
Yes, some of us have a Cousin Eddie coming over. He will probably park his trailer in the driveway and empty his refuse in the sewer. So remember. This is a wonderful time of year to reflect upon all the blessings we have received and to open up our homes to those we love... even to Eddie.
Thank you for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!​
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    Ken Carfagno is a presentation cleaning specialist serving the Indian Valley, PA.

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