Fatima Barkatulla – Managing Home Life With Other Projects

			He's gonna give advice for sisters who find it difficult to keep the house clean and tidy when
things pile up like clothes and dishes, and can't keep on top of everything and the house becomes
too messy and too much, it's a good thing, you can't see this room.
		

			If you could see
		

			the floor in this room
		

			Hamdulillah I think that you have to factor in time for cleaning, just as you would any other thing,
you know. And, you know, I have a confession to make, which is that I do actually have a cleaner.
Okay, personally, I do have a cleaner,
		

			who comes in like, certain intervals to help me keep on top of things? Right? That's something that
I feel it was really worth it for our family. And it worked for our family, there was a time when I
used to feel guilty about having a cleaner, right, because, you know, we've grown up, our mothers
never had cleaners for most of us, right? Our moms didn't have cleaners, the idea of having a
cleaner is like such a luxury, right? For most of us.
		

			But I think, as the number of my children grew, and as the responsibilities in the house increased,
and Hamdulillah, you know, we, we felt it was an investment worth making we we hired cleaners, you
know,
		

			on and off, and then now it's like regular.
		

			And I think it's just been a lifesaver, you know, because of course, it doesn't mean you don't
clean, like, I'm still doing the cleaning, right? Like, all of us, every member of the family has
daily cleaning jobs and daily chores that everyone has to do. Okay, because, you know, we don't have
a clean every day or anything like that, right? It's like everyday cleaning we have to do. But just
to have that one, clean it every, at every interval every two weeks, every one week, even, it really
helps because it means that the level of mess basically doesn't get over a certain amount, you know,
it's always under control. So, I hope you don't think that's the, that's the cop out answer. Okay.
		

			But I think what it does do is give you an insight into the fact that look, if you're a very busy
person, and if you're earning money as a as a woman, if you're earning money, or even if you're not
earning money, but you know, you're you're spending your time in worthwhile things. You can have a
discussion with your spouse, and you could consider getting help. Just as for example, in my work, I
might hire an assistant to do certain tasks for me right like online, to manage my mail or mail it
manage my bookings. For me, my cleaner is, is like an assistant. She's like, a key person who helps
me and my family keep on top of things. The way I guess I assess it is one hour of her time, is it
		

			worth it is one is saving one hour of my time or X hours of my time, however many hours she does the
cleaning. And is it worth it? You know, the return on investment? You got to think about that? Like
is the return on investment worth it? And that's really only an answer that you can give. Right?
Having experienced it. For me the answer is yes. It's 100% worth it, you know from from my family.
		

			But like I said, it doesn't mean that you're not still doing the cleaning every evening every day.
You know, there's things to do there's laundry, that cleaning, there's resetting spaces to you know,
tidy again, is even hoovering right regularly even with a cleaner. So, yeah, I would consider
getting help if you can, if it's really that, you know, overwhelming otherwise. I think having a
system or even a day, a day a week that you that you're focused on the house, you know, fully like
to the point where everything gets done properly. Also helps. I hope that my answer was not to tone
deaf Sharla