What to consider when cleaning

This week my task has been to vacuum my bedroom, stairs and bathroom area. First off I had to plan the task into my day as I am studying and I wanted to use the task as a study break so I can get away from my desk space for a while. I finished the study I was doing and then went and got the vacuuming out. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to replace the bag, and to be honest I didn’t even checked I just hoped it would be okay. I took it up the stairs, plugged it in and started vacuuming my room. Within seconds I realised I hadn’t tidied my room first and so I shut the vacuum off and put my things back where they belong so I could vacuum as much floor space as possible. Once everything was tidied I started the vacuum again and finished vacuuming the floor. I then moved on to vacuuming the stairs which is something I do so that less stuff off the ground would then be dragged into my room on people’s feet. The bathroom was the last area I vacuumed as it is a bit fiddly, moving around bins and toilet paper and the wooden shelves. I moved these as I cleaned so I could put everything back into place quickly. My flatmate then asked me to leave the vacuum upstairs so she could vacuum her room when she finished cleaning so my job was now done. 

The first practical consideration I had to make was obvious, when I was going to complete the task. It was good that the cleaning could give me a break from sitting and starring at papers and it was a simple task that I could achieve easily. The second consideration that I thought of was whether it was appropriate to vacuum while my flatmates were studying. For this consideration I figured that the pros out-weigh the cons as the flatmates get to benefit from a clean bathroom and stairs for having to listening to the noise of the vacuum. Also my flatmates were wearing headphones and listening to music so I don’t think that they really noticed the noise.  Another practical consideration is about whether the bag in the vacuum was full which is something I chose to purposefully ignore so I wouldn’t have to deal with the possible outcome if it was full. The final consideration that came to mind was cleaning before I vacuum. This was a consideration that I didn’t think of at first but became extremely obvious once I began cleaning. 

In terms of ambience, I noticed a definite change in the space I was in before and after vacuuming. The task allowed me to take a few minutes to tidy my room and put things in the right place so I had fewer distractions when I studied. I enjoy when the floor is tidy so having a clean bathroom means I was able to have a more enjoyable shower that night knowing that I was in a clean environment. One of my flatmates thanked me for cleaning the bathroom and said it looked really nice so that made the character of the social environment improve as well.

A continuation of the need cleaning meets

This week I decided it would be a good idea to start packing up my room and taking home the things I don't need for the rest of the year to try and make shifting at the end of the year less stressful. I had a whole box of winter clothing I could take home and lots of other things that weren't necessary for the rest of the year. I grabbed out my bags from under my bed and began throwing clothes into them until each of them was reasonably full. One of my flatmates came into chat and see what I was up to and ended up helping me close up the bags while we had a good chat about what she was going to do with her things at the end of the year. She then helped me carry all of the bags and extra things down two flights of stairs to my car and all the bags filled up the boot completely. We went back to my room and I felt extremely satisfied as I now had a lot more space to move around in my room and less things to distract me. 

Cleaning this week met many needs. First and foremost it met the need of socialising with my flatmate, and my flatmate got the opportunity to talk through her worries with me about leaving at the end of the year. We both got the opportunity to talk informally about what would happen next year and get some things off our chest, as well as have a good laugh. Audia (2005) states we all know the value of eating right, getting enough exercise and taking time to relax or mediate, however equally important is, socialising.

The second need it met was my need wanting something in particular – I wanted some things removed from my room and it was something that only I could do right. Williams (2002) states that for self fulfilment in life, being your own boss is hard to beat and this is exactly what I was able to do within this activity, set my own goals and complete the tasks as my own boss.

The last need it met was my need for avoiding stress later in the year so it would be easier to pack up at the end of the year and head home. Messmer (2002) states that you may cause yourself unnecessary stress by leaving little time for more urgent tasks. This is the stress I was attempting to avoid because it would be important at the end of the year along with other tasks and so it would be one less thing to think about.

References:

ӂ   Audia, M. (2005). Healthy aging: The importance of socializing. Nelson Daily News, pp. 2-2.

ӂ   Messmer, M. (2002). Avoiding stress and burnout. Strategic Finance, 83(7), 15-15-16.

ӂ   Williams, L. (2002). [ For self-fulfilment in life, being your own boss is hard to beat... ]. The Business, pp. 1-1.

What kind of need does cleaning meet?

Last night I thought it would be a good idea to get my washing done the next day as it was going to be one of the last days that it was guaranteed to be a nice day before the wet weather sets in again and the last thing I wanted was my wet washing sitting around all weekend. 
 

So I got home from the gym and grabbed the parts of my washing I don’t like to put through the machine because I’m scared that our washing machine will chew them to pieces and ruin my clothes. I washed these ones in the shower with me (a little trick I learned in Chile) and then rung them out and dabbed them dry with my towel. 

I put all my other clothes into my washing bag and lugged it down the stairs to the laundry. When I got there I found that my flatmate had beaten me to it but her load didn’t have long to go so I just left my stuff in the laundry and went upstairs.

Next time I went down to the laundry the washing machine was still going, turned out she had put a second load on and bet me to it again! But since it was a towel load I added my towels in with it so at least something was washing. It was only an hour till class and I was starting to panic that I wasn’t going to get my washing out on the line before I had to go to class. 

I found myself counting the minutes and starring at the washing machine hoping that it would finish any minute now. It was already 11:30am and we don’t get a lot of afternoon sun at our house so I had to hope the wind was going to dry it now. I was starting to feel a bit helpless about the situation wondering whether I should wait till the next day to do the washing but I had already started the process so I soldiered on.

I fast tracked my flatmate’s rinse load and put it on to spin – lucky I did because or else I wouldn’t get mine in at all before I left for class. Finally the load had finished and I basically chucked her washing into the basket and threw mine in, got the powder in and turned it on, I was actually now making progress. 

I felt bad for fast tracking my flatmate’s cycle so I hung her washing outside quickly and I hoped that she might hang out mine in return while I was at class. I lined her washing up nicely; leaving space between so that it would dry faster so then some of it could come down when I was going to be putting my washing up.

I felt like I didn’t have much control over this task and it left me feeling frustrated. 

Woodside & McClam (2011) discuss that a way of meeting human need is to identify basic human needs and then ask if they are being met. So when we look in depth at this activity there are some clear needs that this activity meets.

The first need washing meets is health. Health has been defined by the World Health Organisation (2006) as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This activity’s need is to meet health firstly on a physical basis, the upkeep of my personal health and ensuring that my clothing is clean which in turn creates a clean environment. The mental well being is being met as it allows me to complete an activity which allows me time to myself to think about what I will do for the day and to relax a little, even if I did find this activity stressful!

The second need that washing clothes meets is my need for systems and order. I wanted some clothes to be washed in particular ways and chose to wash them in the shower as I didn’t trust the washing machine to complete the task in the same way I could. Also I wanted to get my washing done on this particular day as this was a day I could get it washed and dried all in one day which is a preferred system of mine as I don’t like my wet clothes sitting on a clothes horse all weekend attempting to dry in a cold house. This task is something I do once a week as Green (1968) appropriately states that it is not only necessary; it is also endless. Once done, it must be done again. So if my washing takes several days to complete the task seems endless from week to week.

REFERENCES:

§  Bonita, R., Beaglehole, R., & Kjellstrom, T. (2006). Basic epidemiology. (2^nd Ed). WHO Press: Switzerland.

§  Green, T. F. (1968). Work, leisure and the American schools. New York: Random House.

§  Woodside, M., & McClam, T. (2011). An introduction to human services. Brooks/Cole: California.

Affordances in cleaning the bathroom out

Hagedorn (2000) states that affordance is anything which the environment can offer the individual which is pertinent to the role challenge and can facilitate role competence. I have split affordances into 3 categories to look in depth at the affordances in cleaning.

Firstly the connection and action properties:

Last time I cleaned was cleaning our flat bathroom. I hadn’t cleaned the bathroom personally since before I had gone on placement so I figured it must be my ‘turn’ as we try to keep it about even. The shower was orange and yellow around the bottom and the edges of the shower cubicle and there were odd long hairs everywhere from living with so many girls. My only hope was that it wasn’t going to be filled with hair and scum again the next day that hopefully the cleaning would be respected. I grabbed all the cleaning products, the rags my mum gave us and the buckets to clean the shower so it doesn’t feel horrible when I stand in it. I started cleaning the shower walls up high, working down to the scum and then the basin, the floor and then the toilet last. Each time something got clean it felt like a great sense of achievement for me, that I had done something thorough and well.

I had almost finished cleaning and I rinsed out the shower and then I realise the water wasn’t going down the drain. I asked my flatmate about it and we decided to pour some Draino down it to see if this would fix the problem. We poured the stuff down without really reading the instructions – later realising we should have been wearing masks and gloves while using it. The Draino didn’t work so we had to then call the landlord to get a plumber in. I was disappointed my cleaning job never truly finished and I knew I would have to come back the next day after the plumber and re-clean some areas.

Secondly communication:

The task started off as a solitary experience which was brought on by care of the environment I lived in and the care for the others I live with for us all to share a pleasant environment. This environment gave me a sense of place I belong to as well as a sense of place socially within the flat. I believe that I chose to clean the bathroom as it was part of my own expectations and a learnt behaviour from my parents and my upbringing. Louw (1998) states that observational learning or modelling refers to the viewpoint that people can learn behaviours by observing the behaviours of others. It was my parent’s behaviours that in turn lead to my behaviour. As the task developed I began to branch out socially and look to others for advice and negotiation of what the next step could be. I involved others who could be affected by any decision made.

Third and final section is the moral properties:

GOOD:

The good moral properties for me were that I was completing the task properly, the degree of precision, the gift it was to my flatmates and making do with the available materials.

BAD:

The bad moral property would be the waste of product – had I put the product to its full use?

 Maybe I need to consider something like the following clip to make the affordances have more good moral properties.

REFERENCES:

·         Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes. London: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

·         Louw, D. A. (1998). Human development. (2^nd Ed). South Africa: ABC Press

Ergonomics of cleaning the stairs!

Today I was vacuuming the house as it had been two weeks since any of the flatmates had luxed the main living area and my room needed a lux too. I like to be able to walk around my room in bare feet without feeling anything foreign under my feet!

It’s an unspoken rule in our flat that if you think it needs tidying then it is up to the individual to clean it, especially after the roster failed. I personally feel like it is something nice I can do for the other flatmates to enjoy as well as myself even if it sometimes goes unnoticed, it is the one person that might notice it that makes it worth it. In terms of ergonomics this reflects how we share a job and treat it as everyone must do something to keep equality but leave open for error.

Dul and Weerdmeester (2008) write that ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (law).  Ergonomics aims to design appliances, technical systems and tasks in such as way as to improve human safely, health, comfort and performance. The first thing I notice about the vacuum is how much I have to bend to even plug in, turn on and then use this machine. I don’t want to end up like a funny old lady with a bent up back and neck so I thought of the machine and myself in terms of ergonomics and tried to improve my health. I put my back straighter and made the vacuum end longer, however it was not long till I was manoeuvring around a small space again and was back in the bent over position. The work that I had to do to complete this task didn’t fall into the category of “good” ergonomics so far.

The next part of the house to tackle was the stairs, by far a difficult task and at an ergonomic level the interaction between the person and the task it is important to emphasise the efficiency. The task is fiddly and time consuming and a small adaption on the machine means this task can be completed more efficiently as it will clean faster. I change the nozzle on the end of the lux so that the whole task becomes easier for me. Venda & Venda (1995) state that the goal is to reach higher efficiency or lower complexity of the interaction thus of the work.

Ergonomics really changed the way I thought about luxing the stairs.

Food for thought:

Mere activity characterised by necessity and futility. A man is not free whose life is totally absorbed in labour. His energies are spent in response to necessity, under the aegis of forces outside himself, forces he cannot control. He is not master of himself as he is himself mastered. (T. F.Green,1968)

REFERENCES:

·         Dul, J., & Weerdmeester, B. A. (2008). Ergonomics for beginners: a quick reference guide. (3^rd Ed). USA: CRC Press.

·         Green, T. F. (1968). Work, leisure and the American schools. New York: Random House.

·         Venda , V. F., & Venda, Y. V. (1995). Dynamics in ergonomics, psychology and decisions: an introduction to ergo dynamics. USA: Ablex Publishing.