I just doubled my living space and effectively tripled my office space. I’m now in a place that’s just shy of 1000 square feet. It’s wall-to-wall hardwood floors in most rooms with a full bath, a big kitchen and a billion new places to collect cat hair and road dust.

Right now I’m running my poor little Roomba every day to keep up with the floors. I’m worried about him. 

So, I’m doing some cost/benefit analysis. If I clean this place myself, it’s at least 1-2 hours each weekend. And that’s not counting distraction time, which is always a factor.

For example, I’m cleaning the kitchen, and I find the hardware drawer. The hardware drawer holds the picture hangers, and I realize I haven’t hung all my pictures. I take the hangers out of the drawer and run off to find the hammer. The hammer is buried in the closet, and, in the closet, I realize I haven’t sorted through my old shoes. I grab a couple of pairs of shoes and head to the kitchen to get a bag so I can take them to Goodwill. Back in the kitchen, I see the open hardware drawer and realize I haven’t finished cleaning the kitchen. Then I get overwhelmed with the thought of spending my day cleaning kitchens, hanging pictures, sorting shoes. So I head to Goodwill to drop off the shoes and get hung up thrift storing all afternoon ….

You get the picture.

A housekeeping team who would come twice a month would cost me about 2.5 billable hours of work. That means one Saturday I can sit here and plow through one 3-hour project and pay for the housekeeping.

I’d say this is a no-brainer, right?

Umm…. Right?