Routines
Here’s a riddle: What’s something that you want to get done, but is easy to put off? What’s something that you might do all the time, but never feel like you finish?
If you guessed cleaning, you’d be right my friend. Figuring out how to keep your home clean and organized is that thing we all seem to try to strive for. I don’t have a perfect house all of the time- after all we LIVE here. (And since we homeschool, these kiddos and their crazy little messy selves are always here.) BUT even though my house might not be picture perfect 100% of the time, on a given day, it’s fairly clean and tidy. (And would only take about 15 minutes to get things whipped (and wiped 😉 into shape.)
I’m going to tell you my 9 best tips for tacking those household tasks that never seem to end. I’m hoping that by sharing these helpful housekeeping habits you will hear something that helps you too! (Man, there are a lot of “h” words in that last sentence- it’s practically a tongue twister!)
Must-Do Cleaning List
The first thing you need to do is to think of your “must-dos.” These are the things that you absolutely HAVE to do each week. For example, you might not notice if the inside of the fridge doesn’t get wiped down, but you WILL notice if the counter is cluttered and there are piles of laundry all over the kitchen table.
Here’s a example list to get you thinking
- Laundry
- Laundry folded and put away
- vacuum
- shower clean
- toilet cleaned
- bathroom counters and sinks cleaned
- bed made
- dishes done daily
- counters & tables wiped down daily
- mail sorted
- recycling taken out
- surfaces dusted
This of course isn’t an exhaustive list (although reading it might make you feel a bit exhausted), it’s just a quick list of examples of things that might be on your list of “must-dos.”
What Actually Has to Get Done?
Once you know what things you consider “must-dos” it will help you prioritize cleaning tasks. You might notice that the things I listed above are all tasks that take about 10-15 minutes. (Things like “cleaning blinds” and “wiping base boards” won’t make it on your list of “must-dos” – those are chores that need to be done less frequently.)
Now, let’s clear something up…it’s true, I’m home all day these days. I have more home hours to get things done than a lot of mamas. However, back when I was working 10+ hours away from home, I learned that having a 10-15 minute task I completed each evening before I collapsed on the sofa was something I could DO. (Because in the end, it lessened my stress level having a home that was organized and that I could RELAX and enjoy being in. And for me, that meant doing a 10-15 minute job each night.)
Have a PLAN
So, you have that list of “must-dos” -It would sure help if you had a place to PUT the job(s) you want to complete each day, right?
Well, my friend, I will share with you what I use. I have cute printable pages that I have available for FREE. At the top of each day is a spot for your top 3 priorities, perfect for adding that must-do cleaning item of the day.
Set a Timer
If you need something to get you motivated and moving, try setting a timer. I find using a kitchen timer (either on your oven or microwave) works great. If you use the timer on your phone, you might get distracted by an alert/email/text/etc and loose momentum. Use another timer that isn’t attached to all the fun and distracting things and you are bound to be successful! All you have to do is set the timer for 10 or 15 minutes and then work as fast as you can on ONLY your “Must-dos”! This is a great way to put your head down and knock out some cleaning priorities.
{This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Using these links might result in me receiving a small commission, but at absolutely NO cost to you! You can read more about my commitment to transparency, by visiting my Disclosure Statement.}
Use Time-Lapse Setting- My Mommy Trick
If you want to get your kids involved, try using the “time-lapse” setting on the camera of your phone. This will condense video footage into a short, sped up version. Kids LOVE THIS! Place your phone in a room that needs cleaning, choose the “time-lapse” setting, and hit the red “record” button. After finishing your little clean-up session, play back what you just cleaned. Kids love seeing everything (and everybody) sped up. It makes for some good laughs and is motivating for them to get spaces tidy! (I was shocked when I tried this and my daughter asked for MORE places to clean just so she could see what the movies looked like at the end.)
Make Your Bed
This sounds kinda silly, but the fastest and EASIEST way to make your bedroom feel and look tidier is to make your bed. Yep, the #1 bedroom tip that literally just takes a couple of minutes. Your bed takes up a large percentage of your room. Just by tackling that ONE area, a good 40% of the room is neat and tidy! BOOM! Easy win my friend!
Shower
I’m going to share a tip with you for something I was CONVINCED wouldn’t work. I had seen images on Pinterest with dish soap brushes filled with Dawn and vinegar. I thought that there was NO WAY that something as easy as that would be able to keep my shower clean. I am happy to report that I.was.wrong.
My Shower Stayed Clean!
The little dish brush I got came from Target. (It’s the handy kind where you can fill the handle with dish soap.) I was so convinced that this wouldn’t work, that I got the cheapest refillable scrub brush and a travel size bottle of the Dawn (Blue) dish soap.
What I Used
I had seen the picture of the items needed on Pinterest, so I just kind of made up my own “recipe”…I filled the handle 1/3 full of Dawn and then filled up the rest of the 2/3 with vinegar. TO combat the smell of the vinegar, I added about 10 drops of tea tree essential oil. (It’s known for killing bacteria, so can’t hurt, right? Plus, it smells better than the vinegar and I had it on hand from a set and had no use for it….how’s that for being transparent 😉
This works swell! I use my little scrub brush after my shower; literally just do a quick little wipe down that takes 1-2 minutes. This new little habit has been magic- I always step into a clean shower. How awesome is that?
1-Touch Rule
Have you ever heard of the “1-Touch Rule” before? Basically it makes you “touch” an item just once. For example: you come home from work and take your jacket off. If you hang it on the back of the kitchen chair, you will have to touch it a second time to hang it up in the closet. However, if you came in and immediately hung it up in the closet, you would only have to touch it once.
Make Less Work For Ourselves
If we think of things in relation to how many times we touch them, we can see how it’s quite easy to make more work for ourselves. And while these little tasks don’t take very long (after-all, how long does it take to touch something?), if you added up all of those over the course of a week (or a month!), think of the time you could save yourself!
Have the Right Tools
It’s a lot easier to keep a clean house when you have the right “tools” in your arsenal. Sometimes these tools are items you would typically think of- vacuums, carpet cleaners, and mops- but sometimes you need something that will give you the right knowledge to get started on making your home feel more organized. My friend, Abby, has a course that is that tool that you might be looking for!
And before you start to think that she is one of those people who is lucky enough to possess the elusive “organizing gene,” Abby is the first to admit that she’s actually very scatterbrained by nature.
But Abby realized that– as with many things in life– organizing is something that you can learn and get better at with practice.
So she took all of the habits and strategies she used to go from scatterbrained to organized, and put them into her Impactful Habits, Organized Home course so that others could benefit as well– even if they feel like they don’t have the “organizing gene”!
If you’ve struggled with getting and staying organized in the past, check out Impactful Habits, Organized Home. You’ll gain the knowledge, motivation, and accountability you need to not only organize those cluttered spaces you’ve wanted to tackle for a while now, but to keep them that way for the long haul.
#1 Tip: Declutter
Your home can have the most precious things in it. It can have the nicest furniture money can buy. It can have items that remind you of a special family member or a life-changing trip. If all of these things can’t be seen or enjoyed because of clutter, it’s time to take back your house!
No White-Gloves Needed
Decluttering is the #1 thing you can do to make your home feel cleaner (even when it’s not really “white-glove-test-clean”. Nobody is going to notice those baseboards anyway when there is too much stuff around. The STUFF will be the elephant in the room, not the dust.
Conquering some of the excess in your home doesn’t mean you have to adopt a minimalistic approach. (I have about 10-15 throw pillows that are around my home at any given season. This doesn’t include the ones my daughter keeps on her bed. She has taken my love of pillows to a new level. I think this girl is what they call a “maximalist”-ha!)
Not sure if Abby’s course is a right fit for you? She has a FREE guide that can get you started called 7 Simples Starting Points: A Guide to Starting an Overwhelming Organization Project.
ENJOY
The best thing to do when you have your home looking and feeling like you want it? Enjoy it! 🙂
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