With the day-to-day busyness of life, it can be easy to let your home go. It doesn't take much for chores to start accumulating and before you know it, you're overwhelmed. Half the time, most of us only have enough time to do the bare minimum so when things start piling up, we have to pick and choose what parts of our home we clean while just putting up with the rest. Between running our own business and having a baby, we know first-hand what that's like. We've started implementing a few of these tips into our own schedule and have really noticed a difference. By creating these good habits, our home is cleaner, we're happier, and it doesn't feel like we have to muster up a ton of energy to get just a few things done now that we're used to it being a part of our regular schedule.
Keep your sink clean. Make a habit of putting your dirty dishes in the dishwasher or quickly washing them after each use. At the end of the day, take care of any dishes you couldn't get to due to time or the dishwasher running. Make it a part of your nighttime routine. For instance, we always load the dishwasher and run it immediately after dinner instead of just piling our dishes in the sink. Once I put the baby to bed the dishwasher has usually just finished running and I unload it so that it's empty for the next day. If there are any dishes that aren't dishwasher safe, this is when I hand wash and dry them. Afterwards, I rinse out and scrub the sink real quick. It only takes a few minutes and makes me feel so much better!
Make clearing hot spots a priority. Every home has those areas where things accumulate. A chair in your room to pile clothes on, the table by the door where you drop everything when you come home, etc. By making a habit of keeping these areas picked up, you're not only keeping the task from getting overwhelming but you're also making the room just look cleaner by tackling one thing. It's proven that clutter creates a stressful environment so by clearing off these hot spots, you're doing yourself a favor in more ways than one.
Add quick bathroom wipe downs to your morning routine. Daily maintenance of your bathroom makes a HUGE difference. Keep a few essential cleaning items tucked in your bathroom such as a glass cleaner, a few cloths, a toilet brush, your favorite all-purpose cleaner, etc. Wipe down your countertops, sink, faucets, and outside of your toilet. This is just a quick wipe through, no scrubbing required (unless you feel like it, of course!) Scrub the bowl of your toilet and wipe down your mirrors. Boom! You're done! It only takes a couple of minutes but will keep your bathroom looking and smelling clean all the time! You'll still need to do a deeper clean regularly but this will also make those cleanings so much easier and quicker too! Give it a try and see what I mean.
Set a timer for 15 minutes. At least once a day, set a timer for 15 minutes and just clean. Whatever needs doing that is most important to you, a task you've been putting off, something that will make a huge difference in the home, the basics, etc. It's all about what works best for you. Often times I will either pick up throughout the house, run the vacuum, or wipe down surfaces in my kitchen since those tend to get dirtiest the quickest (aside from the bathroom but I've already wiped that down during my morning routine. See where I'm getting at here?) 15 minutes goes by so quickly but can also make all the difference! If you can tell yourself, "just 15 minutes" you might be more willing to get it done than you would be if you looked at it from your usual perspective.
Make the floors a priority. I'll be honest, I would love to be able to clean my floors daily but sometimes that is just not feasible. I do, however, make a habit of at least cleaning them every few days, even if I haven't had a chance to do a thorough clean of other areas of my home. Why? Floors take up A LOT of surface area in your home. Think about it. It's a lot of space, it's used daily, and it's a difference you can actually see AND feel. You're also reducing dust in your home as well as dirt that gets kicked up onto other surfaces that you just have to clean later. The trick is to clean the floor in every room. Sure, if you only have time to do the high traffic areas it's better than nothing. However, dirt tracks back and forth very easily when only cleaning a room or two and can easily undo all of the work you've done on the floors you have cleaned.
BONUS: If you're having trouble completing a task, set a timer. See how long it takes you to do the thing you dread. Whether it be the dishes, the laundry, or any other essential job that's a hassle. Later on when it comes time to do that task again you can tell yourself, "That only took me 8 minutes last time." The trick is changing your mindset. Often times we look at a task as something we dread and don't see it for how quick and simple it really is. We can put off something we don't want to do and make ourselves miserable for hours or even days over it when in reality, it may only take 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes. Give it a try and see if it works for you!
Do you have any tips for creating good habits when it comes to cleaning your home? Let us know!