You get back from work, and the house is so messy you don’t have a clean spot to lay your tired self.
Does this sound familiar? Have the house chores become a black hole that sucks all your energy and your precious free time? Take heart, you are not alone!
We know how to deal with a messy home without losing your mind and your time. Put on your gloves, get out your garbage bags and read on to find out how!
Divide your to-do list into timely segments.
Put on the list things that you need to be doing every day (wash dishes, make the bed, tidy up the living room), others that only need to be done every few days (laundry or changing the sheets), every month, and so on.
This way, you won’t find yourself at the end of a busy day, staring helplessly at an Everest-high pile of dishes—or lose things amidst all the mess in the living room.
By breaking chores up into small, daily tasks, you will feel you are in control and won’t paralyze the next time you see a mess.
Do you tend to lose your keys and then hunt them around the house like Easter eggs? Do you always remember taking a clean towel when you are already in the shower?
Try fixing a key hook next to your door and develop the habit of hanging the keys the moment you walk in the door.
And stop keeping your towels in the bedroom—keep them in the bathroom where you can reach them.
Workaround your habits, finding ways to make your life easier—and your house organized!
The experts at southerncrosscleaning.com say that by anticipating your future self’s messiness, you get half the work done—with half the energy!
Decluttering can be life-saving, especially when time is of the essence! Think Marie Kondo and get rid of anything that you haven’t used in a long time.
Those boxes you have, filled with high school memories? Keep a few (you can put them on a corkboard for added value) and, please, get rid of the rest!
The dress you have had for twenty years and wore just once? Accept you are a different person now and move on.
Give everything you won’t be using to charity so that you won’t feel bad about throwing things away.
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In the beginning, you will have to actively remind yourself to put things back after you use them, or clean the kitchen table right after a meal—or even better, clean the kitchen while you cook, like a true Master Chef!
But after a while, it will become second nature, and you will see the effects creeping up in other areas of your life too.
I mean, if you managed to remember the garbage every morning, who knows what you can do in your work life, right?
There’s nothing like waking up to a tidy bedroom, living room, or kitchen. It will set the tone for the whole day and make you even more motivated to clean again in the evening.
The secret is to keep this in mind all day, doing small things around the house so that you won’t have to sweat for hours every night.
Also, just tackle the messiest parts of the house that will bring the best result in the least amount of time—think dishes and not cupboards!
Visualization is a powerful tool and can be put to use even when it comes to cleaning your house.
While waiting in line at the bank, commuting, or at a meeting that doesn’t take up all of your attention (multitasking, anyone?), imagine what needs to be done at home, and how you would approach it.
Will you get into the kitchen first, start preparing food and, while it cooks, hang the laundry? Or do you first tidy the living room and order take-out?
This way, you will be fully prepared the moment you open the door and will be done with the chores in no time!
I don’t mean give yourself a cookie every time you wash the dishes (although that might actually not be such a bad idea!).
Think larger and put your family to the job—assign different members of the household different tasks and keep a reward sheet somewhere where everyone can see it.
Have your spouse cook dinner and then have them enjoy half an hour of peace while you wash the dishes.
Or get your kids to walk the dog in exchange for ice cream on the weekend.
Hopefully, soon they will get into the habit of doing what needs to be done and forget about the reward—how much ice cream can a person eat, anyway (a lot, if you ask the kids!).
Keep large cleaning/organizing tasks for when you have time. Don’t set yourself up for failure by thinking you can vacuum clean the whole house before you leave for work in the morning.
It might be a great idea to have the house clean when you get back, but what are the chances of you actually achieving your goal?
Instead, vouch to make all the beds and change the cat’s litter box. And leave the vacuum for the weekend!
Keep heart! Even if a clean, organized house sounds like a pipe dream in your current situation, know that with a little bit of forethought and a lot of perseverance, you can have a nice, picture-perfect home that will inspire you and your loved ones.
Think of your house as your temple of peace and treat it accordingly. In no time, you will have the perfect space for binge-watching all those series you felt guilty to watch before—and this time you will have earned it!
