If you haven’t heard this enough, we can’t stress how much a messy or dirty home affects your mood, motivation and stress levels every day. Waking up to dirty dishes, or going to sleep in a messy bed will ultimately affect the way you look at life. When you’re got the little things at home sorted, you’ll start to feel like every other aspect of your life will get organised too. Remember, a clean home is a lifestyle choice. If you live in a small space, like most of us do, not cleaning up as you go along means your space gets cluttered very quickly.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”2″ display=”basic_slideshow”]Where to start
It’s as simple as making sure that everything in your home has its own home and purpose. Use what you really need and if you do have excess stuff, try to tuck it away in an organised way. Most of all, be sure to put things back in their place after using them.
Refresh every day
Open the windows to get fresh air circulating in your rooms every morning. You can do this while you’re taking a shower or making breakfast before you head off to work. You can also use a room freshener, incense or burn sage to cleanse the house.
Take it easy, one bit at a time
In reality, unless you have a helper who follows you and cleans up after you, everyone dreads cleaning up. Face it, it’s part of life, and there are ways not to let it consume any free time you have left. Break cleaning up into little chunks throughout the week, and put this into a roster with the family or on a to-do list app, so it can send you a reminder. Maybe vacuum one day, clean the bathroom toilet the next, do the laundry the day after. If you leave cleaning up to the weekend or on one specific day per week, it can make the tasks seem more daunting, but breaking it up throughout the week makes it more manageable, especially if you have family who can help.
Clean a little bit everyday. One good place to start this is — the bathroom. Clean the toilet bowl at least once a week and keep laundry tucked away in a laundry bag or basket so the bathroom stays neat. Another bathroom trick is to keep it as dry as possible, from the floor right down to your toothbrush and toothpaste. Wipe down the wash basin, and even your toothbrush after use, and believe us, you’ll see how much less cleaning you’ll have to do at the end.
Put it away, right away
If it takes just a few minutes, do it right away. It’s easy to throw a coat down on a sofa and think you’ll hang it up after you put the groceries away, but eventually it’ll stay on the sofa until the next time you wear it to leave the house. It takes just seconds to slip a coat onto a hanger and put it away. It’s about building the habit to keep things tidy. Don’t get into the habit of leaving “stuff” sitting around, no matter how tired or busy you are. You’ll save time by putting things into their place. Even if you do have a cleaning lady who comes over weekly to clean your place, it still doesn’t mean you should leave things lying around.
Even if no one of going to see it, just knowing you did it will help you start the day feeling organised. Make your bed right after you wake up, just like doing the dirty dishes after dinner and not leaving it to “soak” overnight. Coming into a clean kitchen to start your breakfast in the morning will make you feel motivated for the brand new day, instead of walking into a cluttered kitchen with dishes piled up in the sink. Put things away once you’re done with them on the countertop, so that you won’t come home to clutter again in this repeat cycle.
Cut the cord, seriously
Invest in a cordless vacuum. One of the factors that made cleaning up a dread in the house was dirt and dust on the floor, and not to mention, tonnes and tonnes of hair! We can’t remember the last time we used a broom, but pulling out the vacuum and dragging the cord at different parts of the house was not difficult but just made cleaning up feel even worse. So we went cordless and it has completely changed our lives. The price of a good cordless vacuum can be costly, but I guarantee it’s worth every penny over time. If you take only 15 mins to vacuum every day or every other day, the floor stays clean longer. Another tip is to keep your decor simple and have furniture that has enough room to slip the vacuum underneath. If you don’t have a lot of things, you don’t have to spend time cleaning them. Less is more.
Make it a habit
Maintain a regular cleaning schedule for yourself or with your family, or even at work. If you keep at it, soon it becomes a habit for everyone. Another good habit to have is to take out the things you need the night before, so you won’t be in a rush the next morning. Somedays even taking out your clothes and deciding what to wear in the morning will make it a breeze the next day.
