Keeping a clean house can be a huge challenge for many families. With the business of daily life, it is really easy to let housework take the back burner. Today I’d like to share a few tips with you that will help you keep your house a tidy and stress-free environment.
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Establish a Cleaning Routine
Maintaining a clean house becomes much easier when you have a structured cleaning routine. A routine provides consistency and reduces the overwhelm of having too much to do.
To create a cleaning routine you will need to start with a master list. Write down all of the cleaning tasks needed for your home (vacuuming, dusting, laundry, bathrooms, etc.) Put them in groups of frequency: daily, weekly, monthly or seasonal. You will not remember everything as you make this list, but don’t let that stop you! Begin with what you can think of and add to your list as you clean. If you need help, check out my free cleaning checklist!
Next you will break the tasks down into daily chunks. You could focus on one area of your house per day. As an example: Monday – bathrooms, Tuesday – living room, Wednesday – bedrooms, Thursday – Kitchen, Friday – Floors. Make sure to include all the daily chores like making beds, wiping off counters, and doing a quick declutter pick-up.
Pick a time each day to work through your daily list. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes for focused cleaning. This will help you stay on task and avoid distractions. When you time is up, stop cleaning for the day. Remember that the jobs you didn’t get to will still be there next week. Begin with them first to ensure they get completed.
You also want to make sure you prioritize high traffic areas. The space you use more frequently will need more attention than others. The less frequent tasks can be assigned to the weekly, or monthly, list.
Remember that life happens! Move tasks to another day or double up when you need to. Also remember that you and your family live in your house. There will always be messes to clean and rooms to tidy. Rather than stress about the house always being clean, be thankful for a family who makes it messy.
Declutter Regularly
A cluttered house can make a clean house feel dirty. My brain has a very hard time with clutter. If there are too many items around, I get very overwhelmed and then I usually give up on whatever I am working on.
A few tips to keep your house decluttered are to use the one-in, one-out rule. When you bring something new into the house, you have to take something else out. You can also use a timer to do a quick declutter. About once a month, the kids and I will take a trash bag through the house to declutter. We set a timer for 15 minutes and try to fill our bag up in that time. Once the bag is full, I take it straight out to my car and put it in the back. That way the kids can’t pull anything out of it and I don’t change my mind about anything. We have a thrift store only a couple minutes from my house so when I have a full bag in the back of the car, I drop it off next time we are out.
Include Everyone
As moms, we often feel like we need to do everything. We set expectations for everyone in our house and when those expectations aren’t met, we take over and do it ourselves. I’d like to encourage you not to do that. While your kids are young, take the time to train them how to do the chores correctly. Give them lots of practice and inspect their work. Teach them to work diligently as unto the Lord. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Helping our kids to memorize this verse and training them to be diligent in household chores will be a discipline that will carry over into every other area of their lives. I remind my kids often that God has graciously given us our home to take care or and we should do our best to keep it clean and tidy.
Assign your children age appropriate chores. Don’t expect too much from them and when they have a chore that is a bit more difficult to accomplish, work together as a team to do it. They will be motivated by you helping them and they will learn to enjoy the task at hand rather than getting frustrated by it.
Clean As You go
When small messes happen, take the time to clean them up right away. Not only will this keep your house more tidy, but it is so much easier to clean up that one tiny spot on the floor while it is fresh and wet rather than once it has dried. Make sure to wipe down your countertops after dinner. Have the kids do a quick tidy before bed and clean up their toys. Take 5 minutes before you go to bed to do a quick sweep of the main living areas of your house so that you’ll wake up to a tidy space. These small habits can have big effects when it comes to keeping your house clean.
Keeping a clean house doesn’t have to feel like an impossible task! By establishing a simple cleaning routine, decluttering regularly, involving your family and tackling messes as they happen, you can create a home that feels peaceful and organized. Start small, creating one habit at a time, and soon they will become second nature. What are you favorite tips for maintaining a tidy home? Share them in the comments below!
Looking for more cleaning tips? Check out my 10 Easy Cleaning Hacks for Busy Families!
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