Taking whole days out of your week just to do some chores can be quite rough, but there are ways to keep your home tidy without a laundry list full of chores.
Keeping your home clean is not all about how much time you put in, and all you really have to do is create good habits so you can keep things clean all the time! After a while, these good habits become routine, and you will find yourself just doing them out of instinct.
For the rest of the article, I will outline some of these habits and how to do them without too much time or effort sunk in. You will be amazed at how clean your home looks just by doing these daily tasks for less than an hour a day!
Be Alright With “Clean Enough for Me”
This one can be a tough one for all you perfectionists out there. Sure, you should keep your home decently clean, but you do not have to make sure every little part of every little thing has been dusted, sprayed, or whatever.
It is easy to get caught up with every tiny detail, but these are the kinds of things that make chores tedious and difficult to look forward to. Plus, these kinds of small things are probably unnoticeable to most people.
Of course, these things should eventually get cleaned, but wouldn’t you rather handle that during the semi-annual deep cleaning rather than on the weekly chores list?
If you Leave a Room, Pick Something Up!
For those that have worked in the restaurant business, you already know exactly what I’m talking about. Full hands in, full hands out!
If you are getting up from one room to go to another, do a short scan and look to see if you can pick up any trash, dishes, or clothes before heading into the next room.
You only need to take a few things at a time and be sure to actually put them away when you get to the other room. It will not really help much if you just take something out of one room and just pile it up in a different one.
Think about implementing a “one touch rule” in which you should only touch something once before you put it away. There is no need to waste time just moving messes around after one touch, put something where it needs to go after you use it unless it absolutely has to stay in that room.
Use Tools Like Robot Vacuums and Steam Mops
Robot vacuums and steam mops are bot perfect tools to keep your floors looking shiny and clean – and all that without the use of any hazardous chemical cleaners.
Robot vacuums have been around for quite some years and the initial issues are all ironed out by now. They’re not as powerful as corded vacuums, but as long as your room is obstacle-free, they offer a reliable and easy way to clean up everyday dust and crumbs.For more thorough cleaning needs, the steam mop will be your keep-it-easy companion. They do wonders on any kind of tough, dried-on stains that standard mops will struggle mightily with. Just take a few slow passes over your floor and let it do its work.
These mops should only be used on hard floors like tile or hardwood, though. Needless to say, steam mops use a lot of moisture when cleaning and are not good for carpet or anything that might get damaged if it gets a little wet.
Make the Bed
This is one of those tasks that seem meaningless but making the bed really does make the bedroom look so much tidier and it only takes a few minutes at most.
Plus, it is a great way to start off your day and wake up a bit, and a great way to end the day is cozying up in a neatly made bed too. If you want to make it easier, take some things off of your bed that you don’t need, like some extra pillows or your top sheets.
Surely you have heard that the first thing people in the military do when they wake up is make their bed. Of course, you won’t have a drill sergeant inspecting your sheets, so no pressure in making it look perfect, just make it look good so the room looks a little neater.
Conclusion
Doing tedious chores all day on a week-to-week basis can get old very fast. So, now is the time to adopt the “clean as you go” lifestyle and spend your weekends enjoying an already nice and tidy house!
Remember, keeping a tidy home without tedious chores is more about forming good habits and less about keeping an organized list of things to do around the house. These habits outlined above will save you all kinds of time and effort and will hopefully become second nature after a while as well!
Today is the perfect day to start, you may have to actively think about doing these things at the start, but you’ll be amazed at how much nicer your house looks after just a week of all this.