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“Noooo, not today.”
“I have no energy left.”
You get home from work and you’re tired.
On top of that, you still have to make dinner and get your baby in bed.
At that point, all you ever dream of is to sit down with a good book and relax or watch your favorite tv show.
And then you remember the dreaded house cleaning work.
This is so unfair.
Isn’t it?
What if there were simple strategies and tips you could apply so cleaning no longer feels like a dread?
That sounds like a big promise, right?
But, read this article to the end where I share 11 of the best house cleaning tips you wish you knew before.
After this, you’ll never have a dirty home again.
1. Declutter
One of the biggest obstacles when cleaning is overwhelm.
We see so many objects lying around with almost no space to walk.
And we wonder, “Damn, how am I gonna clean all this by myself?”
But the reality is that it’s mostly the useless objects that make your room look messy.
Objects you have no use of.
Solution?
Pick up a plastic garbage bag or a Corrugated box.
And put all the useless items inside it.
Then watch how light your home feels after doing this.
2. Set milestones per room
If you try to do it all in one go.
You’ll never be able to do it.
It’s just too much.
So, set checkpoints or milestones.
Ex: Once you clean the living room, rest for 10 minutes.
Watch some sitcom then begin again.
This will make sure that you’re doing the cleaning without getting burnt out or wasting too much energy in the process.
3. Do the toughest room first
Before you even begin.
Look all-around your house.
And see which room is the dirtiest or toughest to clean?
And begin with that room first.
A lot of people clean their houses by first doing the easy work.
And that is why cleaning feels like such a dread to them.
Only if they had tried to clean the toughest room first, they would feel so much relieved after completing it.
Hence, easing the overwhelm of cleaning and making you feel motivated to do more.
4. Break the cleaning into chunks.
Most people try to pick up litter, mop the floors, vacuum all at once.
Which leads to serious exhaustion and burnout.
But if you just do one task at a time, you would be continuing your work at a steady pace and not get tired.
Remember: Slow and steady wins the race.
For example: Suppose you begin with picking up litters.
Then once you’re done with litter, you move to vacuuming.
This way you stay motivated with progress and remain focused.
Also, know that: It doesn’t need to be perfect in one go.
5. Set a Time Limit
Has it ever happened to you when you set a date to do something and procrastinated until the last moment?
Well, cleaning is no different.
Actually, cleaning is an ultimate example of such a type of procrastination.
Giving yourself unlimited time for cleaning.
Thinking – I’ll do it first thing in the morning.
That’s not good enough.
You may never do it.
Instead set a specific time.
Say I’ll finish it before 7am tomorrow.
Remember: There’s always more work to do if you have more time.
So, next time you are cleaning the house.
Impose time limits and deadlines.
“I’ll finish this room in 10 minutes.”
“I’ll finish cleaning the utensils in the next 5 minutes.”
6. Do Prioritized Cleaning
There are always some rooms or some places which are more important than the others right?
Such as your bedroom would probably be the most important room.
Or maybe the dining room is where you spend most of your time.
Or is it the kitchen you can’t keep clean no matter what?
Recognize which of the rooms and cleaning tasks are more important than the other.
Ex: List out all the cleaning stuff you need to do.
Such as mopping, vacuuming, cleaning windows, dusting furniture, etc..
Now pick the 3 most important rooms you must clean out of all the rooms.
Let’s say you pick the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen.
Then cut out 2 more from these 3.
So now you’re left with only 1 room.
Let’s say the most important room you must clean is your bedroom.
You won’t do the other 2 until you’ve cleaned your bedroom.
Now just focus on the bedroom until it is done.
Then, if you have energy left and you feel like you wanna do more.
Pick any of the other 2.
And begin cleaning those rooms.
This way you’re taking one step at a time without making excuses.
7. Limit your cleaning tools
Just take a look at this –
Sponge, mop, garbage can, rubber gloves, spray cleaner, liquid soap, squeegee, paper towel, dustpan, bleach, wiper, etc…
Damn, just reading about these tools sounds like an overwhelm.
Imagine what happens when you actually get ready to clean the house and see so many tools lying around.
The more cleaning tools you’ll have the more confused you’ll become.
Should I sweep or vacuum or both?
Should I use this soap or that to wash utensils?
Are you getting this?
Too many choices lead to paralysis analysis instead of focusing on the thing that actually matters.
Which is getting the work done.
Plus, it also wastes space and money.
So, make a list of every tool you need and the stuff you don’t.
And only focus on the ones you need.
8. Try High-Intensity Cleaning
What this means is –
You clean for 10-15 minutes straight.
With full intensity.
Be it vacuuming, mopping, washing utensils, etc…
You do it with full vigor, high energy.
Leaving no stone left unturned.
Then stop.
Take a breather.
For 5 minutes.
This will keep your mind relaxed and calm.
This will really increase the speed at which you’ll get stuff done.
Without making you feel exhausted.
Since, after 15-20 minutes you’ll be taking rest.
9. Use doormats
Doormats are one of the easiest hacks to keep the house clean.
This makes sure that your footwear doesn’t carry the outside dirt into your house.
Or anytime you are in the shower or bathroom you don’t come out of it with wet feet.
Since the doormat makes sure that it cleans the outside dirt and keeps your feet dry.
You can get an Antiskid Water Absorbent doormat from here.
It can be used in almost any room.
Bathroom, bedroom, home entrance, etc…
This way your floors will never be wet or dirty with mud.
10. Keep the outside footwear at the entrance of the house
One of the biggest headaches in cleaning a house is the muddy footprints that people carry when they enter the house.
Especially during the rainy season.
Solution?
Just remove the outside footwear on the entrance itself.
That way you won’t have to waste your time cleaning the floors all the damn time.
11. Clean Systematically
Have you ever done this –
You begin by cleaning from the center of the room, then you clean the windows, and then focus on the corners.
Only to find that you didn’t make much progress?
This happens because all the dirt still didn’t get removed.
It kept lingering inside the room from one corner to another.
Don’t be disorganized.
Focus on cleaning from one direction.
Then move to another.
That way you do it faster and know which part is clean and which is not.
And whenever you have to clean the ceilings as well as the floor.
Always begin with the ceiling and then go down from there.
So you begin with the ceiling, then doors and windows, and then the floors.
Home Cleaning Tips Summary
This article was about some of the proven strategies that can help you overcome exhaustion and overwhelm when cleaning your home.
Because cleaning is actually not an easy thing like so many people make it.
It’s overwhelming, exhaustive, and makes us wanna procrastinate.
But even if you use one of the tips from this article it can make a huge difference in you cleaning your home properly.
Such as even a simple tip like using doormats or keeping the footwear at the entrance of the home can save so much of your time.
Since you won’t have to mop all the time.
Plus, your home will still be clean.
Or another brain trick which you can use from this article is to limit your cleaning tools.
The more tools you’ll have at your disposal the heavier the cleaning will feel.
Keep stuff light.
As far as it keeps your home clean and your budget light.
Hope you love this article.
Comment and let me know which one of the tips are you going to use first.
