Everyone loves having a clean home but life can often get overwhelming, so you might feel like there is no time to do the things that need to be done at home! Whether you work in or out of the home, there are lots of things to do all the time. And it can be tricky to stay on top of housework.
Cleaning the entire home is a really long process but there is a way to make it manageable.
The secret? Start small!
There are things that can take 10 minutes or less to do! These tasks won’t make your home 100% clean, but doing them daily helps immensely on the look and feel of your home!
Here are small daily tasks that will make your home look and feel clean!
MAKE THE BED AFTER WAKING UP
Make the bed immediately after waking up! It should be the first task you do (and the entire family, too!). Before everyone gets down for breakfast, make it a habit for the entire family to fold their blankets and fix their pillows. It doesn’t take long and will take less than 10 minutes.
To make things easier, simplify your bedding as much as possible! Here’s some things you can do to lessen your to-do list for bed making:
- Cut out your top sheets and just use a duvet and washable cover.
- Minimize the number of pillows on your bed, 1-2 pillows per person is more than enough!
- Use a large comforter or duvet that you won’t need to tuck in your sheets
This task doesn’t only make a big difference in the tidiness of your room, having your bed made also sets you up to feel accomplished throughout the day! At the end of the day, climbing into a made bed makes you feel more relaxed!
A LOAD OF LAUNDRY A DAY KEEPS THE STRESS AWAY
Laundry may feel like such a big task at the end of the week, but putting at least one load of laundry in the machine every morning makes this task less overwhelming! Overall, doing laundry takes a lot of effort, but divvy it up into smaller tasks and you’ll be surprised by how quick it can be!
Simply put one load (or as much as you can) in the morning. When you come back from work in the afternoon, you can turn the machine on do other things (or relax!) while it’s running!
CLEAN AS YOU GO
It’s good practice to put things back where they should be and this small action really makes the difference between a tidy house and a messy house.
It doesn’t take much time to do this, however, it takes a lot of effort especially if you’re a parent working a full-time job. The small things can often get over your head and missed completely. Therefore, it’s not always possible but you should do it when you can!
Here are some examples of small tasks you can accomplish within seconds:
- Put your dirty clothes immediately in the laundry
- Load dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher (instead of just on the counter)
- Put your shoes and coat away as you come in the door
If the whole family can learn this habit, then keeping your home spotless becomes an easy task!
SORT OUT THE MAIL DAILY
Mail is one of the biggest contributors to clutter at home, and it can be annoying when you keep receiving tonnes of random flyers and other unnecessary mail at your door.
If you only sort everything out at the end of the week, then it may take you longer (and will require more effort!) to finish this task!
Sorting out the mail daily is the most efficient way to do this! At the end of the day, toss out all flyers, brochures, and anything irrelevant. Keep all important mail together and if you can, pay the bills immediately to get them out of the way.
WIPE YOUR COUNTERS
Kitchen and bathroom counters get dirty often due to frequent use, so leaving them for the end of the week lets dirt build up which makes it even harder to clean!
You can start off by wiping your kitchen counters after meals, or at the least after dinner. Once you’ve learned to do this regularly, you can start doing bathroom counters as part of your routine.
WASH THE DISHES
Cleaning up after meals is such a dreaded task but in reality, it actually only takes a couple of minutes if done daily!
If you get in the habit of loading the dishwasher after dinner, you’ll realize how much time and energy you’ve just saved by doing that! Have a “no sink” rule for the whole family, and have everyone practice putting their dishes into the dishwasher after meals. Just by doing this, you can already keep your kitchen clean.
DO A QUICK SWEEP
Choose a convenient time for you to sweep, either in the morning before you go to work, or at night before going to bed. It doesn’t take long at all!
You can choose to do parts of the home that has the most foot traffic. Your home will feel so much cleaner if you do this routinely.
