If you’re anything like me, you probably detest cleaning. Like I mean, really hate it. My worst chore is either cleaning the bathrooms, or cleaning the floors. I can’t really decide because they’re both the worst. LOL. The hardest part for me is getting the motivation to just get up and do those chores. When I am in the middle of doing them, I’m ok. Of course, once I’m done, I am so happy that it’s clean and that I’m done.
Some people love to clean and organize. It makes them have a clear head, gives them time to think since chores are menial tasks, and makes them feel better. Sometime, cleaning and organizing gives you a sense of control in this crazy world because it’s something within your power to control. It can also make you feel better if you suffer from depression or anxiety. Plus, having a clean and organized home can just make you feel better overall because you are making your cozy place better. The added benefit is the exercise you get from cleaning, and the endorphins also can improve your mood.
There is a reason I chose this heading for this blog. Cleaning and organizing my home is one of my goals, and something that I consistently have to work at. I feel productive when I am able to cross off one of my maintenance goals/tasks for the day or week. Of course, it’s a bit different for me since I have two children and I feel like I’m constantly picking up after them one hundred times a day. It would be a lot easier if you only need to tidy up after yourself!
I have found a few tricks to maintaining a clean and tidy home over the course of my life, more recently actually. It definitely ties into motivational and productivity systems for me. I have a lot of things I take care of in my life - my home (food management, child care, renovation projects, home maintenance, school, cleaning the home, organizing items or areas of my house, paying bills and maintaining a budget, to name a few). Then I have my own personal things to take care of (self-care, alone time, personal grooming and maintenance, relaxation time). I feel like this subject is neglected for a lot of people, especially parents. I also have my business. I am a new entrepreneur with kids. It’s not like working at a 9-5 am job, where you have one role to play and you can leave your job at the office at the end of the day. I have multiple roles (creator, designer, marketing, finance, treasurer, social media designer, sales, book-keeping, branding, writer, editor, etc…) and I work whenever I get time. There is no such thing as an 8-4pm or 9-5pm for me. Sometimes I’m up at 5 am, or I stay up until 3am, trying to get as much work done as possible.
So, the biggest thing I found that helps me get things cleaned and organized around the house is to know when you are most productive, or most in the mood to tidy. I do have times that I feel most productive, but usually those times are focused on business, because that’s when I really need maximum concentration. Those times, for me, are usually when my daughter is sleeping. I will unload the dishwasher or put the laundry on when my daughter is in her highchair, because then she can’t get into things. I will usually do the majority of my chores when my kids are around only because as I said earlier, chores are menial tasks and I can keep one eye on my kids.
The next biggest thing to help me stay tidied and organized is to write things down. You guys know I’m a huge believer in having some kind of planner system. All of my cleaning routines are kept in my Franklin Planner. These include areas of the house to clean based on time (i.e. Basement and garage are seasonal and are tidied once a year but dishes are done almost every day). I have a section for just strictly cleaning tasks, and another for sections of the house that I want to organize. (i.e. the children’s dresser drawers, pantry, kitchen cupboards, kids toys, etc…). I usually re-write this list once or twice a year, but I create it after I set my yearly goals. Then, as I do with my goals, I branch off to every quarter, and then monthly, weekly and daily tasks. It’s important to schedule these specific cleaning and organizing tasks into the proper sections of your calendar so that you remember to do them. For instance, my weekly tasks are set up a follows:
Monday - Groceries, Laundry
Tuesday - Bathrooms
Wednesday - Floors, Laundry, Budget
Thursday - Set out garbage, Pay Bills
Friday - Laundry, sweep
Saturday - Tidy Desk, kitchen table and coffee table
Sunday - Laundry
I do all the other tasks for the remainder of the year the same way. Usually, I coordinate with my husbands schedule, and we do the larger projects together. I am lucky enough to have a husband that helps me with the chores when he’s home from work :) .
Another tip is to use the times you organize as a mini declutter session. It’s always easier to tackle a big project in small manageable sections. So for instance, when I go through the kids clothes to re-organize them, I’ll take out all the clothes that are too small and put them in a container in the basement with a label on it so I will know what it is when I go to clean the basement later. If you do this weekly with every area of your house, you will find it easier to manage over a long time period, rather than trying to tackle a huge declutter session all in one.
The benefit of decluttering is that you will eventually have only what you need. The trick to determine that is to ask yourself whether you have used something within the last year. Unless it’s a memento, give it away or throw it out. Also, throw away things that are broken or damaged. If you haven’t fixed it in a year, chances are that you won’t ever and it’s not that important.
I am still working at this cleaning and organizing thing myself. (That’s why I made it one of my goals for this year, and will probably continue this into next year as well). Since it needs to be done, you might as well do it to the best of your ability. Our homes are the places where we spend the most time, so we need to manage and maintain them as well as we can.
xoxo! SAN 💛
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