As our lives keep getting busier by the day, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with simple daily tasks such as cleaning. Sometimes, it just has to become one of the last priorities on your list for the day and that’s okay! If you do have a spare 15 minutes though, these 4 areas can help your home look clean enough that you won’t be full of anxiety about unannounced visitors or full of dread all day knowing you’re coming home to a disaster.
Make the beds
It may sound silly. You might even be thinking “well I just shut the doors when people come”. It’s not about other people as much as it is about you. Making beds in the morning makes starting your day that little bit more stress-free. You feel like you’ve accomplished something already and it sets the mood for the rest of the day. Not to mention the fact that you can then leave doors open and when visitors do show up, your house feels more open and inviting rather than dark and closed off to the world. A nicely made bed helps a room look nice and clean.
Put shoes away
The more people in your household, the more shoes become the pain of your existence. Piling up the entryways to the house, spread across the lounge room floors as if the kids had walked in and flung them as hard as they could. Invest in a shoe box, shoe shelf, cupboard, literally anything that’ll store your family’s shoes out of sight or at least in a more organised manner. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your house seems tidy after you do. Have the kids clean up their shoes at least once a day. This will also give them a sense of responsibility and make them feel like they’re contributing to the running of the household. Even small children can pick up a few shoes. A great chore for all ages!
Clear the fridge
Displaying the kid’s artwork and school certificates is so lovely! However, over time your fridge can end up looking incredibly cluttered and not only is it an eyesore for you, you’re forever picking up all the stuff that fell off because the magnet couldn’t hold 8 pieces of paper by itself or the kids have knocked some off opening the freezer. Start with a once-a-month fridge door clean and shorten the time between cleans if needed. Have a folder in your filing cabinet for the older ones so you can keep them for when the kids are older.
Clean the dishes
If you’re like me, you just rolled your eyes at that heading! Can we not just be done with dishes and go back to eating as the cavemen did? Unfortunately, eating like the cavemen did isn’t how most of us would like to dine each night and alas, we have to wash the dishes. Yep, every single day! If I’ve learnt one thing over the past 13 years living out of home, it’s that there’s no easy way out when it comes to dishes. Even if you have a dishwasher, yes it shortens the time you spend at the sink but it doesn’t change the fact that if you don’t do it, you’ll have dishes piled up like a tower before you know it.
Try to get into the habit of doing a quick wash-up between your morning cup of coffee and getting dressed. Only have 5 minutes? See how much can be done in 5, and tackle the rest later if need be. That is unless you’re one of those people who don’t procrastinate the hard stuff and wash them right after dinner. Kudos to you if you are! Me, not so much, and as much as I’d love to sit here and tell you otherwise for the sake of a good cleaning tip; it’s just not true. So if you are like me, know that it’s okay to get things done when you’re ready to. Even if you have to force it. A clean kitchen is one of the biggest things that can make your home look and feel cleaner than it actually is.
Pro Tip: Get Help!
One of the biggest things to learn and to continue to recognise in not only your own home but others too; is that there is a massive difference between an untidy home and a dirty one. So if you’re struggling to juggle everything or even just struggling to do the bare minimum, it’s okay. We all have those days, weeks and sometimes even months or years. Ask for help if you need it. Hire a cleaner to help keep up, or ask a friend to come give you a hand to get back up on top of it all. Cleaning shouldn’t be stressful and life is way too short to be caught up in daily anxiety about people showing up or the dread of coming home to a messy house.
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