Most of us want to keep our homes clean. But this can be difficult if you are short on time.
Thankfully, there are some things you can do to minimise the amount of time you spend on housework. These 8 strategies are a good starting point.
1. Declutter Your Home
If you feel like you are in a constant battle to keep your house clean, then it’s a good idea to do a thorough declutter. While it does involve a bit of short-term effort, you’ll find the cleaning process will become much easier if there are fewer belongings to move, dust, and organise later on.
When decluttering, it is a good idea to sort your unwanted belongings into separate piles for donation to charity, sale, recycling, or disposal. Ideally, you should be quite ruthless about getting rid of your stuff. A good rule of thumb is: if something is broken or you haven’t used it in over a year, get rid of it.
Depending on the size of your property and the number of possessions you have, you might find yourself with a lot more waste than a household bin can hold. In such circumstances, a service such as Sydney rubbish removals with 1300 Rubbish can be very helpful. They can dispose of your unwanted furniture, household junk, and other bulky items quickly and responsibly.
2. Make Your Bed Every Morning
Making your bed as soon as you wake up only takes a minute or two. However, it can instantly give you a quick win at the start of the day by making your bedroom feel a bit tidier and more organised.
We are not talking about arranging decorative pillows or creating perfect hospital corners. (Although if you can do that in less than two minutes, then fair play to you!) Rather, simply pulling up the sheets, straightening the quilt, and placing the pillows back where they belong can make a real difference to how the rest of the room feels.
This habit may also have a knock-on effect, encouraging you to do other things quickly, such as putting clothes away, moving cups to the kitchen, and even opening the curtains or windows to let in natural light and fresh air.
3. Commit to a Daily Ten-Minute Clean
Ten minutes isn’t a long time. But it is amazing how much you can get done in it. Especially when you commit to cleaning a portion of your home.
At the most suitable time for you, it is worth taking the opportunity to clear the kitchen bench, load the dishwasher, wipe the bathroom sink or return items that belong in other rooms.
To help you stick to ten minutes, consider setting a timer. Doing this might encourage you to work in a more focused manner and not be distracted by the TV or your phone.
4. Put Things Away Straight After Using Them
Rooms don’t start off as being untidy. They end up that way through lack of care and attention. Often this is because they become filled with items that have not been returned to their proper places.
To prevent this, it is worth putting an item away as soon as you finish using it. That could be anything from a jumper you left on a sofa to food you took for a snack whilst watching TC from the pantry. This takes only a few seconds, but can be a very effective way to prevent dozens of small items from piling up.
5. Stop Clutter from Entering Your Home
Decluttering is one thing. But once you’ve completed that task, try to avoid the trap of letting more clutter into your home.
Often, the biggest culprit is buying something you don’t really need. However, clutter can also form from piles of unopened mail, flyers left on a table, shoes left in an untidy mess by the front door, and reusable shopping bags left out in the open.
The best way to keep clutter out of your home is to block items at the door and practice the one-in, one-out rule.
6. Clean One Room at a Time
When you do find time to clean, the most effective way is to clean one room at a time. Adopting a strategic order can not only give you a strong sense of progress but also provide structure to the process.
Which room you tackle first is up to you. For instance, you can start with the smallest ones first. Or the ones that are most used, such as your bathroom. However, the important thing is to have a cleaning plan and put all your energy into completing each stage of it.
7. Keep Certain Cleaning Supplies Close By
It’s human nature that you are more likely to wipe up a spill when the right supplies are within easy reach. That’s why it is important to keep frequently used products near the places where you are most likely to need them.
For instance, having a cloth and suitable spray under the bathroom sink makes it easy to wipe the basin. Similarly, keeping a small dustpan in the kitchen can deal with crumbs immediately.
You do not necessarily need a cupboard full of specialist products, as a few reliable cleaners, microfibre cloths, a vacuum, and a mop will handle most household jobs. However, if your home has two levels, consider keeping basic cleaning supplies on each floor.
8. Make Laundry Easier to Manage
Laundry can become overwhelming and take up a lot of space when clothes accumulate in baskets or on bedroom floors. A good way to handle this is to place hampers where people naturally remove their clothes, such as bathrooms and bedrooms.
Additionally, choose regular days of the week to wash your clothes. If you have a schedule, you will be more likely to stick to it and stay on top of your laundry loads.
As soon as they are dry, try to fold up and put away your clean clothes. Again, this only takes a couple of minutes. But it can notably reduce the amount of housework you’ll need to do in the long-term.
