I learned quickly after being married and having a set cleaning day that I couldn’t devote an entire day each week to cleaning and doing laundry. It was too stressful to try and cram it all in to one day and it was also overwhelming because the list was long and I didn’t know where to begin.
That’s why I developed a routine of tidying up each room everyday before I hit the bed at night and using my lists to keep me on track. Here are a few simple tips to get you started at doing just the same:
- Make your bed everyday: This is a simple way to jumpstart my day. Every morning, we make our beds and it feels so good to have that little task done before our day begins. I know it’s easy to think that people won’t see your bed, so why make it? Well, it helps tremendously in making your room feel tidier just from doing that one little task. If you normally don’t make your bed in the mornings, try it for just a few days and let me know if it helps in making your room feel tidy.
- Have a laundry schedule: I have talked in depth about the importance of making and keeping a laundry schedule. The feeling of being overwhelmed with the mounds of laundry isn’t a thing when you have a laundry routine.
Here is my laundry schedule and a few tips to make your laundry go smoother and quicker.
- Tidy up your counters: I am a stickler for tidy counters. I can’t stand clutter on horizontal spaces. Yes, it does happen in our home, but I try every night before I go to bed to tidy up the counters and put everything back where it belongs because I do not like waking up to clutter on my kitchen counter tops in the morning. Anyone else the same way?
I have a basket on the steps that is just for stuff that needs to be taken upstairs and put away. Usually it’s the kids stuff, but my goal is to have this basket empty each evening before bed (that means them taking the stuff upstairs and putting it back where it belongs). It’s a simple task that takes just a few minutes and makes all the difference.
We also have a basket inside one of our lower built in cabinets that is for electronics and charging. I cannot stand wires on the countertop or devices, so every night or during the day when electronics need to be charged, they go in the basket inside the cabinet – that way it frees up counter space and I don’t see wires.
Let’s talk paper clutter – can’t stand it. How do I not have paper clutter all over the countertops? I have a wooden clipboard for everything that’s important or what I’ll need for that week. This includes grocery lists, to do lists, papers the kids will need, etc. When mail comes in and it’s something I need to keep, I’ll put it on the clipboard and go through it later that afternoon or later in the week. This keeps the paper clutter down and all in one place.
- Vacuum and clean your rugs weekly. We vacuum weekly. Yes, I’ll have the kids vacuum the carpet upstairs most of the time, but once every week or two, I’ll go over all the carpets and rugs and slowly vacuum. If you “slow-vacuum”, it slowly removes all the dust, dirt, and stuff that settles at the bottom of the vacuum. I have the best steam cleaner for cleaning rugs and carpet. I received this robot vacuum a couple years ago for Christmas and it’s been my favorite gift I’ve ever received. No joke, this thing is a lifesaver and have never had any problems with it. It vacuums and mops. I usually run this every evening before heading to bed and it does such a good job and picking up everything and mopping my hard wood floors.
- Wash dishes daily and run the dishwasher: This is like countertop clutter. If it’s not done daily or even a couple times a day, it piles up wayyyyy too quickly. I wash my dishes by hand after every meal if they cannot go in the dishwasher. Then at night, after dinner, I run the dishwasher so they are clean the next morning. I also have our kids unload the dishwasher – this is good for them to learn (even at a young age, this is a chore they can do) and it’s a huge help to me, too.
These are just a few, simple things you can do to help your home feel tidy everyday and to help make cleaning day not so overwhelming.
How do you help keep your home tidy? You can check out all my favorite home organizing and cleaning ideas and products HERE.
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