Just because you’re short on time (or maybe just a bit lazy) doesn’t mean your home has to be a mess—simple cleaning habits can make a huge impact on your living space.
Apply the One-Touch Rule
The One-Touch Rule is a straightforward yet surprisingly effective trick.
The idea here is to deal with items the moment you’re done with them—place your shoes in the rack, hang up your coat, file away that mail. This approach ensures that mess never accumulates, and you spend less time cleaning up later.
Make Your Bed Every Morning
There’s a good reason psychologist and author Jordan Peterson advocates for making your bed every morning—he believes it’s a manageable task that anyone can control, regardless of the chaos in other areas of life.
Starting your day by smoothing out the sheets and fluffing the pillows can set a tone of order and discipline. It’s a simple yet powerful way to foster a sense of accomplishment right from the morning. This act also encourages a tidier, more organized mindset. When your bed is made, the rest of your room—and potentially your life—seems to demand the same level of attention.
Don’t Leave a Room Empty-Handed
Adopting the habit of never leaving a room empty-handed can significantly streamline keeping your home tidy. Whenever you spot something that doesn’t belong, simply take it with you and put it back in its rightful place.
This small habit prevents clutter from building up and saves you the hassle of repeated trips between rooms.
Avoid the Rush
Rushing can quickly lead to chaos at home. Sure, you might be eager to meet your friends or head out on a date, but remember the downside: coming back to the disorder you left behind, like a messy wardrobe or misplaced keys, can really dampen your spirits.
Taking an extra minute to tidy as you go—placing items back where they belong before you leave—ensures that you return to a peaceful, welcoming space. This small change in routine can preserve the good mood from your outing, letting you enjoy a relaxing return home instead of facing a stressful cleanup.
Establish a Laundry Routine
Depending on the size of your household, your laundry strategy might need to adapt. For those in larger families, a daily load can prevent laundry from becoming a mountainous chore. In contrast, smaller households might find setting specific days for washing clothes and linens more manageable.
Sticking to a regular laundry routine helps maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of your home, making the task less overwhelming.
Make Cleaning Fun
Let’s face it, cleaning isn’t usually the fun activity of anyone’s day, but there are ways to make it much more enjoyable—blast your favorite playlist, sing along, or even dance around with a mop as your partner!
If music isn’t your thing, strike up a chat with a family member while you tidy up. You’ll be surprised how quickly the time flies when you’re having fun, and before you know it, your cleaning session will leave your space sparkling without it feeling like a chore.
Declutter Consistently
Maintaining a clean, neat home often means letting go of unnecessary items regularly. This could mean adopting a one-in, one-out policy for new purchases like clothing or toys, or perhaps keeping a donation bin ready in a closet or garage for easy offloading.
With fewer items to organize, maintaining a tidy home becomes significantly easier.
Practice Intentional Tidying
Changing your attitude towards tidying can profoundly affect how you manage your space. Instead of seeing it as a chore, view each tidying opportunity as an act of care for your home and belongings.
This mindful approach makes the process less of a burden and more a practice of appreciation for your environment. Next time you’re making your bed or cleaning up after a meal, take a moment to enjoy the process and the sense of order it brings to your life.
Store Cleaning Supplies Strategically
Keep your cleaning supplies where you use them most to ensure they are always at hand for quick clean-ups. This means having kitchen cleaners in the kitchen and bathroom cleaners in the bathroom.
- Pro tip: Keeping disinfectant wipes easily accessible in these areas allows for swift, spontaneous cleaning, maintaining a cleaner home with minimal effort.
Try Out the Timer Method
Ever noticed how some people manage to keep their homes spick and span without appearing to try too hard? One smart habit is setting tidying timers—a trick often shared by clean-with-me content creators.
Here’s how it works: you set a timer for a specific duration—say 15 minutes—to tackle a particular area or task. This method prevents you from getting sidetracked, like starting in the kitchen and somehow ending up reminiscing over old photo albums two hours later. A ticking timer instills a sense of urgency and focus, helping you complete tasks quicker and more effectively.
Store Things Within Easy Reach
Keeping your home tidy is so much easier when everything has a logical “home.” If you’re constantly wondering where to put things or spending time looking for items, it’s time to rethink your storage solutions.
Start by placing things where they naturally tend to be. For instance, if shoes always end up by the door, set up your shoe rack there rather than in a closet far away. Hang coats near the entrance to prevent them from being draped over chairs or sofas. And for the small stuff like car keys and wallets? Create a dedicated spot right where you walk in.
Clean as You Go
For those who hate spending their weekends cleaning, adopting a ‘clean as you go’ approach can be life-changing. This method involves integrating small cleaning tasks into your daily routine, thereby maintaining a continuously tidy environment.
For example, you might dust on Thursdays, tackle the windows on Wednesdays, and so on. Even simpler, incorporate cleaning into everyday activities: wipe down counters while cooking, sweep floors during commercial breaks, or clear the dining table right after meals!
Check Your Fridge Regularly
Making it a habit to peek into your fridge weekly can really help keep things under control. This approach helps you avoid the surprise of expired food and track what you need to buy or toss out (including those leftovers that nobody seems to remember).
Clearing out the old stuff and wiping down the shelves sets you up perfectly to organize the new groceries. Also, consider giving your fridge a thorough cleaning every few months to maintain its sparkle and hygiene.
Clean the Kitchen Nightly
A nightly kitchen cleanup is essential, especially since kitchens are prone to accumulating food particles and crumbs.
To minimize the chance of attracting pests, make it a habit to load the dishwasher, handwash pots, pans, and other non-dishwasher-safe items, sweep the floor, and wipe down countertops and the stove with an antibacterial cleaner. If you have a glass-top stove, giving it a polish can also make a big difference.
Maintain High-Traffic Areas
High-traffic areas (like entryways) often collect more dirt and debris from shoes. To keep these areas clean, consider sweeping or vacuuming them daily.
Placing a welcome mat and asking visitors and household members to remove their shoes can significantly reduce the amount of dirt tracked inside. If your home includes a porch, a daily sweep there can also prevent dirt and grass from coming indoors.
Embrace Minimalist Surfaces
A clear counter can change your entire approach to tidiness. Opt for a minimalist setup where only essential items are on display. This makes cleaning quicker and simpler—no more moving numerous objects just to wipe down a surface.
A clean counter also enhances visibility, making it easier to spot and tidy anything out of place. Consider using trays for smaller items to keep things organized and simplify cleaning by allowing you to move multiple items at once.
Tidy Up After Each Task
Even small habits can significantly shape your living space. For example, if you’ve tried on several outfits before settling on one, take a moment to hang up the ones you didn’t choose. Not the tidiest person? Here’s a tip: consider a task finished only when everything is back in its place.
You’ll be surprised how this simple habit can transform your space!
Tidy Up Before Bedtime
Organized individuals often make it a habit to tidy up their living spaces each evening before bedtime. This routine might involve simple tasks like picking up stray clothes, clearing away leftover snack bowls, or gathering up toys left out after play.
Making this a nightly ritual ensures that it takes only a few minutes and allows you to wake up to a cleaner environment with minimal effort.
Hire Professional Cleaners
For those who find regular cleaning challenging or simply prefer to save time, hiring a professional housecleaning service might be the solution.
Professional cleaners offer the expertise and equipment necessary to achieve a deep clean, focusing on both visible areas and hard-to-reach spots, ensuring a spotless living or working environment and freeing up your time for other activities.
Top 3 U.S. States That Almost No One Leaves (And for Good Reason)
Top 3 U.S. States That Almost No One Leaves (And for Good Reason)
Kate Smith, a self-proclaimed word nerd who relishes the power of language to inform, entertain, and inspire. Kate's passion for sharing knowledge and sparking meaningful conversations fuels her every word.