Does the thought of finding time to clean your house completely overwhelm you? If so – you’re not alone mama!
You might feel like you barely have enough time to manage your household, meal plan, take care of the kids, and run errands…
… and the thought of having to clean baseboards or scrub multiple toilets seems impossible.
The good news is, if you learn to clean like a pro you can cut your cleaning time in half.
Start From Top To Bottom
All professional cleaners operate under the “top to bottom, left to right” trick.
Why?
Because it is efficient.
If you vacuum first and then dust your light fixture – you’ve just doubled your workload as the floor will be dusty again.
Make it easier on yourself.
When cleaning a room, begin working from the highest contact area downwards.
This way the top will be clean, and you’ll be able to sweep up or vacuum all the dust at the very end.
In addition, working from left to right means you won’t miss an area or cause you to question “did I really clean” that.
Create A Schedule
If the thought of maintaining a clean home sounds overwhelming, consider making a master schedule to help you figure out what needs to be done.
Most likely, you don’t need to scrub your baseboards every week or wash your curtains once a month.
Do what works best for you, but consider a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly cleaning calendar.
Weekly items are things like wiping down the bathroom vanity and sweeping or vacuuming the floors.
Monthly chores could include things like a deep clean of your bathroom or dusting baseboards.
Quarterly tasks are things like cleaning out junk drawers or closets or organizing the children’s toys (pitching or donating unused or broken ones).
Finally, yearly cleaning chores help you remember to clean the things you never think of like sweeping and mopping behind the fridge and stove or washing the exterior windows.
By having a master schedule, you can see the big picture of what you need to do and have a plan to tackle it all.
Have The Right Tools
When you go to clean, make it easy on yourself!
If you are running back and forth to grab towels or realize you don’t have enough natural cleaner prepared, it wastes time.
Consider having a caddy full of supplies you can simply grab and carry with you.
You can even wear an apron or carpenter belt full of extra things you might need like scrubbing brushes or vacuum accessories.
Get creative! But definitely have everything ready.
Don’t Let Grime Build Up
Most important, don’t let things get so bad it takes hours to clean properly.
If you don’t clean your shower for 3 months – of course you are going to have mold and other dirt stuck on your shower walls!
Likewise, dusting only once a month allows dust to build up on your surfaces, making them harder to clean (and possibly even making your family sick if they have respiratory issues).
But doing just a little bit each day (like using a squeegee on your glass shower door after each use) can help you shave hours off your cleaning time.
Do what works best for you.
And accept your house won’t be always perfectly clean – and that’s okay!
You don’t live in a showroom after all, so give yourself grace!
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