26 No matter how big or tiny your home, apartment, or condo is, I don't care. It seems to take Eternity to clean up when there is a mess. And you simply don't have time to tidy as much or as thoroughly as you'd like while you're busy trying to keep up with your job life, your kids' weekly assignments, and somehow find spare time to enjoy your spouse's company.
Therefore, sometimes we just pass over it and opt to do nothing about the activities we should be performing, staring at them resentfully.
But who wants to spend their weekend sweeping and vacuuming for hours on end? Me? I don't want to scrub my kitchen floor; instead, I want to lie in until midday and watch Netflix all day.
Here are 20 suggestions, routines, and ideas that work if you hate weekend housekeeping as badly as I do but yet want to maintain a clean, tidy and inviting environment. I've attempted to cover a little bit of everything here, arranging my tips according to their usefulness, how they improve the atmosphere, and how to genuinely enjoy cleaning.
1. Don't clean anything if it doesn't appear to be dirty.
Many people, including myself, believe that every week they should thoroughly clean, sanitise, and vacuum every room of their home. However, the most efficient way that can save time while also keeping your place clean is to simply tidy the visibly dirty things. You may exclaim, "Gross!" Nevertheless, there are many advantages to this approach.
This not only saves you time, but it's also healthier for the immune system and helps you concentrate more on the places that need cleaning rather than attempting to clean everywhere just for cleaning. You eventually expose more of your body to dirt, which keeps your body cleaner.
2. Distribute the cleanup tasks each weeknight.
Although it may seem like more time would be spent cleaning if you spread it out throughout the week, the reality is that it takes less overall if you follow tip #1 above. You can perform spot cleaning in the kitchen one evening, the bathroom the next, and so forth rather than attempting to thoroughly clean your home or apartment on a single Saturday.
Instead of attempting to complete everything at once, this enables you to concentrate more on the job at hand. Keep the areas that are most prone to become untidy throughout the week till Thursday or Friday, then on Friday night, quickly spot-clean all messy locations. This will keep a check on your overall household cleaning.
3. Following each meal, wash the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
Do not waste time hand washing your dishes if you own a dishwasher. (You might think it's silly to mention this, but even though she has a dishwasher in the kitchen that constantly works, my mother always washes her dishes by hand.) If you decide to clean your dishes yourself to conserve water, you should be aware that the majority of individuals waste just as much water, if not more, doing so compared to when they use a dishwasher.
So, instead of running the dishwasher after every meal, just rinse your dishes, then put them in throughout the week, only running the dishwasher when it is full.
4. Keep Cleaning Materials Close to the Areas You Use Them
It's not too complicated with this one. If you keep your kitchen cleaning staff in the kitchen and your bathroom cleaning agents in the bathroom, you won't have to go through the rest of the house to perform some spot cleaning on a weeknight. You can clean up a mess after noticing it, get ready for the rest of your night, and then do so.
Before I began doing this, I often frequently put off spot cleaning since I knew it would require two trips up the stairs. Of course, it's lazy. But if that notion is what's holding you back from cleaning, get rid of the annoyance so you can finish more things faster.
5. On garbage night, discard any leftover food.
Despite our best efforts, we don't always remember to eat the food we buy, especially if the week has been very busy.
Taking food out of the refrigerator only to discover it is mould-covered is one of the most revolting experiences one can have. Spend an additional minute on trash night throwing out the bad leftovers and everything that has expired as a favour to yourself. You'll free up extra space in your refrigerator and won't have to dispose of filthy containers before they can be sent away. The situation benefits both parties.
6. Keep microfiber rags nearby for quick and simple dusting.
Keep microfiber cloths close by so you can do some incredibly effective spot dusting. This will prevent you from wiping away dust only to have it scatter into the air and fall back into place.
Simply avoid using your microfiber towels to clean up greasy or oily stuff because doing so will damage the towels and reduce their effectiveness.
7. Remove Items You No Longer Use
The majority of us have things laying around our households that we neither use nor need. While keeping dated items can occasionally be enjoyable, it's necessary to let some of them go when they start to take up space on your shelves and desk.
We often keep things because they contain important memories for us or because we believe we'll utilise them in the future, but allowing clutter to exist can have detrimental effects on our lives. The removal of clutter can become unpleasant if we let it remain for an extended period, in addition to the fact that it can be bothersome and make it challenging for us to concentrate.
8. Place a shoe rack outside the front door.
Provide a shelving unit with numerous pockets so that your family and visitors don't have to put their shoes at the door or in the hall closet. When people enter your home, it will be simple for them to remove their shoes and put them away, keeping your floors clean and the area near your front entrance more organised.
9. Obtain an air purifier.
Your home may feel clean and energising just because a purifier is trying to purify the air there. The benefits of purchasing an air purifier goes far beyond simply making your house feel clean.
One of the top five environmental health concerns, according to the EPA, is indoor air pollution. One of the most frequent types of indoor pollutants that might impact your home is particulate matter, which includes pollen, dust, mould, and bacteria. By purchasing an indoor air purifier, you can eliminate many of these elements from the air in your home, making it cleaner and safer for you and your visitors.
10. Praise Yourself
Last but not least, discovering fresh and effective methods for motivation is one of the finest strategies to accomplish more around your home. An excellent approach to achieve this is to make reward agreements or offer yourself bribes. For instance, giving myself some Ice cream is a fantastic motivator if I truly don't feel like folding laundry or doing my nighttime housekeeping. A quick and efficient method for getting things done is to reward yourself for doing the things you enjoy to force yourself to perform the things you detest.
The key for me would be to keep my self-promised rewards (i.e., don't put the blame clean up and receive your remuneration quicker) and not deviate from them.
Conclusion.
Your ability to handle your home care responsibilities more effectively will hopefully be aided by some of the suggestions offered below.
If you've just had an especially super busy day or are juggling multiple family obligations, it can be challenging to find the effort and time to clean and maintain your home. However, maintaining your household is essential, especially if you intend to stay in your current home for a while.