Welcome to Day 6 of the 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge! We’re decluttering, reorganizing and taking a breath of fresh air to create a home we love. If this is your first time at the challenge, you may want to start here at the beginning.
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It’s time for the truth bomb. I despise cleaning. Seriously, it’s at the bottom of the “things Laura’s wants to do” list. So, for me, I try to keep things super simple to stay on top of the necessary chores and the rest … well, it gets done when people are coming over to the house. Ha!
I did make one of my New Year’s goals geared toward cleaning: to hire someone to do it for me this year. 😉 Seriously, the idea of someone else cleaning my house every two weeks sounds heavenly. We’ll see if I muster up the courage to find someone, but it’s high on the priority list of goals I want to accomplish this year. LOL
Although I don’t like to clean, I have a few cleaning posts here. Above I’m making my all-natural glass stove top cleaner.
RELATED: Why I Finally Hired a House Cleaner
But even if someone comes to my house and cleans every couple of weeks, I still have to keep up with the daily picking up (hello! kids live here) and the dishes and the laundry and the wiping down the counters and all of the other eleventy-bajillion things to do to keep a home from turning into a complete hot mess zone.
Tips for An Organized House Cleaning Schedule
- Set real and attainable goals for your daily home. Examples: do one load of laundry from start to finish every day, don’t go to bed without a clean kitchen, vacuum the living area every evening after dinner, make your bed each morning. Whatever is important to you, make it a priority.
- Be disciplined about your goals. I am personally learning that organization is not a one and done thing. I can’t just make a goal or set up a system and it will magically run itself for me. It’s a life-long learning process with bumps and failures and miscues and wins all along the way. But to succeed at it, one must be disciplined about keeping a home in order. Remember to give yourself grace in the process, and then get back on the organization wagon.
- Turn your goals into daily rituals. For me, I always run the dishwasher after dinner. Even if it’s not completely full, I run it. That keeps things in check. I also do laundry on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Those are my laundry days to get it all done. I also will go through seasons where I’ll do a load a day or every two days. Whatever you choose, make it a “rule” and try to stick to it. I dump my clean laundry on my bed and force myself to fold it while my hubby is getting ready for bed each night. (I stay up later than he does, so I don’t need to get ready for bed just yet.) This keeps it from piling up somewhere out of sight.
- Commit to a Cleaning Schedule. If you’re the sort of person who likes a schedule, then create one for the other regular cleaning chores like dusting, vacuuming, cleaning windows, etc. I personally just do them as needed or when someone is coming over. 😬 It all went out when window when I had my first baby, so it’s probably time I either hired someone to do it (updated: I finally did and it’s amazing!) or reinstated a cleaning schedule. #preachingtomyself
- Flylady.net is one of my favorite resources for cleaning your home and keeping it clean. I used her system and her app to keep track of all that before I had kids.
- Do you want to clean your whole house in one day? Use this checklist.
- Need a list of daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning chores? Then you’ll need this.
- You can print out this blank cleaning checklist printable, laminate it and use a dry erase marker to check it off as you go!
- Whatever you choose, put it in your Home Organization Binder to keep it handy! I’ll be doing the same!
- Update: I got a Roomba for Christmas in 2017 and it has CHANGED my LIFE! If you can get one, do it. It’s worth every penny to have your floors cleaned once a day. Seriously, best investment in the past 5 years.
- Declutter! I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty good declutterer. But I’ve recently realized,with this little book (affiliate link), that I’m not at ALL a good declutterer. (Is that even a word??) I have major clutter in my home. But I’m remedying that and will share more about it very soon. It’s super exciting! 😂 You’ll become an amazing declutterer, too, I just know it! Without clutter, though, it’s sooooo much easier to keep your house clean. So, this may be the solution for my distaste of cleaning. We’ll see!
Do you have a tried and true cleaning schedule that you follow? If so, share with the rest of us in the comments. We’re dying to know what works!
Don’t forget to share your organizing and decluttering this month on social media using the hashtag #lessofahotmess.
The Messy Work: Determine your cleaning goals and make a cleaning schedule. Write it down (or find a cute printable – use search on Pinterest) and stick it in your Home Organization Binder. I’ll be doing this one with you! #longoverdue
We’re going to take things light and easy this weekend, so that you can get caught up if you missed any of the “Messy Works” during the week. But tomorrow we’ll chat about decluttering and organizing something that you take with you wherever you go! See you tomorrow!
In the mess with you, Laura
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Miscelleana Tsalikis says
I think I went a little crazy on this one, but I am determined to get my house cleaned! I downloaded an app called OurHome, and I am adding EVERY SINGLE chore to the app. Times. Reminders. I have the chores broken down by me and a few the kids do. You can organize everything in a very clean and simple way by family member. Sure it’s taking like an hour or two to input everything… But there’s a lot to do! I can even set rewards since each chore has a point awarded to it. That means I can get my own allowance. I can’t wait to show the hubby! 🙂
Laura says
Nice!! Go girl!
Natasha says
I too am not big on cleaning. Not that I don’t mind doing it…. I just have other things I would prefer to do. LOL.. I DO love organization and a clean house, and find that I get a little crazy when things start to get cluttered and disorganized. It’s getting the rest of the family on board to keeping things clean what drives me crazy. Otherwise… things would be a breeze.
FlyLady.com has been great. Used this system many times in the past, and was gonna get back to it, but I found some great printables over at http://www.amomstake.com. I have recently started with this, just to get some basic things done through the week, and will resort to FlyLady for the detailed cleaning, once I get the basics under control.
Thanks for all the great posts. Loving the challenge.
Laura says
Yes, yes, yes, Natasha!! To everything you said, especially the getting everyone else on board. LOL! Thanks for sharing that new resource. I’m off to check it out! Blessings, Laura
Natasha says
Hope you found the resource useful. Been working well for me. Thanks!
Melanie at Dish Dish says
I totally agree with your thoughts about being disciplined with certain daily tasks to help keep things clean – i.e. running the dishwasher every evening regardless of how full it is, and having a routine for folding laundry where it will get done and put away without stockpiling. Thanks for sharing these motivational ideas!
Terrie Chastain says
So far so good!! Thanks for giving us a light weekend. I have some catch up messy work to do 🙂
Laura says
Happy catching up, Terrie! 🙂 I’m planning most weekends to be fairly light. So we can hopefully all stay caught up!
Blessings to your day! – Laura