Most people view house cleaning as a boring and tedious chore.
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But did you know that there are actually ways to make it super simple and convenient? With a few tricks up your sleeve, you can make cleaning an easy and effortless task that naturally fits into your daily routines and habits.
5 Easy Tips for Convenient Cleaning
The reason most people hate cleaning is that it’s often associated with lots of time and effort. (Not to mention it usually requires you to get a little messy.) But with the following tips, you’ll find there are ways to clean without suffering through these usual frustrations. Let’s take a look together.
- Declutter
You might not think you have a lot of stuff, but you probably do. Roughly one in four Americans has a serious clutter problem. More than half of people (55 percent) say it’s a huge cause of stress. And by one count, the average home has more than 300,000 individual items in it. (That includes every paper clip, picture frame, fork, and piece of furniture.)
You can do yourself a huge favor by decluttering and getting rid of things you don’t need. Not only does this make it easier to stay organized, but it also gives you less to clean/clean around.
When decluttering, you should go one room at a time and put your hands on every single item. Toss what you don’t need, donate the things that you no longer use, and keep anything that still serves a functional purpose.
- Give Everything a Place
Once you’ve decluttered, keeping your house clean becomes much more manageable. The key now is to give everything a place. Nothing should freely move from place to place. The coffee maker needs a place. Your office supplies need a place. Extra blankets need a place.
When everything has a place – and everyone living in the house knows where those places are – it’s less likely that the house will get out of order. This makes cleaning a much more straightforward process.
- Have the Right Equipment & Supplies
If you find cleaning frustrating, it’s possible that you don’t have the right equipment or supplies. This makes it more difficult and time-consuming to actually clean various parts of your house.
You’ll have to decide which specific products and cleaning tools you need, but at the very least, make sure you have a good vacuum cleaner. (And, by the way, if you’re building or remodeling a house, talk to your contractor about installing a central vacuum cleaner. This will change your life!)
- Clean As You Go
Most people wait until their house is a total wreck before begrudgingly setting aside a weekend to clean. But if you clean as you go, you won’t ever run into this situation. (And you’ll certainly never need to waste a whole weekend on cleaning.)
Teach your family the habit of cleaning up as they go. As soon as an activity (like cooking, playing in the backyard, doing homework, etc.) is completed, each item should be returned to its place.
- Spend 20 Minutes Per Evening
Want to know a hack that will totally change your entire approach to cleaning? Set aside 20 minutes each evening for cleaning. Make it a daily habit (just like cooking dinner, letting out the dogs, or watching the news).
If you have young kids, the best time to do this is immediately after putting them down for bed. This ensures they won’t immediately mess up what you’ve taken time to organize. If you don’t have kids, you might take 20 minutes as soon as you get home from work. (It doesn’t matter when – just find a time that works for your family.)
When you take 20 minutes per day to clean, it generally allows you to stay ahead of the mess. And when your house looks clean all the time, you’re less likely to let messes slide. It actually encourages you to be better about cleaning as you go.
Adding it All Up
Keeping your house clean doesn’t have to be a major chore. If you follow the tips outlined in this article, it can actually be a relatively painless process. The key is to do a little bit at a time and to avoid letting big messes pile up. If you follow this advice, you’ll be just fine.