I am not that person that has a perfectly clean and tidy house all the time. I don’t think it’s in my DNA plus we truly live in every single inch of our home and life can be messy. It is what it is and I am who I am but it I’m being totally honest, I feel better when things are cleaner and more orderly. I still have delusions of finding a system that works and motivates me but every day and week are so different it’s a moving target.
While I don't have it all figured out, I continue to grow wiser and these are a few things that help me, so I’m hopeful they just might help you too… until we find that perfect, never fails system.
What helps:
1. Taking time to reset. It’s easy to just go, go, go all day and then CRASH. Tell me I’m not alone? But if I can pause a few times and reset, it moves mountains. Clean up after meals. Reset the living area before starting dinner. Close the laundry room door… ok, that one might not be good advice but it helps the appearance of things and works faster than folding baskets of laundry. It's a quick win.
2. Don’t rush to the next task. Have you heard the phrase “Toot in a whirlwind?” Bless it. It can be me. I can work, work, work on something then it’s time for the next thing and I leave it either unfinished or a wreck. If I can slow down, finish what I started, then it’s easier to recover from. I’m not saying I’m good at this, but I know it helps me.
3. Do what you can, when you can. Cleaning is not all or nothing. Every little bit helps. I try to work on things when I have little pockets of time. For example, last week I was waiting for water to boil for our lunch, so I fluffed the couch cushions, put away blankets and vacuumed the rug. It was a huge win in a little time. This one challenges me but I will sometimes even just mop the worst part of the floor when I don’t have time to do it all. It’s progress and better than it was before.
4. Figure out what makes you happy. This is NOT a follow your bliss statement, but when you can’t do it all, figure out what matters the most, what feels the cleanest and take care of that. For me, it’s the floors. If I can vacuum a rug or sweep up crumbs it improves my whole outlook so I’ll tackle that for a quick win.
5. Name what truly matters. While our homes are gifts and we should honor that by taking care of them, the people that fill it up are what matter most. Don’t let your quest for clean get in the way of loving your people. Messes sometimes make memories so let go of perfection and truly live in your hour home.
PS I'm not going to lie, having a drawer of the right tools for cleaning helps too. I reach for all of my ecloths first! You can try them all here