10 Simple Ways to Get Your House Cleaning Under Control

Keeping a clean and tidy house takes work and can be frustrating when you know that .3 seconds after your house is clean there will be another load of laundry that needs to be done or toys strewn from one end of the house to the other.  I love a clean house, and I bet you do too.  Not sure how to actually get the house cleaning under control?  The magic of the ‘Clean Mama Cleaning Routine’ is that it has room for real life and gives you lots of grace to get it done.  And if you don’t, there’s always tomorrow or next week.  My mantra is ‘everyday a little something’ and once I embraced the fact that everything wasn’t going to get done on the same day, it freed me up to just keep doing little things every day.  Those little things surprisingly add up and your home will be clean most of the time.  How’s that for attainable?

Unsure of where to start and feeling overwhelmed with the piles, stacks, and dust around you?  Start small and try one or all ten of these simple ways to get your house cleaning under control!

1. Be realistic and specific with your goals and to do list.  List specific things that need to change.  If your laundry never gets from the basket to the closet, make a goal to take one load of laundry from start to folded and put away every day.  This little task can make big differences in your homekeeping!
2. Not sure where to start?  Or feel like you’re climbing up a mountain?  Choose most important areas and start there.  The kitchen is a great place to start and then move on to bathrooms and living spaces.
3. Stop making excuses.  If you really want to make a clean house a goal, even 10 minutes a day will be forward progress.  Do that for a month and increase to 15 minutes the next month.  Chances are you’ll be pretty surprised what you can done in minutes and with a daily commitment.
4. Make it a routine and schedule it, but allow for life to happen.  I have a pretty detailed cleaning routine and schedule with 4 simple daily tasks and a cleaning task for each day.  Every day I do a load of laundry, tackle a little bit of clutter (mail, kids’ papers, etc.), wipe counters, check floors (vacuum/sweep if necessary).  Then I also add in a daily cleaning task – on Monday I clean bathrooms, Tuesday is dusting day, etc.  
5. Set a timer for 15 minutes and see what you can done.  If you have clutter holding you back, grab a garbage bag and quickly declutter to get you started.  Toss anything that’s trash-able, donate items that can be donated, and relocate those out of place items.
6. Work quickly and without distractions (like the computer or phone).  Just like how you can’t believe how much time you just wasted scrolling your Instagram feed, you’ll probably surprise yourself with how much you can get done just by turning off those distractions and tidying up a bit.
7. Don’t clean your home all at once – break it up into days and mini tasks.  It’s great to have your house clean all at once, but reality is that it’ll need a little maintenance during the week to keep it that way.  That’s why I like doing small tasks all week long, it keeps your home cleaner more of the time.
8. Get others involved.  If there are other people in your house, ask for help and give them specific tasks to complete that make sense for them.  Even little kids can help out with laundry, dusting, or my favorite kid task – cleaning the baseboards with baby wipes.
9. Invite someone over.  There isn’t anything more motivating than knowing someone is coming over to get that house cleaned up pronto.  Don’t be afraid to open up your home to friends and neighbors, but if you’re feeling nervous about the piles on the counters, clean it up first.
10. Don’t waste time trying to figure it out.  Not sure what to clean and when to clean it?  Grab my free printable checklist for January and just start!  I share lots of tips on my social pages too – you might like the declutter challenge I’m doing on my Instagram page this January too!

Was a cleaner and more organized house on your list of resolutions this year?  Which one of these will you implement?  Have a tidy tip to share?  

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