I’m a natural clean freak. I love a clean home so much so that when I lost my job 15 years ago, my first thought was to start my own cleaning company. The company was so successful, it was the number one reason I was able to get out of debt.
The majority of people I know hate to clean their homes. They find the task tedious, time-consuming, gross, and frankly most would rather be doing anything else but grabbing the duster and vacuum. It’s probably why there’s no shortage of cleaning companies that are filled to the brim with clients.
But not everyone is so lucky to be able to afford a cleaning person. If that’s you, then you’ll want to make an attempt to adopt and implement these 1o tasks. You’ll find your home cleaner and clutter free each morning when you get up – and that’s a great way to start the day.
10 Tasks To A Clean and Clutter Free Morning
These tasks that you’ll do won’t all be done in the morning, but rather they’ll be done at different parts of the day resulting in a clean and clutter free morning.
You’ll want to enlist the help of your family, as there’s no reason you need to be doing all the work yourself. If you’re having a hard time gaining cooperation from your kids and significant other, it may be time for a family meeting or a heart to heart conversation.
The Family Meeting
I suggest a family meeting for a couple of reasons. Family meetings are great opportunities to teach your kids what you expect of them, instead of trying to do it on the run or without thoughtful discussion. Second, it’s a chance for all members of the family to brainstorm ideas to help the family work better and to express concerns or grievances regarding any changes that are being implemented.
If you’ve never expected your children or husband to pick up after themselves, this may be a challenge. But old habits can be replaced with new habits if you take the time and effort to be consistent with your expectations.
If your husband is the major slob in the family, you may want to have a private discussion with him prior to the family meeting. Dad will need to get on board with your desire for a cleaner and more organized home.
You see, this is about expressing your needs, and as a family shouldn’t we be there to help each other get our needs met?
When I was married, I was fortunate that I married a man who understood my need for a clean and orderly house. He was supportive of that and helped with the housework. I never was responsible for keeping the house clean on my own. We were partners, and we both took pride in the appearance of our home.
So ladies, if your husband is resistant, it’s time for a soulful conversation about why this is important to you and why you need his support and cooperation. Frankly, if he refuses to cooperate there’s probably more going on than a family meeting can fix.
Deep Clean First
So you’ve got your family on board and everyone is in agreement that they’ll do a better job keeping the house clean and organized. Before you implement the daily tasks, you should give you house a good deep cleaning. Set aside a Saturday or Sunday and get everyone on board and cleaning. It’s much easier to implement these tasks when you’re starting with a clean slate – or home in this case.
Be prepared that if your home has been neglected, and depending on the size of your home, it could take all day to get your house up to speed. This isn’t said to discourage you, but rather to be realistic about the time frame you’ll need to set aside to get the job done.
If you’ve got the money and you can’t fathom the idea of doing the deep cleaning yourself, hire professionals to do it for you. Keep in mind one time cleans can be expensive. Cleaning services will charge anywhere from $30 – $50 per person, per hour to clean. So if they bring in a team of four people and they clean for 6 hours it will cost you $720 – $1200 for the job.
Keep in mind, in six hours a team can do everything from windows, to washing baseboards along with all the other deep cleaning task. You’re house would look amazing when done.
But if you have four able-bodied people in your home, you can accomplish the same thing on your own. It just depends on your level of willingness to get in there and really clean the house.
The Tasks
Finally, we’ve come to the place where your home is clean and you’re ready to start implementing your daily tasks.
1. Pick Up After Yourself
I don’t care if it’s your coat that needs to be put away, your cup left behind in the family room, or your dirty socks on the bedroom floor. Be responsible for yourself and put whatever you use away when you’re done with it. Don’t expect someone else (aka MOM) to do these things for you.
2. Make Your Bed
Making your bed automatically makes your bedroom look cleaner and more organized. It’s also a nice way to find your bed at the end of a long day. It’s inviting to walk into your bedroom and know all you have to do is turn down the covers and jump in.
3. Handle The Mail Each Day
The mail can be a great source of clutter in many homes. When it comes in, go through it and immediately toss what you don’t want and put your bills in the place designated for bills so that you can readily find what you need when it comes time to pay them. If you ignore this, the mail will quickly get out of control and you’ll find yourself drowning paper clutter.
4. Take Out the Garbage
Make someone responsible to do this chore daily, and I recommend it be one of your smaller children (8-9 yr olds). After supper have them go around the house with a garbage bag and collect all the trash from bathrooms, bedrooms, anywhere there’s a trash can. Trash can collect quickly and make a room look messy, particularly a bathroom whose trash container is overflowing with Kleenex and used q-tips.
5. Keep Towels Off The Bathroom Floor
At the end of a shower or bath, make sure family members have a place to hang their towels so they don’t end up on the floor.
6. Wipe Down Bathroom Counters Nightly
At the end of the day, have someone take a sanitizing wipe and give the bathroom counter a quick swipe. It will be ready for the next day – clean and sanitized.
7. Do Dishes Each Night
Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink. Instead make sure the dishwasher is emptied each morning so it’s available to put dishes into it. If you have a dish rack, put clean dishes away. The kitchen will appear cleaner and will be ready to prepare your next meal.
8. Wipe Down Kitchen Sink and Counters Each Night
Once the dishes have been put away, take a few minutes to clean out the sink and wipe down the counters. I can’t tell you how many homes I’ve cleaned where people don’t clean the sink each night. The sink looks disgusting and the disposal stinks not to mention it’s a breeding ground for germs.
9. Eat At the Table
When you allow the family to eat in the family room what tends to happen? Spills, that’s what, and spills make the house look dirty. Not to mention the left over dishes and cups that get left behind by the people who don’t feel like bringing them back to the kitchen and loading them in the dishwasher.
10. Sweep/Vacuum/Swiffer The Floors On the First Floor
Each night the last thing I do before I turn off the lights and head upstairs is to run my little Swiffer Vac around the first floor. It takes me 2 minutes and I pick up crumbs and debris that has been tracked all day into the house. You can use any method that works for you like sweeping, but the little Swiffer Vac is perfect for the task.
That’s it folks; there’s nothing too demanding of your time to keep your home clean and organized. If everyone pitches in, it will take the family no time at all to keep your house clean.
Lastly I want to say that I don’t ALWAYS do these tasks. Sometimes my life gets hectic, I’m tired, I just don’t feel like it and I let it go. But the next day, I feel better and I get my house in order again because it’s important to me.
If it’s important to you to have a clean and orderly home, consider adopting these habits.
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