Mastering the Art of Consistent Cleaning Routines
Throughout the years of creating this blog, a lot has come up: How to stay consistent with cleaning your home has been a popular request. First and foremost, it took time for me to get into a maintenance mode completely different from managing chaos mode.
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Secondly, you are not alone in struggling with consistency. This blog is a safe place, and there will be no shaming in my community.
In the hustle and bustle of motherhood, it can be easy for cleaning tasks to pile up and become overwhelming. The key to success lies in establishing and sticking to effective cleaning routines. This guide will share practical steps to help you keep up with your cleaning routines effortlessly. And show you ways to always have a clean home.
Make tiny, consistent efforts each day
One of the things I do every day is do a daily reset of the house. This means I stop everything and take 15-30 minutes to put things back in their place.
You can decide when it works best throughout your day, but set a timer and just hit go. This is not a cleaning session. This is a put everything back in its place.
You know how you see the brush left out on the counter from brushing your hair this morning? This is the time to put it away. The cups around the counter, end tables, or bedrooms are collecting; this means it’s time to put them in the sink. The toys toss them all into the toy bin area.
We often pick something up and don’t put it back, repeating repeatedly until we see piles everywhere.
This is when the overwhelm hits us as we scan the room and see things all over the couches, counters, and floor.
Revisit your tasks even after disruption
If you are a mom, you know this scenario very well. You are in the middle of cleaning or getting something done. And you hear, “Mom! Or Mom, I am…. Fill in the blanks:” It happens a gazillion times a day.
I want you to learn to refocus yourself on your task even after the kids disrupt you. Get them the snack and get back to loading the dishwasher.
Kids finish the snack and leave a mess. Finish loading the dishwasher first; don’t start a new task. The kid falls and needs a bandaid, give hugs and cuddles, and then LOAD THE DISHWASHER!
It’s a brain hack I used
We must finish the task even if we take fifteen minutes to play with the kids. This was something I worked on with kids at home full-time. I strived to finish the task.
Do these five non-negotiable cleaning tasks each day
Having non-negotiable tasks helps set the stage from the I don’t know what I am doing each day to successful productivity even if the rest of the day is a hot mess.
- Make beds daily – After I brush my teeth and get dressed, we make the bed. Kiddos have to do the same. This is an easy, simple task of habit of stacking and building blocks for kids. These fun chore charts can help you get started with something like this.
- Do the dishes every day – load that dishwasher and hit start. Empty that sink each day.
- Do a load of laundry – start to finish each day ( Read this to reduce laundry woes by 50%)
- Reset the kitchen daily – this means wiping down counters and cleaning up the floor
- Handle all your mail daily – Gather the mail, sort it, toss the junk, and put the documents in their permanent home for whatever action needs to be taken.
Use planners and organizers to help you
Keeping a planner or list of tasks to be completed can be helpful if you are the type of person who needs to check things off the list.
I am a list maker and a do-it-now kinda person. But planners work especially to start a routine and help keep you on task. As you start the routine, refer back to the list often to keep you on task.
Here are some done for your planners and a checklist that you can start using today
Create a color-coded chart for block scheduling
Using block scheduling can really help getting your day together in knowing what you are going to be working on.
Block scheduling is a time management technique that involves breaking your day into larger chunks of time, or “blocks,” dedicated to specific tasks or activities. This approach can help improve focus, increase productivity, and reduce the tendency to multitask.
When you create the visual, it can help you feel more calm and helps the kids anticipate what is coming. Use fun colors to make it more appealing to the kids or yourself.
Break Tasks into Manageable Chunks
Rather than overwhelming yourself with an extensive list of chores, break them down into smaller tasks.
We don’t need to clean the whole house in a day. Break things by room or area.
Remember, once an area has been cleaned, figure out the best time frame to revisit this area. Is it weekly, monthly, or every couple of days? Then, you can break those tasks into your to-do list based on your life.
Create a Power Hour
For the past nine years of my stay-at-home mother journey, I have been using the system of a power hour. For me, that has been pivotal to my success. When I was a corporate working mom, that power hour was split in half—thirty minutes in the morning and another in the afternoon.
I started this routine when the kids were napping. That nap time was my power hour, and I got the non-negotiable list of things done and then worked on others as I could.
Gradually, my power changed as the kids got older, fed themselves, watched TV in the morning, started preschool classes, and so on.
Now it starts at nine am after the kids are off to school.
This power hour fits in the category of non-negotiable for me. That means one hour each morning, I do nothing but my tasks before I do groceries, work on the blog/business, make calls, or whatever the rest of my day will look like.
I plan even my doctor’s appointments around this hour. So nothing starts before then.
Bookend your days
To “bookend” your day means to start and finish your day with specific activities or routines that help establish a sense of structure, focus, and balance. Just like bookends hold books in place on a shelf, these activities serve as anchors for your day. By incorporating positive and productive habits at the beginning and end of your day, you can enhance your overall well-being, productivity, and mindset.
Think about what things you want to start your day with and how you want to end your day. My first bookend is my non-negotiables, and my end-of-day bookend is my kitchen reset.
These are my bookends for my home management. I also have bookends for my personal goals, like self-care in the morning and evening and reading my bible.
You must start your day with a deliberate and positive routine and close your day with activities that help you wind down, reflect, and prepare for restful sleep.
No… staying awake at night thinking about what you didn’t get done or none of the mom guilt thought train here.
Understand that organization is a process
We must first organize what serves us daily and work on other areas as needed. If you have ever gotten excited and started a whole organizing project and then, halfway through, wanted to quit?
Yeah, we have all been there. The desire is super strong, but either the area was too big of a job, or it’s not what we immediately need.
I have succeeded in organizing small areas at a time in order of need.
But I also have to tame my. I just want it done now, mentally. I am sure you have a list of areas you would love to organize, as do I. But realistically, I don’t have the time, and I have to focus on what will make my life easier now.
I would love for my storage space to be totally done. But in this season of motherhood, it’s more important for me to focus on having an organized mudroom and kitchen because we use it every day.
As for the storage area, I won’t abandon it completely; I just have to figure out the best time to make small progress.
Focus on Creating a Routine that Works Around Your Life
There are a lot of cleaning routines out there that people have found success in. But if you are reading this post and those routines have yet to work for you, find what does and build on from there.
Work with your natural timeline and build a routine
Garbage day in our household is Thursdays; why? Not because I chose this random day, it’s because garbage pickup is Friday morning.
I wipe down the fridge after garbage day and or before I restock because the refrigerator is at the point where it will have the least amount of food.
These are naturally occurring events and timelines, and I sneak in a cleaning routine when it fits best.
By setting clear goals, creating manageable schedules, and implementing practical strategies, you can keep up with your cleaning routines without feeling overwhelmed. Remember, the journey to a cleaner space is continuous, and the effort you invest will yield rewarding results in the long run.
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