As I’ve mentioned many times throughout my blog so far, we parents are a busy breed. There never seems to be enough time in our day and we often need to prioritize the more pressing tasks. Cleaning is often something that gets shoved to the wayside. Often times it’s hard to take action because the task can seem so daunting once it’s been piling on for a while. So, what do you do when you have little to no time and a house full of messy? Make the time, and clean it, of course. However, it doesn’t have to take you a huge amount of time. Lately, I’ve been getting really good at maintenance cleaning and doing a little at a time. My house gets messy, sure. That happens when you have a toddler running amok. But, by staying on top of the cleaning with 5-10 minutes here and there, I’ve been able to keep my house from getting being dirty. So, I’ll share with you a few of my time-saving tips to help you clean your home faster.
1. Set A Timer
This tip has recently become one of my favorites. When you need to tackle a cleaning 
project, it can be very helpful to set a timer. If you’ve only got 10 minutes before you have to leave for work, set a time for 10 minutes and tackle as much as you possibly can in that 10 minute time frame. Usually for me, I focus on one area of my house in those 10 minutes. For instance, if I’m doing the kitchen, I start by tidying up. Anything that goes in a different room gets tossed into a laundry basket or something similar to be put away during my next chunk of cleaning time. Then, working as fast as possible, I go from top to bottom. I dust the ceiling fan blades, top of cabinet, microwave, stove, etc. Then I do a speedy wipe down of the counters either with a simple cleaner spray and a washcloth or some cleaning wipes. I do a quick sweep of the floors and sometimes I even have the time to mop. I only do this if it totally needs it though. Then, if by some miracle of God I still have time after all that, I’ll put away the clean dishes and re-load the dishwasher with the dirty ones I put in the sink during the tidy phase. When you set a timer, it does two things for you: 1) Gives you the ability to focus on the task at hand because you have a specific time frame set aside for that task. 2) It lights a fire under your booty to clean like a mad person!
2. Get The Right Equipment
I have a list of all the different cleaning tools that help me get more done on a daily basis. First off, I love my robot vacuum. I don’t have a Roomba or fancy name brand one. I have one that I purchased for less than $200 and it gets the job done just fine. I 
can set it to vacuum on a regular basis if I want, but I prefer to just turn it on as needed when I’m about to go work on my blog or something. Secondly, I like using a Swiffer duster for my surfaces for daily upkeep. It literally takes me all of 5 minutes to get around my entire house dusting every surface. It’s amazing! Third, a spray mop is an amazing thing as well. I can mop my floors so quickly because I just spray a bit and wipe. There are all kinds of products and hacks and things to help you more efficiently clean your home. These three items specifically have cut my cleaning time down immensely!
3. Get Rid Of The Clutter
More than likely you have tons of crap in your home that you haven’t touched in years. It’s been sitting in the corner of the living room, untouched by anything but dust for a while and you just ignore it. Clean around it. Pretend that some day you’ll get around to using it. GET RID OF IT ALREADY! Have you ever noticed how easy it is to acquire stuff? I bet you could set a timer for 10 minutes and go through your home and be able to find 20 items to get rid of. If you did this every day for a month, the clutter in your home would decrease dramatically. The beauty of this system of setting a timer and shooting for getting rid of 20 things is that it forces you to make a decision quickly. If it hasn’t been used in over a year and isn’t a keepsake item, toss it, donate it, or sell it. Once your home has less clutter, you’ll quickly find that cleaning it becomes a much more efficient task.
4. Done Is Better Than Perfect
It can be easy to get caught up in the details when trying to clean your home. You think that if you are super thorough and do a detailed clean, you won’t have to do it as often. Think again, folks. Despite how meticulously you clean your living room, it’s going to get dirty again. It’s where the family hangs out 80% of the time (at least in my house). So, I’m not going to get bogged down trying to make everything “just so” since it will be messy again within a matter of hours to days. Then, after working so hard, it’s so disappointing to have it get messy again and causes anger, etc. So, instead of dealing with all that anguish, do a decent job quickly. Tidy up, clean the dirt and dust, and move on to the next thing.
5. Escape With Music Or A Podcast
I’ve mentioned this before in my posts, but listening to music or a podcast while cleaning 
has made a huge difference in my performance. First of all, I’m less annoyed with having to tidy up after everyone else in my household. Secondly, I get to escape reality a little bit while still contributing to a better living environment. Third, it makes it way more enjoyable. I like listening to a good book or an inspiring podcast. I feel that it enhances my experience and may even help give me some new perspective or life tips to help me grow as an individual. So, not only do I get the rewards of a cleaner home, I also get some personal growth out of it. Sign me up!
As always, give yourself some grace. Unless you are someone who stays home all day every day and your only responsibility is cleaning your house, your home probably isn’t going to be 100% clean 100% of the time. It’s nearly impossible. Remember that most people know this and won’t be expecting perfection when they come over. If they are, well don’t let them come over anymore and make you feel bad. Just pick away at the cleaning whenever you can and you’ll get it done. Just stop putting it off. Take some action, even small steps. It’s OK to not get it all done in one day. As long as you take some sort of initiative to make a difference in your home each day, you’ll see how quickly it can get cleaned up.
Much love and productive vibes,
Momma Caped Nerd ❤
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