Arguments in the average household often center around cleaning: who hasn’t taken out the trash, which child hasn’t cleaned their room or whose turn is it to do the dishes, and it can cause a lot of stress! However, there are ways to stress less about cleaning, and to not have your entire household argue about it hour after hour, day after day.
Here are 5 top tips for stressing less about cleaning:
- Do it in stages
Cleaning the whole house can take hours, and most people don’t have that much time to spare in the average day, so break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks to be tackled over a period of days. If you get everyone in the household to pitch in and do 10-15 minutes cleaning every day, so much the better!
- Think about how good it will feel when it’s done
The end result after cleaning always makes the effort worthwhile, so try to remind yourself of how good you’ll feel when you stand back and admire your hard work, once you’ve finished.
- Occupy your mind
While some people can clean without needing anything to motivate them, others find that listening to music or even an audiobook, can help give them the motivation to get the tasks completed, and quicker. If you’re really lucky, you might be so busy enjoying what you’re listening to, that before you know it, you’ve cleaned the entire place from top to bottom!
- Set a schedule and stick to it
Unless an emergency comes up and you really can’t devote time to cleaning on the days and times you’ve set for yourself, you should try to stick to a schedule at all times. Not only does this help you ensure that the cleaning gets done, but you’ll feel a bigger sense of accomplishment afterwards. Try to make realistic schedules though, to avoid feeling stressed if you can’t finish it all, and to make sure that you actually get enough done!
- Be kind to yourself
Cleaning does take time and effort, and it can be hard to fit it in around a busy schedule. Be kind to yourself if you miss a few cleaning tasks one week, and simply tell yourself that you’ll do a little extra next week when you have more time.
One way of avoiding the stress associated with keeping a clean home altogether, is to hire a professional cleaner. Say goodbye to all your dirty dishes, piles of laundry and grubby floors, for good!
