How to Take the Stress Out of Cleaning Your Home
Cleaning your home is not what I call a good time but it needs to be done. Whether you work full time or you’re a stay-at-home mom, cleaning can be stressful. Here are six tips to help take the stress out of cleaning your home.
Barter – Create a barter arrangement with another mom. While your kids enjoy a play date at her house, you can use the time to catch up on the chores you struggle to find time for and then you can return the favor for her. If you don’t have someone to trade with, hire a babysitter for a few hours and ask them to take the kids to the park so you can get some extra cleaning done. Even if it’s just an hour a few times a month, the extra time work wonders and getting things done without children underfoot will be much less stressful!
Just do a quick clean up – Grab a garbage bag and go to each room. Quickly scan each room in your home for papers, food and other trash; things that can be picked up easily and stuff them into a trash bag. Don’t clean other things, just gather up trash. Within a very short time, you’ll have made a difference in every room of the house!
Put away laundry right away – When you remove the laundry from the dryer, fold it and put it away immediately. It can be tempting to leave the piles out if you have other loads on the way but if you get distracted or something else comes up, it may be left sitting there. Put your laundry away right away and you’ll feel like you have accomplished more.
The dining room table is for eating – Every table or surface runs the risk of becoming a catch-all. Make it a rule that the dining room table is for food ONLY and set out a nice center piece to help people remember to keep it clear for dinner time. When dinner time comes, setting the table will be a breeze.
Get enough rest the night before – It doesn’t seem like a big deal but it is. If you are well-rested, cleaning the house won’t seem like such a daunting task.
Delegate tasks – Whether it is just you and your spouse or if you have kids, put them to use! Small chores like sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, or picking up clothes off the floor can be delegated even to younger children. Have everyone pitch in and it won’t seem so overwhelming.
