I live with my husband, children and pets. This means that the house gets dirty on a daily basis. In as much as I love tidying up, the mess traps me in an endless cycle of cleaning and decluttering. Accordingly, sometimes I feel extremely lazy to leave the bed, let alone lift a finger.
However, this only gets the situation from bad to worse. Piles of clothes accumulate everywhere and dirty dishes sit on each other in the sink and kitchen countertop waiting for me to come to their rescue. Not to mention, the children and pets care less about the messy aftermath of their ups and downs.
This compels me to seeking some motivation because cleaning has to be done come what may.
Also read: Soap quotes
How to Get Motivated to Clean and Declutter
Over time, I have learnt many ways for boosting cleaning motivation. Some are effortless every day life activities whereas others require a little bit of effort. Furthermore, the tips do not work effectively all the time.
I sometimes find myself unable to follow the strict ones. This helps me understand that they might not work for everyone. Therefore, you will need to test each and stick to what works for you.
Listening to Music
As cliché as it sounds, listening to music can boost your morale for doing house cleaning. Just find a collection of your favorite songs and set them to play back to back. Ensure that your playlist is long enough to last the time you will need to complete a specific task.
For example, if it will take you an hour to clean dishes, the playlist should last a little bit longer. The idea is to prevent distractions while completing the task.
A critical tip that works for me is setting the volume high. It helps my mind stay on the task to the end.
Reading Cleaning Quotes
Cleaning quotes comes with all manner of messages. They can be humorous, motivating or informative and so on. Whatever the case, reading them can brighten your mood, thereby making you feel better about house chores.
Drafting a Cleaning Schedule
It is important to formulate a daily, weekly or even monthly cleaning schedule. The program helps you identify essential cleaning tasks and determine the appropriate time for completing them. For example, you might note down that you will be doing dishes daily and cleaning windows after every three days.
A schedule acts as a reminder for every task that needs to be done. Therefore, you are able to stay on top of things by dividing available time to accommodate all the tasks.
Lastly, a cleaning schedule helps you known when the time is right to do a deep cleaning.
Set a timer
This is one of my favorite tips because it helps me battle against time. I find it more effective when completing simple tasks that last from 1 to 15 minutes. Examples include cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, pre-rinsing dishes, sweeping the kitchen floor, sanitizing sinks and wiping living room tables.
A timer keeps you hooked to a task for the dedicated period only. Once the minutes elapse, you move to the next task in line. This allows you to do as much as you can within the set deadline. It is also a simple trick of making you go back to the incomplete tasks once the entire round is done.
Reward Yourself
There is nothing that motivates you to get to the finish line than a reward. The trick has its roots in schools and organizations. It has been tried, tested and proven effective for increasing productivity and results.
Ideally, it is the same concept that you implement at home. The main difference is that you are the one that chooses the task and the reward. For example, you can develop a routine whereby you begin the day by cleaning the dishes and take breakfast thereafter as a reward.
You can also group tasks together and engage in some fun after they are complete. For example, you might decide to watch an episode of your favorite program after moping the floors, squeegeeing shower doors and organizing the bedroom.
Imagine of Important Guest Coming Over
No matter how daunting cleaning is, no one wants to receive guests in a dirty house. This kind of mentality is enough cleaning motivation. It can make you complete the most boring house chores in the least time possible.
Invite your Children to Help with Light Duties
Children are great at creating a mess out of your clean house. However, they also come in handy when laziness sets in. You can engage them in simple house duties such as organizing personal toys, arranging the shoe stand, keeping personal books in the right place, folding clothes and clearing the dining area.
Meanwhile, keep yourself busy with bigger tasks. Try as much as possible to stay on course so that you can motivate the children and yourself.
Decorate your Laundry Room
This tip only applies to the laundry room because washing clothes is a least favorite house chore for many. Generally, placing captivating décor in your laundry room keeps your spirit up. It also makes the room appear tidy and helps you work towards maintaining the appearance.
Try a New Product
The curiosity to determine how a new product works can be a major source for cleaning motivation. Further, it helps you discover better products for specific tasks.
Personally, I like to try sweet smelling soaps and detergents.
Read Cleaning and Organizing Books
Cleaning and organizing reading materials are highly motivating because they provide new and interesting ways of completing tasks. They help you discover better ways of organizing kitchen cabinets, arranging clothes and shoes, or storing cereals and so on.
As you learn, you develop the desire to make your house look better and work towards the goal.
Take one Step at a Time
Cleaning is a gradual process. Do not expect to wake up one day and turn your house spotless. You will most likely get overwhelmed and resent the duties for several days. And before you know it, your house will be back to the messy condition.
Develop a habit of completing small tasks every day. This is more like working with a schedule or developing a routine.
Set Manageable Goals
Look at your work schedule and plan accordingly. Do not be unrealistic. It is normal to have several things that need your attention at ago.
Use your busy days to concentrate on small tasks. Allocate big tasks to the days that you have a lot of free time. For example, you can decide to do laundry during weekends.
Find Help
Trying to create a balance between house chores and work is not easy. Similarly, stay at home moms and dads might be preoccupied by other things that leave little or no time for cleaning. It is 100% okay to be in such a situation.
All the same, it is fundamental to keep a tidy house. Hire someone if need be and have the duties done to your expectations.
Invite a Friend
Sometimes, being alone in the house kills the motivation for doing anything. Inviting a friend over, helps deal with the boredom and laziness.
Firstly, you feel under pressure to clean as much as you can so that your friend finds the house looking better. Secondly, the friend keeps you engaged with stories as you slowly complete one task after another.
