Cleaning is an inevitable part of the daily routine for most folks. Even with hired help, there are still little messes and cleaning tasks that need to be done more immediately and more often than your housekeeper is reasonably able to handle. These little daily cleaning tasks can pile up and get kicked around the proverbial family responsibility pool being left ignored or forgotten. The best way to tackle this common problem is by training yourself and the family in some simple habits that make a big difference. With habits, you’re looking to imprint new physical actions with regards to specific tasks making them second nature. This helps make it so that you don’t even have to think about doing things; they just get done. In this article, we will go over the best practices to help you handle the most common areas of concern around the home We begin with supplies.
There is nothing more discouraging to the cleaning process then going to grab for a sponge, rag, or supplies and not having anything clean or enough to work with. It puts a major damper on your whole plan and more often than not leads to procrastination. Make sure to keep multiples of these things on hand so that it is more encouraging to take on the little messes around the home.
The kitchen is a primary hot zone for mess and needs particular daily attention in many areas. The best practice here is to always clean as you go, doing your absolute best to leave everything looking untouched before leaving the kitchen. The most common point of concern here is, of course, the dishes. Doing the dishes before they pile up is healthier, better smelling, and better looking overall. Even if you have a dishwasher, it is just good to get into the habit of cleaning things properly with your hands. Sometimes there is just no substitute for the old-fashioned methods.
Another kitchen related habit that applies to the rest of the home as well as wiping down surfaces immediately after use. Whether it’s the kitchen counter or table, the bathroom vanity, or even the top of your dresser, it is good to use those extra supplies on hand to wipe down surfaces as you leave a room. This is great for dust control and pest management.
Clothes are a common clutter item that tends to obstruct both physically and visually. Putting clothes away and out of sight at the beginning and end of each day goes a long way to keeping your home organized. Organizing in general with storage bins and areas is a keystone of great housekeeping.
It might seem trivial if you’re not used to it, but there is a great and classic habit to develop for the bedroom as well. That is, making the bed daily, its another great traditional way of keeping an important room of the home clean and tidy.
Practicing habits daily with conscious effort is the key to making those habits second nature. It’s important to throw aside feelings of annoyance and failure if you forget in the beginning. Everything is a learning process, and it will be so with the family as well. This is entirely normal, and normalizing recognizing when you forget to perform the habits is just as important as getting them done. We all learn from mistakes, and we learn from habits as well.
