Written: November 3, 2021
If you were to look at my house most of the time, you probably wouldn’t believe that messes make me anxious. With 2 young kids, my house gets messy often. Sometimes it feels like the walls are closing in around me. There are many days when I look around and wonder why I am even allowed to own a home. Thank you, anxiety.
Thankfully, at some point, I do finally realize that the only way to fix it is to clean it. But sometimes time is an issue. Since having children, I’ve had to lower my expectations a bit and accept the fact that it may be a while before my house is ever truly clean. But that doesn’t mean that it has to be a complete disaster. I’m nowhere near qualified to be giving out major cleaning advice, but sometimes I do actually get my act together and pull off an awesome tidying job.
So if you’re like me, and your house makes you anxious, try following these steps. You may find that a simple quick clean can brighten your day.
TIP: It may be hard, but when you are short on time, try to stay focused on cleaning just what you can see. Stay out of cabinets and pantries. I have been known to get caught up in projects that end up taking the entire day, only to have to throw everything back where it came from because time ran out. I end up having lost the whole day and the house can even look messier than it was before.
1. Collect Garbage and Recycle
Between empty water bottles, snack wrappers and ripped up paper (courtesy of my children), we tend to have a fair amount of garbage and recycle to pick up around the house. My husband has a water bottle graveyard next to his side of the bed that is often neglected. The first thing I do is grab 2 bags to collect it all. Then I keep the bags close by in case I come across anything later on.
2. Laundry
Next, I go around collecting any dirty laundry. For some reason it’s common for my family to leave clothes exactly where they removed them. After collecting, I start a load in the wash and move on to folding and putting away the clothes that I have been using to warm my sofas (sigh… I am very much part of the mess problem as well).
3. Put Things In Their Proper Room
This is where I find myself losing focus if I’m not careful. The next thing I do is pick things up and put them in their proper room. Don’t just toss it in there, but don’t spend 5 minutes rummaging around the room for its proper place. I’m not “de-cluttering”, I’m simply moving things to the general area they belong. It has made it a lot easier to come back later for a more thorough clean.
4. Dust/Wipe Down
Hopefully, after doing the last 3 steps, the area is mostly clean. The next step is to dust and wipe down surfaces. If you are sensitive to dust flying around, you could get an air purifier. It’s been a life saver for me as I have fought some pretty massive and angry dust bunnies.
5. Sweep/Mop
Now that you have cleared the floor and wiped all the dust in your house onto it, it’s time to clean the floor again. You know what’s really fun? Thinking you are almost done and then sweeping under the furniture only to find piles of long lost trinkets and toys that you now need to sort through. Just make sure you check everything before you vacuum. Aside from finding surprise treasures, sweeping and vacuuming are pretty simple tasks.
So there you have it. A quick way to tidy your home. I find that when I make a habit of the “quick clean”, I have more motivation to do more of a deep clean when time permits. Now if you’ll excuse me, my house is a mess… again… and I need to practice what I preach.