We know for a fact that there are people in this world who love to clean. But for many others, it’s a terribly tedious task. What’s the point of cleaning if everything is dirty again in a couple of days? However, each of us feels the discomfort of having a pile of dishes in the sink and painting canvases on the dusty surfaces. What if you’re not a fan of cleaning and you’d rather prefer to cook or just play the Buffalo King slot online, but you feel like life in a messy, cluttered apartment isn’t cute?
Take a Picture of Your Apartment
Before you throw yourself into “clean as much as you can” mode, take a few pictures of different rooms. And then look at them carefully – as if you’re looking at random pictures of something other than your apartment – and highlight what seems clearly out of place. The most obvious items: clothes lying around, dust on the shelves, and shelves full of change and receipts. But the list can go on forever.
Very often we get used to the inconveniences in our apartment and at some point begin to take them for granted. For example, a bag or suitcase may lie on the floor for two weeks, and on a chair in the room for a long and persistent pile of clothes that don’t seem to have time to wash, but it also doesn’t put it in the closet to clean things. In life, if the eye is already used to these things, they are difficult to see, but in photos we look unfocused. Start cleaning exactly the things that annoy you.
Use the 20/10 Rule
Your first inclination the moment you notice your apartment is dirty is to have a real cleaning marathon. You are expecting that now in a couple of days in electric mode to close all the problem areas and get a clean house, but most likely as a result, you just get very tired and the next time you decide to do a cleaning soon. Because cleaning will begin to associate with all the stress that piled up in the process.
So try to replace the marathon format with short sprints. This practice is quite similar to the working pomodoro technique that coaches advise you to use for procrastination: set a timer for 20 minutes and clean during that time. When the timer rings, take a break for 10 minutes – pour tea, walk the dog. Then keep going!
It might seem like you can accomplish very little in 20 minutes, but you’ll be surprised how productive that time period is! And the break will give you not only a break, but also an opportunity to soberly assess how many more sprints you’ll be able to do today so you don’t get exhausted. If you wish, gradually increase the time – for example, up to 45 minutes.
Spit on the Big Picture
The whole house is a mess? So what! When cleaning lazily, the most important thing is to remember what you can realistically do right now without splurging on trying to do everything at once. Try shifting your focus from “my whole apartment is a mess” to “this is the dishes I can handle.” This will be your way of reminding yourself daily that you can keep things tidy with small activities that are easy to manage in 10-15 minutes.
We often don’t praise ourselves for small victories, but cleanliness in the home is built on these. Start by cleaning your sleeping area regularly. It takes little time, but immediately makes the apartment neater. And even such a small action can be a good stimulus to the formation of other useful habits – for example, washing dishes after dinner immediately, rather than the next day, when it becomes even more.
Keep Cleaning Supplies Where You Use Them
Picture this: you’re sitting at your desk and you see a spot of coffee from yesterday. No matter how hard you try to scrape it off with your finger, it won’t come out. You have to get up and drag yourself to the bathroom, where you probably keep all the cleaning supplies. And so this “get up and walk” point often becomes an insurmountable obstacle on the way to a spotless table. But what if you kept cleaning supplies close by – where you could use them? Try finding a small bottle of cleaner to keep neatly on a shelf next to your desk or on the desk itself. Then you’re more likely to wipe everything down at once, rather than put it off until that day with the cleaning marathon.
Try to apply the same system to all the parts of your apartment that get dirty the fastest. Just keep everything you might need to clean that area close at hand – that way you’ll be more motivated to clean/clean something at a moment’s notice, rather than put it off until obscure times.
Go Over the Sink, Mirror, and Toilet With the Cleaner
When cleaning-a-thon, we often focus on the rooms we spend the most time in. But what about the bathroom? Sure, cleaning it completely will take a long time, but for a lazy option, wiping down the mirrors, sink and toilet is enough. After that your bathroom will be transformed.
Introduce the Principle of “Cleaning on the Go”
Cleaning “on the go” helps make life easier for yourself in the future and maintain order over time. And here it’s useful to keep in mind the rule along the lines of “If it can be done in 10 minutes or even faster, then I’d rather do it now than spend the next three hours walking around and thinking about whether it’s worth it.” Wash dishes after meals, keep things in their fixed places, and brush your pet regularly to reduce the amount of hair in the house. Here are a few other options:
- Wipe down tables.
- Wipe down the sink after brushing.
- If you see a lot of scattered stuff, clean up a few.
- If you’re cooking and waiting for something to boil, use the time to clean the kitchen area.
Turn Cleaning Into a Fun Process
Cleaning is often associated with anxiety, stress and fatigue. Try gradually introducing elements that you enjoy in her process. For example, play an audiobook or a podcast while you’re cleaning the shelves. Clean to your favorite music or make a separate playlist for cleaning in general, because it’s much more pleasant to scrub the floors while singing and dancing.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Your Friends for Help
If you can’t do it alone, get help. There is a good chance that in your neighborhood there are people who love to clean! Call them and have a cleaning party! Together, coping with the mess isn’t so hard, and in the evening you can order pizza, turn on the background enjoyable comedy and reward yourself with something nice for the hard work.
