The New Year is coming. People commit to a lot of things, including changing their habits for healthier and happier lives. Many people want to live in cleaner, tidier homes, but struggle with making their resolutions stick.
Do you want to increase the odds that you will carry your new cleaning resolutions into 2021? Try these tips for making your cleaning resolutions stick.
1. Break up big tasks.
One of the hardest parts of keeping your space clean is tacking a huge chore. You may, for example, know that you need to deep clean the kitchen, but that sounds like it could keep hours!
Break those big tasks down into smaller pieces. For example, when you head in to clean the kitchen, you may need to wipe down the counters, sweep the floors, and clear the dishes out of the sink. By taking a look at those items on a smaller scale, you can continue to check items off your list and feel as though you’re making progress along the way.
2. Don’t go to bed with common tasks undone.
One of the most important habits shared by people who live in clean homes is the fact that they catch up those cleaning tasks each day, rather than letting them sit to handle all at once. If they know there are dishes in the sink, for example, they’ll go ahead and take care of them before they go to bed–and they do it habitually, rather than regularly leaving them sitting until the next morning.
3. Create a schedule.
Set aside a little time each day to tackle cleaning tasks. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time. If you live alone, 15-20 minutes could be enough to keep you caught up on cleaning once the deep clean is done. If you share space with a spouse and children, you may need 30 minutes or so each day to help manage your cleaning responsibilities. Then, create a schedule that will keep you on track. Some people find that a weekly cleaning schedule helps: bathrooms on Mondays, kitchen on Tuesdays, and so on. You may prefer to do it by task: floors on Wednesdays, counters on Thursdays. Leave yourself easier tasks on days that are typically more difficult: if you know that Tuesday is your busiest day of the week, that might not be the day to tackle scrubbing down the bathroom or the entire kitchen.
4. Hire a professional cleaning service.
Despite your best efforts, you may struggle to keep up with all the tasks on your cleaning To Do list. Having a professional cleaning service on your side, however, can make it much easier for you to take on many of those tasks. Schedule a cleaning company to come in weekly, every other week, or once a month to keep your house looking spic and span. Then, you just have to take on those basic organization tasks on your own and keep up with the cleaning in between visits.
5. Clean as you go.
If you cook regularly, get in the habit of cleaning up your kitchen as you move through your daily routine. If you make a mess, take a moment to stop and clean it up before you move to the next task. As you get in the habit of cleaning, you’ll find that it’s easier to keep your home looking nice.
Changing your habits is always a challenge. By making those changes part of your daily routine, however, you’ll find that it’s often much easier to keep up with those tasks–and create changes that will stick through the new year.
