Most moms find themselves with a lot of cleaning on their to-do lists.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have, especially when my kids were younger, cleaned my entire home while continually cursing my family members under my breath. Feeling underappreciated is painful. Little kids are oh so messy. And women often end up with an unfair burden when it comes to miserable household tasks.
Now, the easiest way to make cleaning more enjoyable is probably just to . . . get other people in your family to do it, and I recommend that. Seriously, everyone who lives in the home can learn to take part in the cleaning.
My kids have chores, and I even have a housekeeper who comes twice a month, but I still do a lot of cleaning! Homes take a lot of work. And if my house is really cluttered or dirty, I begin to feel like my whole life is out of control.
» » » » » » » » » » RELATED READ: Spring Cleaning: Our Best Tips & Tricks « « « « « « « « «
So, I’ve sought to make my cleaning more efficient and more enjoyable over the past few years. I can honestly say that I kind of like to clean now . . . as much as any person can like cleaning. Here are my cleaning game-changers.
Challenge Yourself to Be Efficient
If you have littles, you know that, somehow, all the things end up in the wrong rooms. The upstairs stuff is downstairs. The downstairs stuff is upstairs. Oh, and the “drawer” stuff is in a big pile on the floor.
One day, after walking a million steps to “tidy” (not even clean) the house, I realized I was being really, really inefficient. I’d walked up and down the stairs 15 times. I’d been to each room multiple times only to deliver one measly item.
I wondered, could I tidy my whole house in 30-45 minutes if I worked really efficiently? Turns out, I usually can.
I have an empty basket upstairs and an empty basket downstairs. I gather all the downstairs, misplaced items in the basket and then return them to their rooms. With glee (or at least marginal satisfaction), you’ll find that you are delivering multiple items to each room quickly. Then I do the same upstairs and take all the misplaced items back down.
This applies to everything. Stop and think, am I doing this efficiently? I used to clean mindlessly, but now I consider it a personal challenge to do things with intention. When friends are coming and I need to spruce up the bathroom, I can do it with one rag if I start with the mirrors, move to the counter, and then finish with a swipe of the toilet. (Our toilets are always covered in urine thanks to my three sons.)
Find Supplies and Tools You Like
I used to hate mopping the floor. But it turns out, I just hated my mop. It was hard to push. It was hard to rinse. And it was hard to wring out. Why was I wringing my mop by hand when a million better alternatives exist? GET A BETTER MOP! I’m sorry, did I yell? I’m really passionate about a good mop.
The small things really do matter here. Find tools that work well. Find products that smell good. Just find things that give you some measure of joy when you use them. I’ll list a few of my faves here:
Tineco Wet/Dry Vacuum Mop
Who enjoys dumping out dirty mop water? You’ll be shocked at the dirty water tank after you mop your floors with this device. So satisfying. This vacuum mop is surprisingly good at picking up large chunks of food that normal vacuums won’t pick up–and it mops at the same time.
(There are many different versions of this device. From what I’ve heard, they all work well. Decide based on what features you want and how much money you want to spend.)
O-Cedar Easy Wring Spin Mop
Did I mention that it’s a crying shame anyone is wringing a mop by hand these days? This mop is lightweight and ergonomic with a satisfying whir when you wring with the foot pedal.
Sprayway Glass Cleaner
Works so good. Smells so fresh. Using foam is fun. It’s the small things.
Scrub Daddy Tangerine Clean
The smell is divine. Pair it with the ever-popular Scrub Daddy sponge and you’ll feel like an influencer.
Koala Eco Floor Cleaner
I love minty fresh scents. I always take a deep breath and enjoy that fresh, clean kitchen when I’m done mopping. And that brings me to my next point.
Reward Yourself and Your Brain
When you have completed a task, no matter how small, stop and enjoy it. Look at what you did. Remember how messy or disorganized it was before? Take a deep breath and feel the satisfaction that comes with completing a task.
An important note for perfectionists: do this even if your final result wasn’t perfect or other parts of your house are still messy. Don’t short circuit the rewarding part of a job by thinking about all the other things you still need to clean.
Enjoying the fruits of your labor is a key to building motivation for mundane, repetitive tasks.
Homes are never perfectly clean. There is always a weed you can pull, a light you could dust, or a closet you could declutter. And sometimes there are 10 closets you could declutter. Enjoy each job you complete and pat yourself on the back without focusing on all the work that’s left to do.
Fight Against Overwhelm
We recently had our kitchen remodeled and our floors refinished. The construction dust was insane, leaving a white film on every single thing we own. As we neared the end of the project, I was left with the following tasks:
- Dust everything in my house. Yes, everything. Every lamp, every knick-knack, every decoration, every book, every baseboard.
- Wipe down the inside of every new kitchen cabinet.
- Wipe down every surface in the pantry.
- Put all the food back in the pantry.
- Put every single kitchen item back in the kitchen. (After dusting it, of course.)
I found that, even though I’m usually a highly motivated person and I really wanted my house back in order, I couldn’t start. I just couldn’t do it. When I would think about how I could work for hours and I’d barely even make a dent in the work, I couldn’t even start.
When a task is too large, we get overwhelmed. It becomes difficult to overcome the hurdle of starting.
So what’s the solution? Break things down into smaller tasks. For example, if I had a few hours to work, I would set a goal to dust and vacuum one room. Just one.
Remember the point above about enjoying your hard work? Take a second to celebrate that one clean room! As you complete more steps toward your daunting task, you’ll build momentum.
Also, I had my mom come help me. Asking for and accepting help is wonderfully valuable!
Watch a Video
If I watch an Instagram Reel or a YouTube Video or a TikTok (if I had it) of a satisfying cleaning, it can help generate some cleaning motivation. Bonus, you’ll get some good recommendations on the best products and tools. Here are a few people I like to watch with realistic and helpful perspectives on cleaning:
GO CLEAN CO
Takes a Village Cleaning
Not the Worst Cleaner
Cleaning can often feel like a drudgery, but I have a beautiful home that I get to maintain. And I have a lot of wonderful furniture and clothes and toys and books and food inside that home. Not everyone has those things.
There is joy in maintaining all the lovely things I am fortunate to have.
Maybe the tips above will help you enjoy cleaning just a little bit more. Or maybe they’ll help you to dread it just a little bit less. But either way, I hope you’ll take away this one valuable lesson: get yourself a good mop.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.
