Simply a Clean Home

I thought I would share a few tips on how I keep up with my home and keep it almost always clean. It can be a challenge sometimes, and I have found some simple things to do that have really helped me both when I was home very little because I was working full time and now when I am working from home and I need really good time management.

ROUTINE: I find having a daily routine helps the very most as far as keeping my house clean and my life productive and in having good time management. My routine is as follows: Wake up, take a shower, do my hair and makeup, get dressed, study scriptures with Lyle, make my bed, eat breakfast, clean up kitchen, empty dishwasher, and quickly pick up house. Evening routing: Before I go to bed I make sure the kitchen counters are clean and washed and the dishwasher has been started. these things get done everyday and I don't even have to think about it. Routines rock! Set one and live it.

DO JUST A LITTLE EACH DAY: I think the idea of having one day each week that you deep clean everything in your house can be overwhelming, and if you miss once you end up not doing a good cleaning for weeks. For myself I find it hard to motivate myself to clean all day when I have other things I need to do or would rather do. Instead I choose one or two deep cleaning projects to do each day. For example: Clean toilets one day, wash out the tub the next day, and mop floors the day after that. It ends up only being 10 or so minutes each day of good cleaning, and the cleaning never falls behind.

AS MY DAD USE TO SAY, "CLEAN AS YOU GO": I find cleaning up immediately after something is the best way. If you let it sit and say you'll take care of it later, it ends up sitting there for days. Do dishes right after you are finished eating; Wash the cooking dishes as you are cooking so they are mostly done before you eat; after doing laundry, immediate fold and put away your clothes; After playing a game, put it all back in the box and back in it's place; etc.

HAVE A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING: I find my home stays cleaner and more organized when I have a specific place to put everything. If you don't have room for everything to have a place in your home, maybe you should consider going through your things and getting rid of what you don't use.

MINIMIZE: You don't need 10 spatulas and 50 pens in your kitchen drawers. Cut down and the amount of stuff in your home. It is easier to stay clean when there isn't as much stuff to be able to make a mess with.

HAVE A LAUNDRY DAY: If you know every Wednesday is laundry day, then you are prepared and committed and it always gets done. Just waiting until you run out of underwear is never a good way of doing it. You end up with mounds of laundry that takes all day to do and it is miserable. Lyle and I have a good method that we really like. Lyle sorts and washes the laundry every Friday and then I fold and put it all away. It is good to share responsibility.

Keeping a clean house shouldn't be stressful or time consuming. My house isn't perfect and it definitely looks lived it, but my home is almost always clean and presentable. It is so easy and takes so little time when you keep on top of it.