My Three Favorite Cleaning Tips (The Last One is Weird but Awesome)

Keeping up with the house when life keeps putting things on your plate starts to feel like jogging up the side of a muddy hill. Over the years I've acquired tips from blogs and friends that have made things more manageable. I wanted to share my three favorite.

1. The Weekly Cleaning Schedule. It is the worst, isn't it, when housework piles up and piles up until you are left with enough to keep you busy three solid days. When I was a teacher, long before I had kids, my sister showed me a weekly cleaning list. She had found it on a blog. Since then I have modified it over and over. Each time I move or life changes, I update the list. Above is the one I am using now. If you would like to download this word doc click on the image above. I love this list. Everyday there are just a few things to get done which gives me time with my girls and time at the end of the day to relax. If you work, this will let you get some things done before or after work and allow you to actually have some downtime on the weekend.

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2. Keep the cleaning supplies in one spot. When you go to clean something it feels like insult to injury to have to hunt down your supplies. I keep all mine under the kitchen sink. Bonus: If you group certain supplies in a little bin you just have to grab and go when you have to clean particular rooms. The image on your left is my bathroom-cleaning bin.

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3. Time Yourself. I told you it was weird. There are a lot of chores that can be far from a favorite of mine. A few years ago I was going to clean the windows on the outside and bemoaned that I would spend the whole morning doing it. I got the quirky idea to time myself and discovered that it only took a half-hour. The magic of this tip lies in two things: you stay focused because you are being timed and you find out that those dreaded tasks might not be as horrendous as you thought therefore you might not procrastinate so much next time. Besides, it adds a little fun to an otherwise mundane task.

There you go, my three favorite cleaning tips. But, what works for me will not work for everyone. In the comments section below share your own favorites. Who knows, I might just need to revise my list and you might be helping someone else out as well. ​

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But everything should be done
in a fitting and orderly way.
​1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV