7 Ways to Keep Your House Clean (even if you have a full-time job)
It’s no doubt that trying to keep your house clean when you work full-time is something that every working mom strives for. With not a lot of time to spare, many working women hire a housekeeper to keep up with housework. But, not everyone has the extra money to do that. If you work full-time and you are frustrated by not having enough time to keep your house tidy then this post is for you. I’ve put together 7 ways to keep your house clean when you work full-time.
How to Work Full-Time and Still Keep Your House Clean
Let’s face it. We need money to survive, so that means we’ve got to work. That often means that our house is the last thing we focus on when we are busy and tired. I totally get it. But you know what ends up happening? We get stuck cleaning the house all weekend long.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy using my weekends off cleaning my house. But what if there was a better way?
What if some of those tasks can be spread out during the week so our weekends can be spent doing things that we enjoy or making precious memories with our family?
In this post I will show you how that can be done. Once you start to implement these 7 tips, you will find that you can keep up with your house cleaning even if you are a full-time working mom.
If you are not able to do all 7 of these helpful tips, start small and start with 2 or 3. Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up if you your house doesn’t look the way you want it to.
Your rest and well-being should always come before house work. And, if you are like me, you may be your worst critic. I often see things in my house that no one else does.
But, in an effort to keep us all sane and maintain some sort of domestic order, I’ve put together a list of 7 ways to keep your house clean when you work full-time.
7 Simple Ways to Keep Up With Housework When You Work Full-Time
1. make your bed every morning
I used to have a love-hate relationship with making my bed. What’s the point of doing this everyday when you are just going to get right back in it later on??
What I have learned is that when my bed is made, it changes the whole room whether it is completely clean or not.
Making my bed is a hack that tells my brain the room is actually clean, when there may be some things laying around that I just don’t have time to get to.
It also tells my brain that it is not longer sleep time and the day must begin. It sort of bookends the end of something (my precious sleep) and the start of another (my day).
Besides, I don’t know about you, but there is nothing like climbing into cozy, well made bed at the end of a long day.
Can I give you once more boost of encouragement to help you with making your bed everyday? Do it because your kids are probably watching.
I am a firm believer that more is caught than taught. This is especially true if you are trying to get your kids to make their own beds too.
2. tidy up the bathroom counters when done getting ready
Ah, the bathroom counters. I know it’s the last thing we think about when we are trying to get not only ourselves but our kiddos out the door each morning. It is so much easier to leave all of our products on the counter and move on.
I get it. But taking a minute to put all of the bottles away and doing a quick wipe of the counter and sink will help keep your bathroom look and feel fresh.
If you don’t have a ton of space in your bathroom, try using a small basket to help corral all of your personal care products like toothpaste, hairspray, brushes, etc..
There are so many decorative options that can not only serve as an organizational tool, but also give your bathroom a little decor as well. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, I’m talking Dollar Tree or even the $1 section at Target.
related post: 5 simple ways to make your home more relaxing
3. set a timer for 15 minutes each day and pick up clutter
This is probably one of my favorite full-time working mom tips! I get my kids involved in this as well. Choose a time that works best for your family, and set the timer for 15 minutes.
Use this time to pick up whatever clutter is laying around the house and tidy up.
This could be backpacks, shoes, jackets, papers (junk mail comes to mind), toys, dishes, and anything else that has been left out during the day.
Generally, after dinner is when we do our 15 minute tidy-up. Not only does it make the house look better, but it also lets my family know that the day is winding down and helps us transition into the evening and settle in.
Our 15 minute tidy-up has saved us so much time on the weekends that we are not having to spend a whole Saturday morning cleaning everything.
I don’t know about you but I have better things to do with my weekend than be a slave to my house.
When my house is tidy I can think clearly. And, I am a whole lot nicer!!
Related Post: 10 Things to Declutter in 10 Minutes
4. throw in a load of laundry everyday
One surefire way to keep up with housework routinely is to do one load of laundry a day. Whether that means washing/drying today and folding tomorrow, it’s up to you.
But reign in your dirty laundry (that sounds like a song) by doing something with it each day.
I’ll be honest, I don’t always wash, dry and fold in one day. There are even times when I throw in a load at night and switch it to the dryer the next morning and then fold that load when I am watching TV (multi-tasking at its finest) later that evening.
Anything is better than nothing when it comes to laundry. My least favorite task, but a necessary task.
Related Post: How To Get Your Piles Of Laundry Under Control
5. delegate tasks to family members to keep your house clean
One of the quickest ways for any full-time working mama wanting a tidy house is to get everyone in on the clean-up. If your kids are older (and by that I mean walking and out of diapers), everyone should be contributing to keeping the house tidy.
Younger kids generally like to do the 15-minute pick-up because it is a race for them. Make it fun, like a game.
Older kids can throw in their laundry, dust, and vacuum, and pick up their rooms.
One thing I want to caution you against is perfection. When you are raising kids and teaching them how to do household chores, do not expect perfection.
I get that it is so much easier sometimes to just do it yourself than show your kids how to do a task. But you also don’t want to have teenagers watch you run the vacuum as they are playing video games.
It may not look as good as if you were to do them, but we are not going for perfection. We are going for DONE!
Over time, you can help your kids refine their tidying skills, but in the meantime, the goal is to get them used to the idea that as part of your family, they are responsible for contributing to the cleanliness of your home.
Don’t think that you have to do it all by yourself. Can I give you a bit of tough love here? This may mean that you have to lower your expectations of what a tidy house looks like.
Now, you may be thinking, “Then why are you telling us to do all of these things?” I’m glad you asked. For years, I held an expectation that my house needed to be perfectly clean for me to feel like I had it all together.
This was a pride issue for me.
So much so, that I really didn’t want anyone else to help around the house because no one could do it the way I liked it or wanted things done. I also thought that if I can have a full-time job and keep my house clean, I was a superhero!
Sure, I had a clean house. But I was communicating several things to my family.
First of all, I was telling them that nothing they could do would be good enough. And that only mom knew how to clean the house.
Second, I was letting them think that they have no need to pitch in because mom’s got it. And third, mom has to have a perfect house to be happy. Ouch!
It took me a while to realize what I was doing and the messages I was sending to my family.
So, I want to really encourage you to delegate housework to your family members and lower your expectations of having a perfectly clean house. Your family will be better for it in the long run.
6. keep your kitchen counters free of clutter
I don’t know about your house but in my house, when the kitchen counters are a hot mess, the whole house looks like a hot mess. Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot see past those messy kitchen counters.
Cleaning a messy kitchen can be a time buster if you don’t stay on top of it. This can be anything from paper piles to dirty dishes or even that set of keys. Everything seems to always collect on the kitchen counters.
That kind of clutter brings my mental clarity to a screeching halt and makes me tired. As a result, I don’t want to do anything and forget about cooking.
On the other hand, when my kitchen is clean and the countertops are clear of clutter, I am motivated to cook a delicious meal for my family.
Instead of heating up frozen chicken tenders and a bowl of boxed mac and cheese (no judgment here, mmkay?) a clean kitchen stirs me up inside to want to be in there a little longer and make something special.
Plus, it enables me to find what I need because my cooking utensils are clean!
If you struggle with keeping your kitchen counters clean, check out this post, 7 Simple Steps to Keep Clutter Off Of Your Kitchen Counters, and you might end up spending more time in that kitchen as well.
7. load the dishwasher
Loading the dishwasher goes along the lines of keeping up with your kitchen. Along with paper clutter, dirty dishes are the leading cause of miserable kitchens everywhere.
All it takes is a few minutes to load up the dishwasher and start it. You can either do this right after your mealtime or just before going to bed.
But to make it a habit, do not let those dirty dishes sit and hang out in your kitchen overnight.
Waking up to no dirty dishes in the morning transforms how I start my day. Seeing dishes with caked-on food from the night before as I pour my morning coffee makes me irritable and cranky.
I don’t want to start my day with irritability.
I want a fresh and energized start to the day. My coffee seems to taste better when there are no dirty dishes in the sink!
So there you have it. I know that keeping up with your housework when you work full-time can be daunting. But by implementing at least a few of these habits each day, you will see some of the overwhelm lift.
I want your home to be a place that you enjoy and find rest after a long day of work. The key is to do a little every day and get everyone involved.
Here’s to a tidy home!
How to Work Full-Time And Still Keep Your House Clean
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