4 Simple Ideas to Help you Clean a Messy House

Our house is a disaster. There, I said it. We had company for almost a month, and my mother-in-law was such a help to me, I hardly did anything. Now I’m paying the price.

I most definitely prefer a regular habit of basic upkeep so that the home doesn’t get to the point of unrecognition (yes, I just made up that word). But it has, so I’ve called upon the troops and have declared a War on Mess.

Photo by Torri 479

Today and tomorrow, we will be overhauling the house, with the hopes that I can get some serious organizing done this weekend. We have guests coming over for dinner Friday night, so the goal is to have everything clean by then.

Lesson #1 – Have a very tangible, rapidly-approaching-yet-doable goal for your cleaning. Inviting friends over for dinner is a great one.

Staying true to my word, I’m not going to bite off more than I can chew and plan on doing more than I can. Today will be mostly damage repair, while tomorrow will be the actual cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, and the like).

Lesson #2 – Divide your cleaning goals into manageable chunks. That way, you can “check off” decluttering one day, then move on to scrubbing and dusting. You’ll feel more accomplished.

I also know my body ebbs and flows with energy highs and lows, so I’m going to tackle the tough stuff in the morning (my energy high) and the easy stuff in the afternoon (my energy low). I’m also going to take frequent breaks so that I don’t burn out. I’ll set a timer for 30 minutes of cleaning, 10 minutes of rest.

Lesson #3 – Know yourself and clean with your body’s rhythms, not against it.

Since we’re all involved in this, we’re going to make it fun. We’re talking a lot, we’re listening to music, and we’re still being silly as we work (tickle attacks, funny voice impressions… you know the drill). We’ll get discouraged, bored, and possibly bitter if we don’t.

Lesson #4 – Do what you need to stay in a good mood. Be cheerful. You are blessed to have a home to clean!