How to make your Spring Cleaning stick

How many times have you found, just days after a deep cleaning, that your house is a mess again? It is incredibly easy to slip from order and cleanliness back into disorganization and grime. This is an especially common problem at this time of year, after the intensity of spring cleaning is over and regular habits resume. It is discouraging to think that all of your effort and hard work may have been in vain. However, with a few additions to your daily routine, you can make Spic and Span the new household norm.

The unfortunate truth is that most clutter is self-inflicted. It is common to get distracted from a small task and set it down, promising yourself you’ll come back to it later. Or maybe you fix yourself a snack or a meal, and then leave the kitchen askew with the intention of cleaning up “in a bit.” The problem comes when you do these things several times in a row without ever finding the time to return to the original task: before you know it you have a full-fledged mess!

An easy way to fight this tendency is to pick up after yourself and clean as you go. If you make sure to only have one small task going at a time, and you tidy up after that task before starting the next one, you will eliminate messes that come from the accumulation of clutter. You will also find that the kitchen is much easier to clean immediately after a mess is made, as food only become harder to deal with as it sits.

Another tip for easy cleaning is to keep cleaning products accessible. It is much harder to convince yourself to clean something if you have to walk to another room and hunt for your cleaning supplies. If each room has a hidden tote or bucket with the tools necessary to keep it clean, then cleaning the room is a simpler and less intimidating task. That makes it easier to clean frequently without it being a big production.

Assigning each room a cleaning day is another way to make cleaning less daunting. If you straighten as you go every day, then each room will only need concentrated attention once a week. If you assign each room a particular day and stick to the schedule, then you will soon have a routine that yields a sparklingly clean house with very little forethought.

The key to a consistently clean and tidy house is to make cleaning and straightening a part of your routine. If you can come to do these things unthinkingly as you go about your day, you will find that your house stays clean without conscious attention. You’ll spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying your summer, just as you should.

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