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Just the other day someone in the Private Facebook Group asked for suggestions on how folks keep on top of everyday messes.
Everyone was jumping on board providing their tips on how they manage their houses, and I chimed in by letting her know that in my opinion, it all comes down to creating daily cleaning habits.
Cleaning our home just like any other task we don’t necessarily enjoy requires us to embrace a system that allows us to over time, create the necessary daily cleaning habits to get the job done.
My Free Resource Library is chock full of cleaning printables to help you achieve this very goal.
Sign up below and get instant access to all my free resources and any resources I add to the library. Best part – I add to it ALL. THE. TIME.
Table of Contents
What is a habit and how do we go about forming them?
According to Dictionary.com, a habit is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: making the bed each day.
A habit is a customary practice or use: cleaning the kitchen at the end of the night.
Or a particular practice, custom, or usage: picking up clothes off the floor.
Of course, the most important part of creating a new habit is the desire to make something better. You see something you’d like to change about yourself or to make your life more enjoyable, and so you adopt a habit to help you reach your goal.
Probably the best example I can give is this: You get on the scale one day and see you’ve gained 25 pounds.
You decide to make daily walking a new habit so you can lose weight and get healthy but also feel better about yourself.
Transforming your home is no different.
You see a need or you wouldn’t be reading this post. You would have turned a blind eye to the condition of your home and kept the status quo.
But instead, you realize something had to give and that you’d like to live in a different environment. That’s the good news!
You can change your habits. Old habits might be hard to break – usually, the bad ones are – but it IS possible.
If your goal is to transform your home, then the first step is to establish daily cleaning habits to reach the target of a clean and tidy home.
The great news about embracing these practices is not only will your home be a lot cleaner, but you’ll be setting the foundation for a cleaner home for life.
By establishing these cleaning habits you’ll also eliminate wasted time. Good habits help us to become more efficient and this, in turn, reduces how much time we waste.
Right now, you’re probably relying heavily on motivation to get your house clean.
But the good news is once the habit is formed, you’ll eliminate the need for motivation to get the job done because it will have become second nature and you’ll do your tidying without even thinking.
Are you ready to develop some new habits? Let’s go!
Related: 7 Habits To Embrace For Your Best Year Ever
Creating Daily Cleaning Habits That Transform Your Home
1. Put Clothes Away
Get in the habit of always putting your clothes away. Whether at the end of the day or when you are undressing or coming in from outside, get in the habit of not throwing your clothes over a chair, on the doorknob or worse on the floor.
Your home will look much tidier with clothes put in their proper place.
Studies find that clothes that are not put away usually means closet storage is crowded, not well lit and that hampers are not close by.
How about some of these ideas:
Here are two ideas that could remedy a bad closet situation:
Closet Organizer System by Closet Maid
Simple Houseware 5 Shelf Closet Organizer
2. Don’t Own Extras of Anything
Multiples of anything leads to too much stuff which leads to clutter which isn’t conducive to a clean and orderly home. Get in the habit of not bringing duplicates into your home.
If you know you have too many of the same thing, sell them at a yard sale or give them away. Bottom line, don’t jam your home with too much stuff.
3. Keep Paper Organized
If you have piles of papers all over your home, then you’ll want to consider adopting this habit! It takes less effort to file papers immediately instead of keeping papers hanging around the house.
When bills come in, put them in a designated area and after you’ve paid the bills, file immediately. Keep menus, coupons and other mail you may need in one place so you can find what you need. Remember to purge regularly.
Related: Straightforward Filing Strategies That Will Slay The Paper Dragon
Here are some paper storage solutions that might help:
American Craft Stacking Paper Tray
4. Wipe Down Surfaces After Every Use
Get everyone in the house in the habit of wiping down surfaces after use. The motto in my home is: Your mess shouldn’t become my mess.
When you embrace this cleaning habit, and everyone in the house participates, anytime someone needs to use the kitchen or bathroom counter it’s clean and ready for them.
5. Make Your Bed Every Day
Nothing makes your bedroom look neat, tidy and clean than a made bed. Don’t believe me?
Make your bed and see how much better your room looks.
Related: 7 Easy Tips To Keep Your Bedroom Clean
6. Put Shoes and Coats Away
I hate to see shoes thrown around a house. Get in the habit of taking off your shoes at the door and put them in the closet when you get home.
It keeps your home cleaner because you don’t have people’s dirty shoes messing with your clean floors. It’s also a great way to keep your front door inviting to guests who may pop over for a visit.
Here are some ideas for shoe storage:
7. Clean the Kitchen Each Night
This starts with making sure you launch the day with a clean sink. To wake up with a clean sink, means all dishes have to be done the night before.
Also, wipe down the counter and stove top, sweep the floor, clean off the table and empty the trash. Do this nightly, and you’ll start and end the day with a clean and tidy kitchen.
Related: How To Speed Clean The Kitchen When You Only Have 15 Minutes
8. Put Things Away After Use
I use to have a lot of people in and out of my home caring for my mom. If everyone decided to leave things out or to put them somewhere where it didn’t belong, we collectively would never have been able to find anything.
Putting things back where you’ve determined they live in your home ensures everyone knows where to find things and keep your house neat and tidy.
9. Dust and Vacuum Regularly
If you dust and vacuum weekly, your house will remain cleaner, and you’ll save time because you won’t have to do a major cleaning each time you do decide to clean.
Things will stay presentable longer.
Related: How To Control Dust In Your Home and Eight Things You Should Never Vacuum
Here are my two favorite tools to accomplish this task:
Swiffer Extender Pole Dusting Kit
10. Stay On Top of Laundry
Laundry can get out of control quickly in most homes. That’s why we adopted the one load a day habit in our home.
Instead of keeping all the laundry until the weekend, we do one load a day and sometimes more. This way we never have to spend all day doing laundry or find we are running out of towels or underwear.
As a household, we find this the best solution to taming the laundry beast.
Creating daily cleaning habits keeps your home clean, neat, and tidy and reduces the stress associated with a messy, dirty house.
You’ll be happy to be in your clean home, and you’ll see and feel the benefits immediately.
Related: My Super Simple Laundry System
Looking for a solution to help you remember your cleaning tasks?
My printable cleaning calendar is the perfect solution for keeping track of all your house maintenance needs. It includes daily, weekly and monthly reminders and plenty of space for your personal to-do list and can be found in the resource library!
I’m a professional cleaner with over 13 years of hands-on experience cleaning homes, a published writer, certified money specialist, and the founder of A Mess Free Life. After paying off over $50,000 in debt, I dedicated myself to helping others master their homes and their money — proving that a clean, organized, stress-free life is possible no matter where you’re starting from. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me cooking, playing bocce, sipping an extra dirty martini, or enjoying the ocean with my cats nearby. I’m also a proud mom and grandma who cares deeply for my mother at home.
