Believe it or not, the term “stress-free housecleaning” is not an oxymoron. With a little bit of focus and dedication, you can transform your daily activities from overwhelming to completely manageable. How? By following a few simple tips! Let’s take a look:
One Project at a Time for Stress-Free Life
As human beings, we have a tendency to be overly ambitious or bite off more than we can chew. This especially applies when it comes housecleaning. During the week we’ll make plans to mow, trim the shrubs, plant an entire garden, and fix the sprinkler system, yet in reality, there’s only enough time to complete one or maybe (if you’re lucky) two of these activities.
As more things start making their way onto the “to do” list, we start feeling more and more stressed. Instead of looking at the big picture, take a step back and consider each task as one piece toward a larger puzzle. Reminding yourself to stay in the moment, and focus on one task can go a long way in relieving anxieties and keeping you stress-free.
Cleaning Assignments Each Day
While it’s important to stay stress-free, you also want to ke sure that you’re holding yourself accountable and getting things done. To do this, consider assigning different cleaning tasks for various days of the week. For example:
- Monday – Laundry
- Tuesday – Vacuum and wash the floors
- Wednesday – Dust
- Thursday – Lawn Work
- Friday – Take out the trash
- Saturday – Clean all upholstery
- Sunday – Stress-free day
Your own schedule can look exactly like this, or it can be something completely different—the choice is yours. Taking the time to write out your various cleaning tasks for each day of the week is sure to make your life easier, taking you one step closer to stress-free cleaning.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Our society is structured around being independent and getting things done on your own. If you’re a mother and an employee, you barely have enough time to breathe, much-the-less get things done around the house. Sometimes the easiest solution for stress-free cleaning is to ask for help.
Whether that means reaching out to a friend, co-worker, or family member that lives nearby, don’t be afraid to reach out. People love giving back, especially to their friends and relatives.
If you need to provide a little extra incentive, offer to take them out for a coffee or a meal once you’re finished. Not only will you get to spend some time with one another, many hands make light work.
Homemade Cleaning Solutions
Picking up cleaning supplies from the grocery store can be maddening. If you aren’t fighting traffic in the parking lot, you’ll be waiting in line at the checkout, and the store might not even have what you’re looking for.
Stop wasting precious time browsing the aisles, and make some of your own stress-free cleaning solutions instead. Not only does this save you significant amounts of money, chances are good you already have everything you need on hand.
Items like vinegar, baking soda, and even aluminum foil can be used in a variety of ways to eradicate hard-to-remove stains and so much more. Do a quick internet search and prepare to be amazed!
Set Aside Time to Relax
Last but not least, it’s important to set aside time to relax and be completely stress-free. If you are constantly on the run, and only clean when you have “free” time, it’s easy to get burnt out, exhausted, and even resentful.
Just like you need weekends from your regular job, it’s important to take regular breaks from housecleaning. That isn’t to say you should let things pile up and live in a dump, but being kind to yourself and allowing time to rest is key to success. This might mean you need to treat yourself to a professional maid service cleaning.
These are just a few of the simple things you can do to make your cleaning routine stress-free. We hope you find them useful and rewarding!
When I was growing up, I have seen my grandma writing lists for her spring cleaning. I think my mom, who has kind of like OCD, never wrote a list but cleaned everything every day then and there. I for one. neither did that nor do this, I let it pile up and then stress out to clean over the weekend.This article has opened my eyes and has made me realize the right way to do housecleaning. Or maybe I should just get a maid to clean my house! 🙂
I often find myself overwhelmed by the different chores that need to be completed around my home. I’m always tackling parts of a chore but usually not completing it fully. This article gave me a great idea of setting chores for specific days. I will give it a try and see how much stress is relieved. Thanks for the tip!
You’re not alone, Fred. A lot of use find ourselves in your shoes. It’s easy to start a chore, but even harder to finish it when you have a dozen more things to finish. Start one chore at a time, you will like your results. And don’t forget to ask for help. Thanks for your feedback, good luck Fred!