How to stay on top of your housework

Even with the help of professional cleaners a busy family generates an enormous amount of housework.  The cleaning ladies will do the deep cleaning tasks, the kitchen and the bathroom and even the dusting and vacuuming.  Unfortunately, this still leaves you with the daily wipe down of the kitchen, the tidying, the laundry, bedding, ironing, cooking, shopping etc the list appears endless.

While researching how to make life easier it all comes down to organisation and eradicating distractions.

1 – Plan your day the night before

Plan what will go into the lunchboxes, so time is not wasted searching through cupboards wondering what you could put together, this always ends up in the unhealthiest choices.  Plan the morning routine and pick/find/iron outfits the night before – we have all been super stressed when our child can not find their other shoe/sock/tie so making sure they are in position really helps.

2 – Pick three tasks per day

We all have an endless list of housework that overwhelms us so pick just three and make sure they are done e.g put all clothes away, vacuum downstairs and clean cupboard fronts is a lot more achievable than do all house work.

3 – Do the most difficult tasks first

How many of us start a job we don’t like e.g, changing all the beds then get distracted and suddenly find ourselves going to bed only to discover there is no bed sheets on the bed.  By completing the jobs we least like doing first they are not constantly pushed to the bottom of the pile.

4 – Get motivated

This could be by dancing to your favourite tune or by giving yourself a time limit and reward e.g. if I have finished by 9pm I can watch my favourite programme or have a cup of tea.  I like to clean and listen to an audiobook or catch up on phone calls.  If you find housework exhausting split it into chunks, for example watch TV and every break do a big burst of energy and relax between.  It is possible to clean a whole lounge/dining room including vacuuming and mopping during an episode of your favourite soap and burn off calories.

5 – Clear those surfaces

Pick 5 surfaces and clear them every day.  Just by keeping those main surfaces clear will make a massive difference to how you feel about the house and makes it a more manageable task.