Step 1 – De-Clutter Your Home
This will make cleaning easier and your home will appear tidy. Everything in your home should either be something you love or is useful (at the present time).
15-Minutes to a Clutter Free Home
- Spend 5 minutes walking through your home with a garbage bag and fill it with items that can be thrown away, such as, worn out shoes and old newspapers and magazines.
- Spend another 5 minutes filling a second garbage bag with items to be donated such as clothing, toys and knick-knacks.
- Spend the last 5 minutes filling a bag or box (or create a pile) of items to be sold, such as, furniture, collectables, appliances and any other items with value.
Repeat this exercise once per week for the next several weeks until your home is clutter free. To sell your items, you can post an ad free of charge on Craigslist. You could also sell them on Ebay or at an Ebay store, which will sell them for you and take a commission.
Step 2 – Maintain
Going forward, for every item that comes into your home, you must get rid of an item. Have a box or bin set up in your home for items to donate or sell. Each time a new item comes into your home, select an item to get rid of and put it in the box. If you are very strict about this rule, you will not accumulate clutter.
Every time you purchase a new shirt, a pair of shoes, a candle, a magazine, an ipod, a DVD or anything, get rid of something. If you do not follow this rule, you will continue to accumulate more and more stuff. Once a month, donate or sell every item in the box.
Step 3 – Create a Place for Everything
It is virtually impossible to keep your home clean if you have items that do not have a specific place where they are kept. Every single item in your home from paperclips to hair spray to receipts, needs a specific place to reside. At the end of everyday, spend 5 minutes walking through your home and put away all items that were left out. This should only take 5 minutes if there is a specific place for every item and if you do it everyday.
Step 4 – Set Expectations for Yourself and Others in your Household
Set an expectation that each member of your household (including yourself) puts away every item they take out as soon as they are done using it. In addition, set an expectation that every member of your household contributes to keeping your home tidy. Divide up chores such as laundry, dishes, vacuuming & dusting.
Step 5 – Set a Cleaning Routine
Even if you have a professional cleaning service that cleans your home, having a daily “maintenance” routine will keep your home company ready at all times.
The Morning Routine
- 3-Minutes in the Bathroom – Keep a roll of paper towels under the sink. Wipe down the counter and faucets and wipe up hair from the floor.
- 2-Minutes in the Bedroom – Make your bed and put away your pajamas.
- Clean up the dishes after breakfast and wipe down your counter tops and table. If you have toddlers, wipe up the floor.
The Evening Routine
- 5-Minutes walking through your home and putting away all items that were left out and empty the garbage’s, if needed.
- 2-Minutes in the Bedroom – Put away your clothes before going to bed.
In addition to these daily routines, your home needs to be thoroughly cleaned at least twice a month (once every other week). If you do not have a professional housekeeper to do it, then divide up the cleaning among all of the capable members of your household and schedule specific days and times for the chores to get done. Hold yourself and everyone else in your household accountable.
Post by Heidi DeCoux, the publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine, a professional organizer in Minneapolis, and creator of the Fast-Filing Method home office filing system. Heidi energizes her readers’ by simplifying their homes and schedules. For more info, free tips, and to receive her FREE Report: The Fast & Easy Way to Get Organized and Stay Organized Forever, visit ClearSimpleLiving.com.
That sounds like a workable plan. I try to do some basic cleaning sort of “en passant”:
– When I walk down the stairs, I use a t-shirt or something that’s headed for the washer to dust the staircase and handrail.
– I use a towel to rub down the shower and bathroom sinks right after using them.
– I use a headset for longer phone calls and walk around the house with a duster while on the phone.
Regarding the thorough cleaning twice a month: If you have pets, make that weekly. It’s amazing how much hair my dog can lose without running around naked.
Just one quick comment – if you’re not comfortable using paper towels in the bathrooms you could also keep a stash of cloths (diaper liners are great for this actually).
I’d also add that after you wipe the counter you may as well give the toilet seat a wipe and swish some soap product (shampoo, soft soap, windex, whatever) around the bowl with the brush. If you do it every day it takes literally seconds and keeps it nice and clean.
Then cleaning your bathrooms is really just about the tub/shower and the floor.
You don’t recycle? That’s really depressing, since those newspapers and magazines can usually easily be recycled, and there are even places that take old shoes and remake them into things like tires and flooring. I would do more research, including in the countless articles like this already online–
I David, the owner of the site, recycle everything. The author doesn’t.
Nice clean simple outline. I work a lot, so the thought of a total de-clutter of my home seems overwhelming, but 5 minutes on the specific topics there doesn’t seem so bad. Thanks.