Everyone wants to have a tidy house but not everyone is willing to do the work needed to have a clean house. It’s not rocket science, it just takes a little planning and then sticking to the plan. Here we’ll dive into how to clean your house fast and efficiently, where you start, whether you target one room or the whole house at once and how often you should clean.
How Do You Clean Your House Fast and Efficiently?
There are a couple of answers to this question. One answer is that it is faster and more efficient to get a clean room when you have a minimum of stuff you need to deal with when cleaning. Let’s face it, the more stuff you have, the more opportunities you have to spread stuff around the house. Some people have so much stuff that nothing has a home. This means stuff gets moved around willy nilly and ends up making your house look messy.
The second answer is if you want to have a tidy house, everything in your house should have a “home” and everything should be returned to that home after you use it. So you need to work at keeping your house clean every day. That means picking up after yourself. If you don’t do this, you will spend more time cleaning than you would have if you had put things away when you finish using them.
When Cleaning a House Where Do You Start?
Some people start in their dirtiest and messiest room. Others start in their cleanest room. It’s a psychological thing. If you are motivated to keep going by getting the biggest mess out of the way first, start with the messiest room.
If you are motivated by having most of your house clean, then start with the least messy rooms. That way you’ll only have the messiest room left to clean. Once you’re done with that, you’re done.
If you get overwhelmed when faced with a hot mess of a room, try tackling it in shifts. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes, choose one part of the room to clean and work on it exclusively. When you come across something that should be in another room, put it in a box near the entrance of the room. When the timer goes off, you can decide if you want to stop or continue on until the area of the room you are working on is finished.
Give yourself a five minute break.
Then choose another area of the room and set the timer for 10 to 15 minutes. Work on that area until it is clean. If you absolutely have to get out of that room, set the timer, but move to a different room. If you choose one that is just slightly messy, there’s a good chance you’ll finish before the timer goes off. The end result is you’ll have one room finished and part of the messiest room in order. After your five minute break, return to the original room and spend another 10 to 15 minutes working on another area.
Repeat until your entire house is clean.
Is It Better To Clean One Room At a Time?
If you’re the type of person who absolutely must finish one room before moving on to the next, here is a strategy for that.
- First, put three containers by the door. One for any items that belong in another room. The second for trash and the third for dirty dishes. If you have dirty laundry in the room, put them on the floor by the entrance or put a laundry basket there.
- Second, go around the room and pick up the trash, dirty dishes and laundry. Put each item in its appropriate container.
- Third, put all items that should be in another room in the that container. For example, if you don’t want sports equipment in your living room, put that in the box for items that should be elsewhere.
- Fourth, clean off each flat surface (which should now only contain items you want in this room). Put books back on the shelves, remote controls next to the television and magazines in the magazine rack. The object is to tidy up the stuff you want to keep in this room.
- Fifth, dust off all of horizontal surfaces, like end tables, the coffee table, the television console and any bookshelves or curio cabinets. Use whatever dusting tool you like best.
- Sixth, vacuum, dust mop or sweep and mop the floor.
- Seventh, tackle the containers at the door. Put the trash out and the dirty laundry in your dirty clothes hamper or in the laundry room. Finally, take the box with all the items that belong in other rooms and dash around the house putting them back where they belong.
Repeat these seven steps for every room in your house. Does it sound like a lot? Yes, if you never pick up after yourself. But if you get into the habit of putting things away as soon as you are done using them, you will effectively eliminate the first four items on this list every time you clean. Think about that.
How Often Should You Clean Your Room?
Once you are in the habit of putting things away every time you use them, you’ll have a clean room and will only need to clean once a week or every ten days. Spend a few minutes dusting and vacuuming, then take out the trash. Job done!
To minimize the time you need to keep a tidy house, remember to pick up after yourself and spend a few minutes dusting and vacuuming a few times a month.
