I know how it is to feel overwhelmed by housework, honestly. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle ground between being a clean freak and a total slob. I too am somewhere in that middle but I have discovered some easy ways to keep a tidy home along the way.
If You Feel Overwhelmed By Housework, You’re Not Alone
By nature, the majority of us are not “neat freaks”, and we all go through this from time to time. Life gets in the way sometimes, whether it be a demanding job, a new baby (wait, that’s the same thing…), extended family obligations, injury or illness.
Naturally, that means there are times when most of us look around our house with a bit of despair and say “Good grief…what a disaster!”
For any of you who struggle to keep up on the daily chores or who have let the messy house go too long and feel utterly overwhelmed by housework, this one’s for you.
I saw a sign recently. You know, one of those crafty letterboard ones you see on Pinterest that said “Please excuse the mess. We live here”. And I thought to myself, that hits the nail on the head. Another one took it even further and said, “Our standards have lowered with every child”. That one gave me a chuckle…absolutely perfect.
As a matter of fact, anytime one of my girlfriends who have older kids comes over and I apologize for the state of my home (I have a toddler, enough said), they just come back with “Don’t apologize! We’ve all been there”.
I suppose I am my own worst critic and most days the house isn’t too bad. And I have found several things that help me tame this wild beast of a messy house and not feel so overwhelmed by housework.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
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How To Get Motivated When You Feel Like You’re Drowning In Housework
The first thing you may want to try is to watch some Youtube videos about cleaning motivation. Believe it or not, this is an actual thing. Hundreds of Youtubers create videos titled “Clean With Me”, and that’s just what they are. Motivational videos of a person cleaning their home, usually set to some fast music filmed at high speed.
One of my favorite Youtube channels for cleaning is called Clean My Space. It’s owned by Toronto based entrepreneur Melissa Maker, a “reformed slob” (her words not mine), who started her own cleaning company and has gone on to writing books and creating videos to help teach others some of the best cleaning techniques around.
Melissa is a wealth of knowledge, tips, and tricks and can definitely help you if you are feeling overwhelmed by housework. You can check out her book here!
For some reason, these clean with me style videos always help me get inspired to tackle my house. Just don’t fall down the rabbit hole of Youtube and start clicking on funny cat videos.
Cleaning Tools And Supplies
Next, be sure you have all the cleaning tools and supplies that you will need on hand. There’s nothing worse than getting motivated to start cleaning and realizing that you are out of garbage bags or paper towels. Choose effective cleaning products that you love as far as scent and keep everything in a handy cleaning kit.
Sometimes a handy gadget like a spray mop or a steam mop can get you excited about cleaning. Well, maybe not excited but…
If you love essential oils, there is a way to create your own amazing DIY cleaning products with them. They are natural, chemical-free, and actually work! And of course, they smell divine too.
How To Get Motivated To Clean Your Room
The Best Essential Oils For Cleaning And Disinfecting
Start By Just Picking Up Your Stuff
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by housework, here’s how you start. Begin by doing an initial sweep of your house. Grab a laundry basket or tote and just go room to room and pick up everything that doesn’t belong there. Bring that tote to a central location like the kitchen table (after you’ve cleared it), and put everything in its place.
Rinse and repeat.
Everything in your home should have a designated place to live.
You have to start somewhere and in that basket of stuff you just collected going room to room, you can bet your bottom dollar that there’s a load of dirty clothes. Once the wash is going, move on to your first room.
Start By Cleaning The Smallest Room First
Maybe you have a small bathroom like us. If you do, that’s a great place to start cleaning.
Use your favourite bathroom cleaner to spray down your tub, shower and sink first. Next, spray glass cleaner on the mirrors, then throw in your toilet bowl cleaner.
While those products are “marinating”, clear the clutter off your counters and put away. Again, everything in its place.
By the time you are done that, your shower and toilet will be ready to give a quick scrub. It shouldn’t take too long, as you have let the cleaning products work their magic while you were on the other task.
Lastly, give your counters a quick wipe with an all-purpose cleaner and you’re off to the next room.
Or maybe it’s your mudroom, laundry room or the nursery. Do one room at a time and don’t stress out if it doesn’t all get done in one day. But if you have a few hours, you can make huge headway and quite possibly finish it all.
The real trick to not feeling overwhelmed by housework is maintenance.
Once you have it clean, do your best every day to keep up with it. There are some habits that you need to get into that will make this super easy.
10 Daily Habits T0 Prevent Being Overwhelmed By Housework
#1 Mindful Living
People that live in immaculate homes are very mindful of the level of “stuff” they keep and rarely have an overflowing junk drawer (or two or three). Let me be perfectly clear, I DO have a junk drawer but I found having a divider in it helps to keep it from becoming like Narnia in there.
Try your best to live in a constant state of decluttering. If it doesn’t serve you anymore, toss it. This will save you heaps of work down the line.
#2 Do A Load Of Laundry Every Day
Do a load of laundry or two (depending on the size of your family) each day. This means folding and putting it away as well so that when the weekend rolls around you don’t have a mountain of dirty clothes to tackle. I’ll be honest, this one is a work in progress for me.
And speaking of laundry, consider using smaller laundry hampers. If you use multiple hampers that hold a massive amount of clothes, you will have an unbelievable amount of washing to do by the time they fill up. I have found this little trick helps tremendously.
#3 Clean As You Go When Cooking
Ideally, start with a clean kitchen and an empty dishwasher, and as you prepare your meal, put away ingredients as you finish with them, rinse and put away dishes and utensils in the dishwasher (or sink, if you don’t have a dishwasher). Then after dinner, you should only be left with pots and pans to clean.
This is kind of obvious, but still worth mentioning I think. If you clean as you go when cooking, you won’t have a huge disaster to deal with afterward.
Run the dishwasher (or hand wash) every night that the dishwasher is full. There is nothing that will start your day off on the wrong foot than waking up to a bunch of nasty, crusty dishes on the counter. On the other hand, there is nothing better than waking up to a fresh, clean kitchen.
On the days where you just don’t have it in you, or life gets in the way, at least rinse everything in hot water and soak your pans. Wipe down your counters nightly. Then you can get to what’s in the sink first thing in the morning.
#4 Hands Full Rule
When I worked as a server in the restaurant industry, one of the biggest rules was the hands full rule. And it’s just what it sounds like.
If you were coming out of the kitchen, you better be running food, carrying table settings or at least have a coffee pot in your hand. Same thing going back in. If you didn’t have a dirty dish or a trayful going back in, you would get the stink eye from the boss.
Apply this same rule to your home. Heading from one room to another? Pick up something that doesn’t belong there and put it away.
The hands full rule is really a simple habit to get into and you would not believe what a difference it makes in keeping a tidy home.
Once you start doing it, the habit will form and it will become second nature.
#5 Clear Counters Make A Huge Difference
Learn about “The flat surface clutter rule”. There really is something about clear countertops that make your place feel more spacious and look cleaner. Remember, clutter breeds more clutter and flat surfaces are mess magnets.
Admittedly, I have one corner where I keep my drying rack that can get a bit out of hand sometimes.
When I do get all those sippy cups and Tupperware back in their place however, I feel like a new woman! Well, that’s a bit over the top maybe, but it does give me a more relaxed and less anxious feeling.
Consequently, clearing flat surfaces in your home instantly transforms the look and feel of a room.
Shop Spring Cleaning#6 Keep Lysol Wipes In The Bathroom
Here’s the thing about bathrooms. For obvious reasons, they get gross.
So keep a supply of Lysol, Clorox or whatever other disinfecting wipes you like handy in the bathroom, even put them in plain view on the back of the toilet tank. Anytime you go in there and see something questionable that needs to go, wipe it.
Let’s face it, sink splatters, smears from toothpaste or makeup, hair…all gross. Especially if you have boys, there will be splatters.
Also, if you are a mom of little kids and happen to be potty training, you know how crucial these wipes are for cleaning those bacterial hotspots (toilet handle, lightswitch, doorknob, potty base etc…).
And yes, kids need to learn to clean these for themselves but well, you know…these things take time. Sometimes years, and years…and years. If you keep ahead of the bathroom yuckiness on the daily, you won’t be cringing every time you have to pee.
#7 Manage Kids Toys
Little people come with a lot of gear.
From babies to toddlers, they just accumulate a lot of stuff and it’s so easy for it to get out of hand.
If you have a designated playroom, lucky you! If your home is on the small side like ours, your living room may double as the kids’ area.
So what can you do?
Always be mindful of how much stuff you bring in. When your kids get new stuff, donate some other toys to goodwill, or at least rotate them to the garage or attic.
If you have a toddler who still naps, don’t bother making the room immaculate at naptime, as you know they’ll be taking the stuff out again in the evening.
This is what I call ‘work smarter not harder”. Stop doing work for nothing.
A quick tidy of the toys during afternoon naptime is just fine. I do like to run the Swiffer, sweep (and sometimes mop) during nap time just so little feet aren’t running through the dirt pile.
#8 Enlist Help
And speaking of kids, get them in on the act and have them help you clean up!
Start them young by doing a ten second tidy. Make a game out of it to pick up and put away their toys.
Even if you are doing most of it, you’ll be setting them up for success by showing them that it’s normal to clean up after themselves.
So why not try having them put their dishes in the sink after mealtime and dirty clothes in the hamper? That and toy clean up would be a great place to start!
And remember, husbands or partners need to pitch in too!
Do a quick 15-minute family clean up every night before starting the bedtime routine. One person should not have to clean up after 3, 4 or more individuals on a constant basis and end up overwhelmed by housework.
Everyone shares the living space and mom is not the personal servant!
#9 Keep A Cleaning Schedule
If it suits you, keep a more rigid cleaning schedule to help you be accountable to do certain tasks on set days of the week.
Making a cleaning schedule and sticking to it is a surefire way to avoid getting overwhelmed by housework.
Check out Pinterest for loads of different schedules and printables. In fact, you’ll find there’s no shortage on this topic.
#10 Hire A Cleaning Service
If all else fails and you can afford it, by all means, hire a cleaning lady! I don’t mean a full-time maid, possibly just someone to come in bi-weekly or monthly to do the big stuff.
Generally, your cleaning lady won’t do decluttering though so you will need to keep up on that yourself.
Or you may consider hiring a different service, such as a professional organizer. At least for the first deep declutter, this might be a great help to you.
You May Also Like: 10 Ways To Cope With Mom Burnout!
And please, remember, we all get overwhelmed by housework from time to time.
It doesn’t mean you’re a total slob and there’s no hope for you.
Start with a mindful declutter, a deep clean, and then do your best to maintain these habits on a daily basis.
And finally, cut yourself some slack. We are usually our own worst critics so stop apologizing for the state of your house when a friend comes over for coffee.
Besides, they are there to see you, not do a home inspection! You’re the one who has to live in your home and it will look “lived in”.
These simple habits will beat the overwhelm and keep your home tidy and clean according to YOUR standards, no one else’s.
Until next time, K.
Kelly is the founder and creative force behind Just Our View From Here. As a first-time mom over 40, she brings a fresh perspective to parenting and family life on her blog. Kelly also explores a wide range of lifestyle topics in her writing, including fashion, beauty, self-care, and well-being.
Additional Resources and Cleaning Motivation For You!
The Flat Surface Clutter Rule from Happy Simple Mom
Melissa Maker (my favorite cleaning guru and Youtuber) at Clean My Space
Fantastic motivational cleaning videos by Jessica Tull
Clean, Declutter and Organize videos by Canadian lifestyle vlogger extraordinaire Elle Lindquist
Productivity and Cleaning Motivation tips by Do It On A Dime
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Thanks for sharing your cleaning tips! I am inspired to start cleaning my messy home haha. I am hoping to get some professional carpet cleaning done too. Thanks so much for sharing!!!