This advice will make getting in the mood to clean just a bit easier.
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Set a Daily Checklist
As much as I love a Sunday morning cleaning spree, I’m less than enthused to clean my entire house all at once. Rather than get overwhelmed with a seemingly endless checklist, try breaking up your tasks by day. That way, you can narrow down the scope of your cleaning into more manageable bites. It’s much better to clean for 20 minutes or so at a time instead of hours.
The key to this motivation is to build a habit. After a few weeks of consistently cleaning the floors on Mondays and wiping down tables and dressers on Wednesdays, it’ll become second nature. I also recommend tackling your least favorite chore (for me, it’s cleaning floors) before the week gets away from you. Here’s an example of what my weekly list looks like to get you started:
- Monday: Vacuum or sweep and mop floors.
- Tuesday: Clean bathroom mirror, sink, shower and toilet.
- Wednesday: Wipe down surfaces in the kitchen, living areas and bedrooms.
- Thursday: Tidy up and put things away in the main living areas.
- Friday and Saturday: No assigned tasks, let loose and have fun!
- Sunday: Wash bedding and towels.
Pump Up the Jams
Does anyone else have childhood memories of being woken up on the weekend in the early morning (you know, 11 o’clock) by their parents blasting music as they cleaned? It turns out they were on to something. According to Psychology Today, music is incredibly influential when it comes to our mood and motivation. Upbeat, empowering music makes it easier to start cleaning, and it can also keep you in a better mood while you do it so the chore doesn’t feel as taxing.
Rather than just hitting shuffle on your saved tracks, try making a cleaning playlist of high-energy music. I have a couple of playlists I rotate through so things don’t get repetitive. They’re broken up by theme or genre, like 90’s throwbacks, classic rock, summer jams and sing-along pop, so there’s minimal overlap and the music feels fresh.
If you don’t have the time or energy to make your own playlist, you can search for premade playlists on your streaming service or play an album from your favorite artist. I find live albums and performances on YouTube especially motivating when I’m cleaning, just be sure not to get distracted watching!
Dedicate an Audiobook or Podcast
Sometimes music isn’t distracting enough. When I’m particularly unmotivated to clean, my head needs to be almost completely focused on something else, which is where audiobooks and podcasts come in. A funny rom-com or mysterious true crime series will keep your brain occupied on the plot while your hands wipe, wash and mop away. For extra motivation, dedicate an audiobook or podcast that you can listen to only while you’re cleaning. That way, if you want to find out what happens next, you have to get some cleaning done too.
If you have a library card, you can borrow audiobooks (and ebooks!) for free right on your phone through the Libby app. Most podcasts are also available for free on a range of platforms, including YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Set a Timer
When you’re short on time or motivation, a timer can be your best friend. Simply set a timer for 5, 10 or 20 minutes and try to get through as much cleaning as you can. You can start in the messiest room in your house or tackle the least messy room, depending on how you’re feeling that day.
Once the timer goes off, check in with yourself. If you’ve gotten into a groove, you can set another timer and keep going. But if you’re feeling strained or over it, stop, put your cleaning tools away and don’t think about cleaning for the rest of the day. Remember that even a few minutes of cleaning are better than nothing.
Call a Friend
Chatting with a friend makes everything better, even cleaning your house. Whether they’re a friend who lives across the country or your bestie down the street, catching up on what’s going on in each other’s lives (or the latest pop culture drama, I won’t judge) can power you both through your cleaning checklists.
Even though I’ll see my friends only briefly between scrubs or sprays, I like FaceTiming while cleaning over a phone call via speakerphone or earbuds to feel more connected. Whichever method you go with, you’ll both end up with cleaner houses and all the hot gossip. That’s a win-win-win.
Try a New Cleaning Tool
If you’re constantly trying to get stains out of your couch or your back aches when you scrub your shower, it might be time for a new cleaning tool. Having the right tools, be it a Little Green Machine or an electric scrubber, will cut down on the time and elbow grease it takes to get your home clean, making the tools well worth the investment.
Even just a cute kitchen cleaning product, like a silly Scrub Daddy kitchen sponge or a different scent of multi-purpose cleaning spray, can be enough to boost your mood to start cleaning.
Tackle the Clutter
Cleaning your home doesn’t always have to mean scrubbing and washing. Oftentimes cleaning feels so overwhelming to me because it looks as if the Tasmanian Devil has made its way through my house. So, I focus on just getting rid of all the clutter.
Clearing surfaces, picking up clothes then dropping them in the laundry basket, moving toys into their bin and getting everything off the floor makes such a visual difference without much effort. Tidying alone won’t leave your home squeaky clean, but it can give your space (and mood) enough of a boost to motivate you to start cleaning.
My best tip for staying on track with this method: Don’t put every single thing away once you pick it up. For example, if you have a sweatshirt, a pair of socks and a hair tie in your living room, it’s enough to just gather them up and take them to your to-put-away pile in the bedroom. Then, you can sort out the pile and put these items away when it’s time to tidy up the bedroom. This will keep you from getting distracted by clutter in rooms you’re not focused on yet.
Set a Closing Routine
How many times have you looked at a sink full of dishes in the morning and thought, “There is no way I’m washing those before work”? Establishing a nighttime routine to close down your house is specifically aimed at avoiding the morning cleaning blues.
The exact chores you tackle are ultimately up to you and your house needs, but the idea is to reset your home enough before going to bed so that you don’t feel as if you’re going to wake up to a mess. For me, this closing routine has become loading the dishwasher, making sure all food is put away, wiping kitchen counters, clearing off my coffee table, and straightening up the pillows and throws on my couch. That’s it.
These 10 minutes spent cleaning and tidying up are enough that I don’t feel as if I have to get a bunch of stuff done before my next day really begins. Plus, it makes any real cleaning I have to do after work or errands a little more manageable because the bare necessities are already done.
Treat Yourself
This one is simple: Pick out a treat and tell yourself that you can have it when you’re done cleaning. You can do this for your daily or weekly cleaning routine or as a way to knock out that deep-cleaning chore you keep putting off.
A coffee shop drink or a huge chunk of chocolate are great options, but your treat doesn’t have to be food-related. It could be the newest episode of your favorite TV show, a fun shopping trip, getting drinks with a friend or a bit of self-care. For me, waiting to light a candle until the room is clean is incredibly effective.
Invite People Over
Nothing is more motivating than a tangible deadline, and knowing that guests are coming over is sometimes the only way to guarantee the house gets clean. You don’t have to wait until the holidays roll around, either. Inviting friends over for a game night, watch party or crafting session is low-effort, requires few supplies and doesn’t involve making an entire meal.
