Don’t Skip This If You Want a Tidy House

What’s my secret to keeping my house tidy? Well, it’s the easiest concept ever, but the hardest thing to implement.

Here’s the big secret: We clean and put things away EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I don’t think of doing this as a completely separate part of my day. It’s part of my day. Cleaning up is a fact of life.

One of my favorite literary characters from the Anne of Green Gables series, Rebecca Dew, is quoted saying, “A house isn’t going to clean itself.”

Too true, Rebecca Dew. Too true.

I don’t think about how to “keep” my home clean. It won’t stay clean. We live here!

Instead, cleaning up and putting things away are just things you have to do in life. And it’s how to have a tidy house!

Eating a meal requires preparation and cooking, and that means I have to wash dishes and sweep up crumbs. 

Wearing clothes means I’ll have to do laundry, fold laundry, and put away laundry. 

Living in a house means we’re going to take things out that will have to get put away. 

Cleaning and organizing isn’t a separate “project” for me. It’s life.

I don’t do everything myself, either. My husband takes care of a lot of things. And I’ve been training my daughter in cleaning up since a young age. 

It’s her job to throw away her trash, put her dirty dishes in the sink, pick up her toys, and put away her art supplies. 

Yes, these are expectations we have as her parents. But it’s training her and showing her that cleaning up is part of life.

I don’t always enjoy cleaning and picking up. But I know not doing it makes a bigger mess later. (I also offer these tasks up …as explained in this article.)

Here’s what it looks like to make cleaning up part of your day:

• Putting away shoes, bags, jackets, and anything else you bring home the minute you walk in the door.
• Washing dishes after a meal.
• Running the dishwasher every night.
• Picking things up before moving on to the next activity.
• Throwing away trash instead of leaving it on the floor or on a surface.

If this sounds like too much to do, start by cleaning up for 10 minutes per day. 

Use the 10-Minute Tidy Checklist to get ideas for what to do. Set a timer for 10 minutes each day, and clean up. It will make a difference.

Cleaning and organizing takes time, but so does everything in life. I’d rather spend my time cleaning up than spend my time feeling anxious about a mess.

My challenge to you is to spend 10 minutes cleaning up every day this week. See if it doesn’t make a difference.