How to make cleaning less of a chore and more something to enjoy
When it's already hitting temperatures of 100+, you don't want to clean. You definitely don't want to fight with your kids about cleaning. It's hot and sticky outside and it leaves you exhausted when you get home from work. What if by changing the way you look at it, you could make it more fun and interesting?
Some of these ideas are going to sound strange and maybe a little silly. We hope you'll give them a try anyway. You never know if it works for you until you give it a shot, right? So, whether it's getting through the mountain of laundry, or finally tackling that project you've been putting off, let's get going.
Bring in some rules
No, we don't mean /those/ kind of rules. We're talking rules that make things more interesting. Are you trying to get your steps in every day? Maybe you can have a set number of items you can carry from the laundry pile to the washer or dryer. Maybe your child is great at playing basketball or soccer. You can have them 'shoot hoops' when it comes to cleaning up their room. You can challenge your spouse to a race to see who can finish cleaning the dishes first. Bringing in elements of play to a chore makes it go that much more quickly. All it takes is being willing to look at it from a different angle.
What would the Gaines say?
Or a different decorating expert that you like and admire. We're not saying this to stress you out, just the opposite really. Imagine you're watching them go through your home on your favorite show. What would they say? How would they look at things and what suggestions would they make? Go through your home room by room with a notebook and see what ideas you might come up with. You could also check out something like The Lazy Genius podcast for her tips on how to clean and organize your home.
Take some YOU time!
Most of us don't look at cleaning as anything beyond 'necessary' or at worst, a 'chore.' What if instead you looked at it as a time to take care of yourself? Sure you're getting things done, and you're doing some work. You can use that time though to do all sorts of things. Go through something that stresses you out as you're scrubbing the bathroom. You'll have time to work it out in your head and you get the frustration out in a positive way. Or you could use doing the dishes or folding laundry as sort of mindful meditation, focusing on your breathing and staying in the moment.
Catch up on your To Be Read list.
If you don't want to be in the moment grab your favorite book! With Audible, podcasts and Youtube, there's no end to ways to listen to a new book or story that will entertain you while you're getting things done. We suggest getting a good set of wireless headphones and diving in. You'd be amazed at how fast a good story can make chores pass by.
Take time to reward yourself
If you're at work and you finish a major project, you reward yourself, right? Why wouldn't you do that at home? It doesn't have to be a huge reward, it can be something as simple as some time to sit down and watch your favorite show, or head down to the pool for a relaxing swim. The point is keeping things balanced. If you do a 'small' chore, something that you find easy, make it a 'small' reward. If it's something larger, like going through and cleaning and reorganizing your garage, you might make it a larger reward. Giving yourself reasonable incentives to get things done not only makes it more likely that you will finish the job, but also that you're going to be less annoyed about having to get it done.
That's us though. What about you? How do you convince yourself to get through cleaning on a regular basis? What do you do to bring more enjoyment to these regular tasks? Let us know over on our Facebook page or in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you.
If on the other hand you ended up here because you melted something in your dishwasher, or you're trying to figure out how to clean your oven, we've got articles to help with that as well.
If during your cleaning you've found that your refrigerator isn't working right, or your washer has a leak, we can help with that too. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or set up an appointment at our website. Wherever you live in Plano and the surrounding area we're here to help keep your home running.