4 Tips for Staying On Top of Household Chores

Between work, family life, and personal life, it seems like keeping up with household chores can feel nothing short of a balancing act. Your laundry piles up, your dishes never seem to get cleaned, and the dust you swore that you just dusted up is suddenly forming again. Perhaps it’s because your dryer needs to be repaired, or you need a new vacuum cleaner. Sometimes our appliances break down, and this can be the reason for falling behind. 

 

Yet, in most cases, it’s a simple case of not having the right strategies in place. All it takes is one slip-up, and you can find yourself in over your head. Fear not—with a little bit of organization and self-discipline, you can keep up with housework and keep your house sparkling clean. Here are some essential tips you’ll want to know for staying on top of your household chores.

 

Create a Chores Schedule

 

Sometimes it’s as simple as creating a schedule. For example, Mondays you take care of laundry, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are for bathroom and kitchen deep cleaning. On Fridays you take out the trash, and the weekend is for miscellaneous tasks and catch-up. Even just 15 to 30 minutes a day dedicated to each area of your home can make a big difference in preventing things from piling up.

 

Don’t Procrastinate

 

You may think you’re saving yourself time by putting off tasks until later; however, you’re only making it harder on yourself. Procrastination leads to longer cleaning times and bigger messes. Try to do a little bit every day through small daily efforts. A general rule of thumb is: if something takes you less than two minutes, then do it now. The “do it now” rule will save you hours of work doing everything all at once.

 

Don’t Worry About Perfection

 

In a world where perfection is constantly thrown in our face—from social media to the shows that we watch—it’s normal to put pressure on yourself about cleaning. It doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect every time, but rather a job well done. 

 

As long as it’s thorough and almost perfect, then it’s close enough. Remember, it’s going to get messy again anyway, so aiming for perfection every single time is a little bit of a time waster. Focus on perfection when you do your deep cleans, and maintenance in between can be closer to “okay” than perfect.

 

Get Everyone Involved

 

There’s no reason why you should have to do all of the cleaning yourself if multiple people live in your house. Get everyone in your family on board when it comes to keeping up with cleaning. Yes, even the little ones can get involved by assigning them age-appropriate tasks. Something as simple as dusting a shelf can instill good habits in kids and also take a task off of your list you don’t have to deal with.