Home Improvement, Organization

Get Motivated to Clean Your House – 6 Tips + Free Printable Checklist

Posted on

Cleaning is a never ending chore. Just remember that clean doesn’t mean moral. You’re not a better person because you keep your house clean and you’re not a bad person if your house is a mess. We all struggle to keep our spaces clean. I can give you a million reasons and each excuse is valid. You may work a lot, your kids make messes, you are sick or disabled. Here are 6 tips to help you get back on track and get motivated to clean your house. Plus download the free printable cleaning checklist to help you along.

Collage of cleaning images and text overlaying saying to get motivated to clean your house + free cleaning checklist.

Get Motivated to Clean Your House

1. Pick a Priority

Pick a priority for the day or for the week. Do you want to catch up on laundry? How about wash your floors? Do you want to organize your drawers? Keep it to one or two tasks a day. This way you won’t feel overwhelmed, and you won’t feel guilty if everything you planned to do doesn’t get done. Do one load of laundry a day so you don’t feel overwhelmed a week later when all those clothes and towels have piled up.

Holding a dish towel and spray bottle.

2. Make a List

Anyone else feel satisfied when you make a list and can check it off? I know there are a lot of online check lists or you can even use an app on your phone. I’m a fan of good old fashioned pen and paper. Check out our free printable checklist! I may even be guilty of adding items not on my list that I’ve done just so I can check them off. You can break up your cleaning by doing one task a day. Grab your free weekly printable checklist here, all you need to do is download and print:

Clipboard leaned against a wall with books.

3. Timed Cleaning

I don’t know what it is about a time crunch but I always do well under pressure. Set you alarm for 10 or 15 minutes and get as much cleaning done as you can. You can also do this with the microwave countdown, when it’s warming something up I go against the clock and see how much I can get done before it beeps. You’d be surprised how much you can tidy in a short amount of time. Sometimes when I do this I just keep cleaning, since I’m up anyways, I might as well keep going. Also, get the kids to help with cleaning by putting on a timer. Youtube has a ton of countdowns, we used the mission impossible countdown a lot to make clean up fun.

Gold clock.

4. Pick up and Put Away

There’s a difference between cleaning and tidying up. Picking up and putting away doesn’t equate to cleaning. But, you have to pick up the mess and clutter before you can even start the deep clean. One of the easiest way to get motivated to clean is to start with a clean slate. I pretend that I’m having visitors over soon and I need to get my place looking decent. I love when people come over so that’s even more motivation to clean. You want the house to LOOK clean! You can also leave a pretty basket on the stairs or in your messiest room to put items in until you’re ready to put them away. You’re so much more likely to get down and dirty with the floors once they’ve been cleared of stuff.

Dishes drying in a rack.

5. Minimize your stuff

If you’re just moving stuff around from the table, to the closet and back to the table then you’ve got too much stuff. Find a spot for everything and get into the habit of putting things away in their proper place. I can bet your Tupperware drawer is overflowing right now! Just get rid of the excess. Keep whatever fits in the drawer, match the lids to the container and get rid of everything else. I don’t know what it is about the extra stuff and telling myself “but i MIGHT need it” so I started living by a new motto “If i can go buy it or order it right now then I don’t need it.”

Living room.

6. Ask For Help

Do what you can but don’t forget to ask for help. If you can afford hiring a cleaning service go for it! If you have a support system, family and friends, ask for help. So many people are afraid to reach out for help but when you have a community out there definitely use them. If you have kids now is a great time for them to start learning how to clean. Obviously this means age appropriate tasks such as cleaning up toys, clearing the table or washing dishes.

We hope these tips have motivated you! Do your best and use the printable checklist to help motivate you too!

Pin for Later!

Collage of cleaning images and text overlaying saying to get motivated to clean your house + free cleaning checklist.

More Free Printables

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *