Be a better housekeeper without wearing yourself out by using these smart strategies to keep a cleaner home.
Step 1: Schedule chores
Schedule chores, dividing tasks into daily, weekly, and monthly categories to maintain order and cleanliness, and to avoid overwhelming tasks.
Tip
Create cleaning checklists for each room.
Step 2: Use gravity
Use gravity to be a better housekeeper by cleaning from the top down and avoid cleaning fixtures, shelves and other surfaces more than once.
Tip
Recycle old towels into cleaning rags.
Step 3: Be efficient
Be efficient by keeping handy a supply cart or caddy that you can easily move from room to room, and seek out new time-saving cleaning tools and products.
Step 4: Organize
Organize your home with storage systems for everything from food to toys and make sure each family member puts things in their place.
Tip
Establish the expectation that children put their things away before going to bed.
Step 5: Delegate
Delegate cleaning tasks to family members according to age and ability, making sure they understand how to complete a job.
Step 6: Relax
Relax and avoid obsessing over perfection so that everyone in the household can pitch in without you re-cleaning what they’ve already cleaned.
Step 7: Prioritize
Prioritize tasks in accordance with your time and energy, and you’ll not only become a better housekeeper by addressing the essentials, you’ll be a happier person with more time to spend doing what you love.
Did You Know?
A 2009 study showed that on an average day that same year, 85 percent of women and 67 percent of men spent time doing housework.