How to Automate Spring Cleaning

What does a spring Cleaning include?

Aside from hiring a daily maid or having trash removal service clearing your house of everything and starting fresh, how can keeping the house clean happen?  Springtime often brings up the feeling of refreshing and well spring cleaning. This can often be a daunting task for moms because of the theme of spending all day cleaning up just for the people (also known as your family) to terrorize the home the same day. Maintaining daily chores help make spring cleaning a smaller task. I'm talking to that extensive cobweb in the window. Chores are definitely not the highlight of my day- I'm a SAHM that hates housework but I have used some hacks that have eased the burden. Let me emphasize the ease part. It's not a perfect system-put your white gloves away because perfection isn't the goal. The reward is less fluctuation of clean to messy and the amount of time it takes to rebound.

Get cleaning supplies that speed up the process 

Stop dreading the process because the tools make it take a while. If you hate vacuuming, a corded vaccum is not your friend. A wireless one can help you move faster. You may even consider a robot vaccum especially for a room with a large area to vaccum for you while you tend to other chores or tasks. Using quality cleaning products can reduce the amount of time scrubbing in order to remove the stain. This is where you ask your mom tribe for the cleaning tools and products that they love. Please also refer to my blog post about the items that have helped speed up the time. (BEST CLEANING TOOLS FOR MOM) 

Get help from the people who live in the house

Start the kids off young with tasks they can handle. My 2 year old is quite familiar with throwing things in the trash and enjoys vacuuming (he pushes it with the help of his mom- although he thinks it's the other way around). The #2livecrew (Carrington, 7 and Justen 6) clear their plates in the trash and place dinner wear  in the sink when they are done eating. They will also wipe their table clean with a soapy dish towel and dry it off. Ask your husband/boyfriend to help with tidying if it isn't his designated chore. In my household, my husband has a few chores (trash removal, cutting grass, killing ALL spiders on the premises, fixing broken items, any installation projects, etc) that he is responsible for that helps with keeping the home clean.

The most important “chore” for everyone in the house is to clean up after yourself. Make the kids pick up the toys when they are done. Put dishes and sink and/or dishwasher. Put the chips back in the cabinet when you're done snacking. You get the drift. Most household messes seem to multiply from just one toy on the floor- speaking from experience😮‍💨

Have a mini cleaning spree twice a day

Pick two times during the day for 15 minutes each that you can quickly clean something. Are the dishes in the sink that you can load in the dishwasher? Can you clear the homework, books and other random things off the kitchen table and move to their designated places? Doing this action can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed with all the cleaning of the house. It can help feel as though something was accomplished in a short amount of time. And who knows, you may get super motivated and keep cleaning beyond the 15 minute clean. It's happened to me many times and ended up cleaning more than I imagined I could in a slightly extended cleaning spree. Even if you feel like you do not have a full day to clean the whole house.

Purge often

There are many rules on how often this should happen. Don't get so caught up and how often or howmuch- just declutter frequently. Starting small is the rule of thumb here as well as with the other tips. Pick a small area or project that you can finish fairly quickly. Got a junk kitchen drawer or or a corner of the room that has too much stuff piled up grab it and watch a tv show, listen to a podcast or favorite music while clearing that small spot. Have three piles- trash, donate, keep. The keep pile will then need to be sorted and put away in the place or to its proper home. Another tip is to declutter as things enter the home before there can be any emotional attachments or buried in a pile in your home. For example, instead of just taking all the mail inside and placing it in a mail bin to be sorted later, pull out the junk mail and immediately throw away before placing the remaining mail in the bin. This way you dont start accumulating stuff you never intend on keeping and doesn't make the mail task seem as daunting because there is less mail there.

Have fun.

I know this goes against the whole I hate cleaning vibe, which is why I mentioned it. Don’t treat it as a punishment. Add elements that can take your mind off the task at hand. Play music. Play a podcast or audible book. My personal favorite is to create a 90s hip hop and R&B playlist on Spotify for cleaning and set it on random to spice it up. Yes, I have a full dance party while cleaning.

Bonus tip: I have 2 short lists and a long list- one 15 minute list and one 30 minutes. The short lists are used to clean in short spurts when I don’t have much time. For example, while the kids are getting dressed, I can play a quick 15 playlist and pick up in one room and run the vacuum.

GIve yourself grace and don't compare. 

Just because someone’s house is cleaner than yours, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Y'all there are no gold stars given out for the most spotless home. Even if there was, does that goal align with the current season you are in? If you have tiny humans, perfection is unrealistic and will keep you unnecessarily stressed. Just because it's not spotless doesn't mean you are living in a hoarder's home-there's a wide variety of tidy in there.

This isn't about achieving perfection. This is about creating a home that is refreshing, peaceful and enjoyable for your family. When I slack off on some of these tips, I notice the change in my home. If you always have comparison or shame leading your cleaning, you will never achieve the vision of your home. Define your home and family life and stand confidently in it.❤️

What tip can you share that helps manage household cleaning?