A Mess Queen’s Tips For Keeping It Clean
A Mess Queen’s Tips For Keeping It Clean
I may just be the queen of mess-making. Jana, Julia, and Naomi can confirm – these girls have seen it at its worst.
By nature… by habit… by trade… I’m always doing something that involves using lots of little things – and I love it! But, when it comes time to clean up after myself, I’d rather be doing anything but. So that’s usually just what I do: leave the mess and go do something else.
Not anymore, though. I recently decided that, after almost 27 full years of making a mess and leaving it there, enough has got to be enough. These days I’ve been making a concerted effort to clean up more often, and although it’s certainly not an easy new habit to adopt, I’m getting there.
Here are some techniques that have been working for me. If you have any to add, please, please do! A big shoutout to my momma for teaching most of these to me years and years ago… I’m sorry it took me this long to take your brilliant advice. <3
In life, the only time that ever truly exists is right now. The same thought may be applied when it comes to cleaning. If you don’t feel like doing it right now, chances are you won’t feel like doing it ever. You might as well do it now so you can cross it off your list and clear some space in that mind of yours. Once you begin to realize that cleaning a small mess as soon as it accumulates is a thousand times better than a huge one weeks later, it becomes a tad more rewarding to clean up as you go.
I have such a love for beautiful scents, so I bring that love right into my cleaning regimen. I use dish soap, counter spray, and dryer sheets that all smell incredible, which brings a surprising amount of joy and ease into cleaning. My current favorite: Meyer’s Basil collection. I’m also in love with their Iowa Pine scent for the holiday season. Lastly, I love adding lavender into the mix to soothe the soul as I clean. Here are some tips on cleaning with lavender.
This is a great one that my mom taught me as a little girl. If something has to go upstairs, simply place it on the stairs. The next time you go up, pick that object up and take it with you to wherever it needs to go. I love this because it’s simple, logical, and really works. This way, you don’t find yourself running up and down the stairs when you’re doing a huge cleaning job. Just one or two trips to get everything where it belongs.
When you have a huge mess in one room (i.e. my bedroom, always), set a timer. Whether it’s 5 minutes or an hour, giving yourself a time frame works in two ways: First, you’re dedicating a time for cleaning and nothing else, which automatically removes you from distractions. Second, when you know you only “have” a certain amount of time to clean, your mind is likely to make it into a race, and you’ll clean faster than ever before. I usually find that I end up cleaning for longer than the planned time, too, which is an added bonus.
Nothing can get an entire house sparkling clean faster than the knowledge that visitors will soon be over. So when all else fails, do exactly that. Maybe you can even plan to have a get-together with a bunch of friends every Sunday evening. Voila! Sunday afternoon has just become your weekly cleaning time.
If you have any of your own tips, please, please, please share them below!
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