With 10 of us at home and 7 boys, I could easily spend all day cleaning if I let the messes get to me. But, with this simple routine I can set it and forget and truly enjoy my home and my children. Here are 5 daily tasks for a tidy home.
Do you hate cleaning or get overwhelmed by the enormity of the tasks? If you strip down to these five daily tasks, cleaning will be quicker, easier and much less stressful. You can spend more time living in and enjoying your home. Subscribe for updates, as I’ll be sharing my weekly and monthly and seasonal cleaning routines next!
The first daily task for a tidy home: Make the bed
This one small act seems unimportant, but it is the feeling of order and productivity it lends to your day that makes it important. This might feel like a meaningless task, but how do you feel when you walk into your room and see the bed made? Good? How do you feel when you see it unmade? See?!
It DOES make a difference.
Starting your day with your bed made not only keeps you from getting back in it 😉, but begins the day with a sense of order and momentum. It is a way of affirming to yourself every time you walk in your room that you are an orderly, productive and tidy person. This helps you walk in light of that the rest of the day. Don’t discount it! But also, don’t expect perfection when embarking on new habits. Let go of perfection and aim to not have more than 2 days go by with your bed unmade. It’s a rhythm not a checklist. Consistency > perfection= progress
Bonus tip: My husband and I have a rule: last one out of bed makes it! Did you know you can make your bed while you’re still in it? Seriously! Just lay in bed, fluff up the covers, smooth the sheets with your legs. Next, grab the pillows close to you and fluff them, then lay down and sliiide out from under the sheets. You’re almost done! Tuck in what’s needed and tighten it all up and put your pillows on! You’ve just accomplished an impactful task before even getting out of bed!
Try it? Leave me a comment below!
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Second thing I do daily for a tidy home: Tidy the kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home. I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to be motivated to do anything else when the kitchen is a mess. Conversely, when it is clean, I am usually more excited to get in there and cook for the next meal. If you clean it first thing after breakfast, you’ll set your day up for more efficient work and clarity of mind. Plus you won’t have the crumbs finding their way into other areas of the house and creating more messes.
One thing was keeping me from making this a habit. I used to get carried away cleaning it. I would start organizing drawers and scrubbing corners and before I knew it, I was exhausted and dreading the next kitchen cleannup.
The key to developing it as a habit was to not make it so complicated, so that I could enjoy it instead of loathing it. I have one day a week I focus on more detailed cleaning and the rest of the time is to just prep it for the next use.
For daily maintenance I stick to the following:
(the children help accomplish these after each meal)
- clear & wipe counters
- unload/load dishes, rinse out sink
- sweep the floors
That’s it! No wiping down appliances (unless there’s an obvious spill or something) No mopping, no cleaning cracks and crevices or organizing cupboards! Save those for another day.
Our goal shouldn’t be always having a clean kitchen. Kitchens are for using! If you want to make it a habit you can stick to, try not over cleaning your kitchen, and instead just focus on resetting it for the next meal.
Bonus tip: Buy a cleaning spray and dishcloths you enjoy using. A pleasant smell can trigger positive emotions around cleaning. I love the geranium Mrs. Meyers concentrate. It makes 32 spray bottles!
My favorite Kitchen cleaning items I use everyday:
- My favorite scrubber
- The most absorbent dishcloths
- Concentrated cleaner that makes 32 bottles (I also like the peony and honeysuckle)
- Refillable spray bottle I use
Read this for more tips in the following posts:
3. The third daily task for a tidy home: 1 load of laundry
See one load (for me, it’s usually two) all the way through to completion each day, and you’ll rarely have a day you have to “catch up” on the laundry.
Wash, dry, fold & put away.
Do you struggle to remember to switch your loads? Try to tie it to something else you always do. For me, I check the laundry before or after mealtimes.
I prefer to fold right away (when I’m home), and we put it away when we tidy our rooms.
Do you do a load a day or a big pile when clean clothes are gone?
I fold and put away the same day because otherwise kids dig through the clean clothes and they end up on the floor and back in the hamper before being worn! Also, because I hate ironing and de-wrinkling, and the sooner I fold the clothes, the less wrinkled they are. If I don’t, my kids can’t seem to get themselves dressed and I’m the one left scrambling trying to find them something decent to wear.
Bonus tip: try dumping it out on your bed or the couch and telling yourself you can’t watch your show until it’s folded or while you fold!
Try it and tell me if it helps!
Which are you? Folder or nonfolder?
My favorite laundry essentials:
- My favorite laundry detergent
- Natural fabric softeners
- Natural fragrance for the dryer
- My favorite treatment for hard grease stains
- Bleaching powder
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4. The fourth daily task for a tidy home: Tidy the Main Room
When we have littles it can feel like our homes are never clean. That’s ok! Our homes are meant to be the set we live our lives in, not museum or design curations. 🙂
Instead of seeing a tidy room as the goal, try setting designated times for picking up to reset the stage for the next scene of your life. This can help you enjoy your space better, but still not be as overwhelmed by the mess.
We pickup once in the morning, once after lunch (occasionally) and before Daddy comes home from work. Find a rhythm that fits in your routine. It helps to tie it to a time you already have a routine established, like meals or bedtimes etc.
With 9 kids and 7 boys, I was constantly caught in the cycle of feeling defeated by the mess. I would get overwhelmed enough to finally clean up, then get caught up in decluttering and cleaning, leading to exhaustion so I would put it off again- rinse and repeat. 🤪
Do you find yourself doing either of these? Avoid it until it overwhelms you, or accidentally getting lost in cleaning and decluttering? It’s a totally understandable place to be in when you are actually LIVING in your home or have little kids. However, what got me out of that crazy cycle was finding a good rhythm of tidying up. We do it at set moments during the day. No cleaning, no declutterring, just putting everything back in its place. This helps me not feel exhausted so I can repeat it again without the memory of being wiped! I have other times set to clean and declutter, but daily tidying isn’t for that. Tidying should be to reset the rooms FOR use again.
Cleaning and decluttering are in my weekly and monthly routines (stayed tuned for a follow up post on those) so I know I’ll get to those tasks later and our home stays more manageable.
When we can find a rhythm of tidying that works for us, we can better use and enjoy our homes.
Bonus tip: Keep a basket nearby while you pick up to collect things that belong in other rooms and a trash bag to collect trash as you go. This will keep you focused on the room you are in and not get distracted running to other rooms to deliver things or throw away trash.
5. My final daily task for a tidy home: Wipe the bathrooms
Maintaining your bathrooms daily takes only a minute or two and is an easy way to cut your weekly bathroom cleaning time down exponentially and then you don’t have to worry if company drops by and needs to use it! 🙂
Just wipe the mirrors, counters & sink and do a quick swish in the toilet with the toilet brush. WIth seven boys and 4 bathrooms, we all pitch in for this task, but it sure goes a long way to keep it from getting really nasty.
Do you hate cleaning the bathroom? Who doesn’t? But this tip has taken my weekly cleaning down to 5-10 minutes per bathroom tops! You might need to do a deep clean to get it to this easy maintenance mode but it’s worth it! Of course we’ll miss some days, but aiming for daily means it gets done regularly and your weekly cleaning will be so much easier.
Bonus tip: Make it easy to do by keeping a container of cleaning wipes in each bathroom that can also be used on the mirror. Make it easy to remember by doing this for each bathroom after you use it the first time each day.
Daily bathroom cleaning products and tools I keep in each bathroom
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I hope you’ve found this post helpful and encouraging that you CAN maintain a tidy home with minimal effort each day while still enjoying your home.
If you try any of these tips please be sure to come back and leave me a comment if you’ve found them helpful or to share any of your tips for maintaining a tidy home!
Subscribe for updates on my follow up posts coming soon- my weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning routines!
Thanks for being here in my little corner of the interwebs!
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