The whirlwind of life gets the better of even a tidy person myself included. Despite my well-intentioned cleanliness, I sometimes find myself coming home to piles of clothes (the aftermath of never being able to decide what to wear in the morning) and a general state of domestic disarray.
Being faced with such a mess can be an intimidating task, so when tackling it, your first step should be a reality check: Don’t expect yourself to clean your house from top to bottom Mary Poppins style in one go. (Sure, Marie Kondo recommends an all-in-one cleaning marathon, which might be good in theory, but who has time for that?)
Like anything that seems like a mammoth effort at first, cleaning becomes far less daunting when you break it down into small, manageable chunks. And if you get into the habit of doing these things at certain times during the week or month, chances are you’ll be able to keep your abode relatively tidy all the time. Here’s how.
Kitchen
Think about a kitchen activity that you do often and enjoy—drinking tea, brewing coffee, blending a smoothie, microwaving breakfast. Then figure out what one cleaning task you can do while you have downtime during that activity. I drink a lot of tea, so I ask myself: What’s one thing I can do while waiting for the kettle to boil?
In the three minutes or so that I’d usually spend waiting impatiently, I can usually load or unload the dishwasher, or tackle the dirty dishes in the sink. No dishes?
I can wipe down the counters, stove, and fridge in that time. Or given the diminutive size of my kitchen, I can sweep or vacuum the floor (and then mop it when I come back for my second cup of tea).
Living Room and Bedroom
Given that you’ll need to tidy, dust, and vacuum, tackling these can take up a little bit more of your time. So make it less of a chore by queueing up that podcast you’ve been meaning to listen to or that favorite 80s pop album that always lifts your spirits (no judgement here).
The secret to making this task a breeze is to get well-acquainted with your vacuum brush attachments. Using the wrong attachment for the wrong task is kind of like trying to apply eye shadow with your hairbrush.
First, slide on the dusting brush and use it to blitz any dust on bookshelves, windowsills, picture frames, blinds, ceiling fans, blinds and drapes. Next, use the crevice tool to get in between sofa cushions, in corners, behind the radiator, and underneath furniture, as well as to reach cobwebs on the ceiling and to clean bed frames. (It’s also great for getting under the stove or fridge in the kitchen, and for delinting your dryer).
Then before you get started vacuuming the carpet with the floor nozzle, spruce up your armchairs and sofa with the upholstery tool. Since you’ll now be such a pro at vacuuming, you’ll probably still have time to also polish the mirrors, fluff the pillows, and, while you’re at it, water the plants.
And then there’s the dreaded closet. This is another case of not doing everything at once. Instead, allocate 15 minutes each evening to do one thing—it could be folding your sweaters, organizing your shoes, or switching out warm-weather clothes for your fall staples (RIP, summer). My favorite rule for keeping my closet from overflowing?
Every time I buy something new, I have to give an old item that I haven’t worn in forever to the Goodwill. It works like a charm and keeps me ruthless, not only when it comes to parting with old clothes, but also when buying new ones.
Bathroom
Demolding the shower is the worst. So rather than let your tub get to toothbrush-scrubbing-required levels of grime, set a day of the week (say, Sunday morning when you’ve got plenty of time on your hands) to give it a quick clean.
About 15 minutes before you jump in the shower, spray it down with a cleaning product and let it sit. By the time you’re ready to get in, a lot of the mold will have dissolved and you can give it a quick wipe and rinse before you get on with your shampooing.
For the bathroom vanity, keep some cleaning wipes in the cupboard below and give the sink a wipe-down every other night while you’re brushing your teeth (an excellent test of your coordination). By taking a few moments throughout the week to do some basic cleaning, you’ll save yourself an intensive effort later on.
When you’re done, reward yourself for your hard work (and all the time you’ve saved your future self with all this super-organized cleaning). Rosé and Netflix, anyone?