What Do I Clean First?
Ever wonder what should you clean first? Here’s a real-life example of how you can decide what to clean (and when to clean it).
Reader question: I guess what I struggle with the most is trying to find where to start in my day. More than anything, what do I clean first? What do I do first so that by the end of the day or when my hubby gets home, the house can look at least somewhat clean or I can feel I’ve accomplished something?
As I walk through the house I ALWAYS find something else I need to do and even the smallest thing can throw me totally off because I’ll forget to go back to what I was supposed to be doing. LOL!!! It’s a mess. (No pun intended!)
Trying to figure out where to start in your day as a homemaker can be SO difficult.
And even if you know where you should start, following through each day is a challenge. (As a very distracted homemaker, following through is my personal weakness.)
To help figure out what I need to clean and when I should do the work, I like to flip the decision around in my mind. That way, I’m thinking more about what I want my end product to be each day.
I simply ask myself “What do I want my home to be like by the time my husband gets home every night?”
Once I get a picture in my mind, then I work backward throughout my day.
Because I homeschool my children, I know our home is going to get messy. If I clean in the morning, it’s useless, because I know it’s completely unrealistic to keep our home neat all day long. It’s also completely unrealistic for me to spend all day cleaning.
But, if we stop all of our school work about an hour before my husband gets home, we can pick up our messes and do our daily cleaning chores. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes, and just so happens to coincide with when he gets home from work. Our cluttered home surprisingly transforms into a haven.
Even if I know our cleaning needs to begin in the afternoon, it can be tricky to decide where to start cleaning.
Here are 5 tricks that help me take care of my home every day:
1. Set a time every day when I need to tend to my homemaking chores.
While my cleaning could be first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon works really well for me. Because of this, I don’t even think about cleaning the rest of the day. I add cleaning the house to my to-do list, and get to it only when it’s time.
2. Know my Non-Negotiable Daily Chores. And do them.
When it comes to caring for my home, certain things need to get done every single day. No exceptions. I need to wash and dry a load of laundry, wash all of our dirty dishes, make my bed each morning, and pick up our clutter every day.
As long as I do those four things each day, I count my day as a homemaker as a success.
Sure, I always have dozens of other projects around my home that could or should be done, but I don’t sweat them. On days when I’m home all day long, I’ll try to start one of these projects, as long as I know I have enough time to finish it. I fit them in when I can, and when I do, I feel like I’ve accomplished something pretty big.
3. Stick to one room at a time.
I can be easily distracted by messes in different rooms. But once it’s time to start cleaning, I force myself to stick to one room. Typically, I start with my living room (because the front door is there, just in case we have unexpected visitors). Then I move on to my dining room. When I’m finished picking up those two rooms, I move on to the kitchen.
Most days, those rooms are all I can get to before I need to do something else. But when I make a little more time for cleaning, I do a quick clean in our bathroom.
After that, our bedrooms are the priority. (I don’t usually get to the bedrooms very often, though. I’m trying to make them a priority every six weeks, in hopes that they’ll be fairly easy to tackle.)
Once those rooms look great, I work on closets and other storage areas. Usually those are pretty messy, though, because I just don’t have the time – or take the time – to focus on them.
4. Clean with a pattern.
As I stick to cleaning just one room at a time, I try to clean in some sort of a pattern. I’ll pick a corner and work my way around the room, clockwise.
I also focus on doing one chore at a time. So, I’ll declutter first in a clockwise motion. If I do deeper cleaning, then I’ll dust in the same direction. Then I’ll vacuum.
5. Surface cleaning is fine … for most of the time.
If you’re busy or feeling overwhelmed, just try cleaning the surfaces. Get rid of the clutter. Make things look basically clean.
If you can’t get to the dust bunnies, or you don’t have time to vacuum – and they’re not creating obvious eyesores – it’s OK to let them slip until you have more time. You don’t have to expect a perfectly cleaned home.
I do try to plan for a spring deep clean and a fall deep clean each year, just so I know I’m getting rid of all the dust and cobwebs. But aside from those two deep cleans, I don’t worry about serious cleaning very often.
By sticking to those five principles, I’m able to know what to clean first in my home. And I’m also able to start each day with a good idea of what I should do in my home.
I’ve shared other housekeeping tips and tricks at the Balance in Homemaking Online Conference. (17 speakers also brought plenty of encouragement and inspiration!) For details, click here.
What do YOU clean first in your home? What’s your typical cleaning routine? What’s your cleaning philosophy?
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All images courtesy of Unsplash.
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I used to get reale easily distracted when cleaning up, but my strategy now is to focus on the greatest impact area first – we have a semi-open kitchen-living-dining room which is where we spend most of our family time and which happens to be also where people enter the home. Both our front and back door enter directly into the living room (my challenge- shoes, dirt, jackets, bags, toys- vs. creating a pleasant entrance into the home). So I try to clean up before hubby gets home or before friends come over and here is what I do:
1. Remove all trash
2. Remove all dirty laundry and shoes that were left out
3. Dirty dishes into kitchen
4. Carry all toys into the nearby kids room (i usually don’t sort them only dump all toys into the room and only if we finished the visible living area we go into the kids room to clean up there)
5. Wipe down the table, side board, sweep the floors
6. Straighten the pillows
7. If I have time I’ll clean up the kitchen if not I leave it for the evening
8. Before guests arrive I do a quick check in the guest bath (flush the toilet, wipe the counter, fresh towel)
If I had a crazy day and didn’t get properly to the mess in the living area and have no energy left I just sweep all the toys into the kids room, shut the door, and clean up the kitchen so as to have a reasonable clean start the next day. I can’t relax with toys on the floor, so that’s my quick fix to still be able to enjoy a relaxed evening with hubby on the couch ;)
I used to set aside Saturday for housecleaning, but one day a week just wasn’t enough! Now I have a schedule: Monday=living room, Tuesday=dining room, Wednesday=kitchen, Thursday=bathroom, Friday=bedroom. Each room gets attention once a week, leaving Saturdays for bigger jobs like cleaning the carpet. Sunday is a day of rest. Laundry is done whenever there is enough to run a full load; same goes for the dishwasher. I also like to plan menus for at least a week (two is better), which cuts down on trips to the grocery store.
I just hav way to much clutter in my house to get that done in 15-30 minutes, let alone that and laundry, dishes, and everything else! Maybe I’m just messy…
To get the house presentable, I always start in the kitchen. Then I move to the bathrooms. If I have enough time, I’ll quickly vacuum the living room and make sure any stray items are removed from the coffee and end tables. I keep the dining room table set for four, so it is always ready for company. I have been doing the one room a day cleaning schedule and that has helped get the house under control. I still have a few junk rooms to go, though.
I love your approach, Elizabeth! It’s SO doable. And I love how you start in the kitchen first. I don’t know about your home, but my kitchen is the quickest to get messy. By starting there first, you get the worst over with. Thanks so much for sharing!