This post was sponsored by P&G as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.”
Do you feel like you just can’t stay on top of all the cleaning & tidying? That you are just going to lose your mind trying to keep up with the housework? Yup, been there. There are days where I’m completely overwhelmed and I can barely tell the table from the countertops due to the sheer amount of stuff everywhere. I’ve tried lots of strategies and have finally landed on one simple tip that helps me stay on top of the housework every day.
The key is the kitchen! The kitchen is pretty much the hub of our home. Is it yours?
If my kitchen is clean & tidy I feel like my sanity stays in tact and that tidiness seems to more effortlessly spill into the rest of our home.
Easier said then done right? Well, you can do it too! (Once your kids are in school full time). Ha! Just kidding. It’s a bit of an ongoing effort. You know that old saying “How do you eat an elephant? … One bite at time.” Well that’s pretty much my approach. As a side note I think we need to change that expression to how do you eat a humongous cheesecake or something because the thought of eating an elephant is just wrong.
Anyhow, here’s an example of the “cleaning schedule” – and I use that term loosely – that I keep in order to maintain a tidy kitchen and subsequently find more time (and motivation) to devote to the rest of the house.
In the Morning:
I do this while the kids are eating breakfast.
- Unload the dishwasher & load if necessary
- Put any dishes away from the night before that were left out to dry
- Pick up after breakfast (put the toaster away, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher, food back in the cupboards etc.)
In the Afternoon:
All done inside of 10 minutes while the kids are having snack or lunch.
- Clear off the counter tops & wipe them down (cleaning tip: I love Bounty Advanced for the longer Select-A-Size sheets).
- Swiffer the floor (cleaning tip: I use Swiffer Dry Refills to quickly wipe down window sills & door frames and basically anything covered in dust or dog hair).
- Put lunch dishes in the dishwasher
In the Evening:
- Clean as you cook dinner. This is a big one! Put dishes in the dishwasher and food products away as you go. You will have much less to pick up after dinner this way.
- Clear the sink every night. (ie. put dishes in dishwasher & what can’t go in, hand wash)
- Do one final tidy at the end of the night. Make sure those countertops are cleared off again!
- Run the dishwasher. (cleaning tip: Use Cascade Complete Action Pacs & you won’t have to pre-rinse your dishes!)
I find that if tackled in small chunks throughout the day like like this, it’s totally doable. None of these episodes of cleaning take more than ten minutes or so and the reward is clear countertops and an empty sink for most of the day. Now how can that not make you happy?
In addition to maintaining these tidying habits I also like to tip the scales in my favor by keeping essential cleaning products within easy reach to ensure I get through my little checklist quickly and easily. Products like Bounty Advanced, Cascade Complete Action Pacs & Swiffer Dry Refills help ensure my success. (P&G Household Need Products like these are available at Costco). In fact, with those three products I can get through most of my kitchen! Think countertops, dishes & floors.
With the kitchen tidy at any point in the day, I often have the energy to keep going. Bonus when I realize it didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it might and so I can use the extra time to continue cleaning, or maybe just head off to Costco to do a little shopping!
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