10 ways to motivate you to clean| Let’s get moving!

I want to motivate you as well as myself to clean the house. I know I need the boost especially on the days I DON”T want to. So here is my attempt to do said cleaning and share what I do with 10 ways to motivate you to clean.

Hello, my name is Michele and I have a problem. It affects my day to day moods and sometimes drives me completely insane. I feel bad for admitting this but I have to get this off of my chest. Please don’t be disappointed with me. I am already disappointed in myself, but guys… I hate to clean…

There I said it. Phew… That’s a huge weight come off of my shoulders. While I am at it let me unload some more on you guys, you know like 10 ways to motivate you to clean. This 10 step program helped me and it could help you guys. Thanks for listening and being so understanding.

10 ways to motivate you to clean

All jokes aside, who likes to clean. I mean I feel accomplished afterward but I don’t wake up thinking. “OMG I cant wait to get my painted nails in that sink of dirty dishes of god knows what Mike and Mikayla ate while I was sleeping” or “Oh man I am so excited after those delectable dishes I have been waiting all night to dig through Mike’s nasty sweaty work clothes”.

I don’t want to smell things I wouldn’t wish my worse enemy to smell. No offense Mike, but you know you smell NASTY after days of working in the hot humid Florida sun. Not all the time, but a good amount of days.

Realistically no one wakes up like that. Do I plan for cleaning? Of course. Who wants to spend hour upon hour cleaning the house. We ain’t got time for that. So, here are the 10 ways to motivate you to clean.

1. Get Dressed

First things first guys, I cant clean the house if I am in my PJs. I must get dressed in comfy clothes. Most of my days I am sporting workout clothes while cleaning. I mean isn’t cleaning like a cardio workout… If it’s not, don’t ruin #7 for me, please. Always wear comfy, breathable clothes because you might sweat while cleaning.

If I am not dressed I am not motivated to do anything. I will think it is a lazy day at home and won’t focus on what I need to get done that day. Its psychologically psyching you up for the tasks you need to get done. If were are talking real here, If I got dressed, that’s already a good day in my book. That’s an accomplishment in itself.

2. Make a music playlist

This is a must in my book. I can’t put on a TV show or a movie on, especially if its something I haven’t seen before. I will sit down and watch it. Yet music doesn’t involve you having to sit and watch. I took an afternoon and thought of a whole bunch of upbeat motivational songs. Songs that would get me moving and grooving around my house.

If you don’t have time for that there are playlists already made on YouTube or Spotify that you could listen to. If you want it to be all songs that you like, that you know will motivate you to get up. Then create that playlist. Nothing sucks more than being in the groove of cleaning. You are performing your own sold-out concert in your Kitchen. Then a song you don’t like comes on and then you are like WTF man. That song is like Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. It completely came out of nowhere and such a mood killer.

3. Clean with me playlist

If music is not your thing then turn on a playlist of Clean with me videos on YouTube. Some of my favorites are Love Meg, This Crazy Life, and Beauty and the Beastons, to name a few. Nothing motivates me more to clean than seeing other people cleaning. I almost kind of become competitive with them and they don’t even know it. It goes something like this “Oh you are going to clean your window sills, well well AMANDA of this crazy life. I can do that too.”

It also helps when I sit to take a break I leave the video playing so then I psych myself up again. I sit there thinking “Oh Meg is still cleaning while I’m sitting. Not on my watch, Meg. NOT ON MY WATCH”! And I then I get back up and finish cleaning.

Listen here guys I never claimed I was normal, I know the 2 paragraphs above make me seem a little loopy. You know you gotta do what you gotta do to get the cleaning done. I wouldn’t be loopy or writing this if the cleaning did it itself.

4. Make a master cleaning list

Make things easier on yourself and do a brain dump. Don’t keep everything in your head. Something is bound to be forgotten. So I take a piece of paper and write by room the things that I want to clean in there. I try to think of the not so normal things I clean that should be done daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

For me, I always forget baseboards in Mikayla’s room or the closet doors in my room. They get dusty and I need to remember every month to move everything to wipe those bad boys down.

Then when Mike’s allergies act up at night. It reminds me like oh crap he sleeps near the closet, time to dust those nasty things. With the master list made I don’t have to wait until Mike is living on Claritin for a week or so because I didn’t clean it. It reminds me of what I need to do and when I need to do it.

5. Assign tasks from the master list to certain days of the week

Since you took the time to write out the master list now assign certain tasks to a day of the week. For me, I will assign the Kitchen and Living Room on the same day. They are one-room separated by a carpet and tile line. I can move through both rooms. Sunday I dedicate to laundry because it’s our day to relax at home. I know we won’t be going anywhere because of work or school the next day.

I am working towards Saturday’s being our free day that everything is clean by that day. So we can spend the day out doing fun family things. Yet if it doesn’t happen we at least speed clean the main areas of the house. This means the house “looks” clean because I can close the doors to the other rooms.

6. Tackle the main areas Living Room, Kitchen, Bathroom

Number 5 flows into number 6 if you don’t have time. Clean the main parts of the house as if someone was coming over. Any place your guest may walk to, Living Room, Kitchen, and Bathroom, because why would they be going to your bedroom. Close that door and leave it for another day. Nothing more to say on this tip.

7. Multi-task to get more done

I like to multi-task when I am cleaning. Meaning I will throw a load of laundry in while washing dishes. I will then folding and putting away clothes to make the bed after. I like to tackle things on where I will be in the house. If I am cleaning out the fridge and have the large garbage can in the house. I will walk around the house with it and gather all the trash I can see and tackle the trash in one swoop.

I will sweep the floor in the kitchen bathroom and by the front door. While it’s drying I will vacuum the living room and the bedrooms. I will wipe down my dresser before I start folding clothes. So clean clothes or not sitting on a dirty dusty dresser. I know the task I am going to do and try to think of something else to do at the space as well. No wasting time and getting more cleaning done.

8. Marie Kondo on the go

While I am cleaning I will do what I like to call Marie Kondo on the go. I find things as I am walking through my house to get rid of. While I am doing dishes I will think “Oh this cup has a chip, someone could cut their lip. Bye thank you for your services, but I like my lips more” and I get rid of it. While I am putting away dishes I find pans/pots/bowls whatever I have never used before and get rid of it.

I know its not the correct way of Marie Kondo’ing, but it works for me. Sometimes I wake up and think I don’t like this anymore and get rid of things. I have gone through every inch of my house and still find things we outgrow and keep getting rid of stuff. Less stuff means less stuff to put away meaning less cleaning. Which I am down for.

9. Create cleaning routines for each room

There is a certain way I clean each room for efficient cleaning, no backtracking. I know in the kitchen I always start with doing my dishes while they are drying. I will go do some laundry or hand dry them if I am impatient. But I put them away and start wiping everything down from top to bottom.

I do the same thing for each room. Working from top to bottom so I don’t have to re-wipe anything. I want it done, not do double the work, and waste more time. NO NO NO NO!

10. Time yourself – How much can you clean in 10, 20, 30 minutes

Last but not least set a timer for yourself. A lot can be done in 10 minutes. When you see how much could be done, imagine what you could get done in 20 or 30 minutes. It’s crazy how we think a task is going to take forever and then when you do it. It took 15 minutes and you thought it was going to be hours. It’s crazy.

That normally happens with the dishes. I look at them piled up and think man this is going to take forever. I push myself to do them after I am done I see it only took 20 minutes. Then it makes me think what else looks hard to do and how long can I take to get it done. It becomes a game for me.

I lied its not 10 ways to motivate you to clean. I added a bonus tip!

Here is a bonus tip: delegate certain chores to others who live in the house. If I am doing the laundry mike will bring it in and we will all put the laundry away at the same time so it gets done faster. If Mikayla is collecting trash around the house, Mike will clean the litter boxes since it has to go in the trash.

It makes things so much better and less intense if everyone pitches in. If we are outside cleaning up the yard we always tend to our garden. If you wanna know more about our garden check out this post. We are starting our own urban homestead.

I hope you guys enjoyed the 10 ways to motivate you to clean because honestly, I wrote this to motivate me now to clean my house. I have been slacking lately.

Now I am going to go clean since I practice what I preach. Please leave a comment and let me know if you have any tips I should add to this list of 10 ways to motivate you to clean.

Until next time, Have a great day!