Things I Do Everyday To Keep A Tidy House

I’m often asked how I keep on top of the home with young children and a full schedule. The reality is, homes are meant to be lived in and mess happens — every day. It doesn’t matter how organised you are, mess is a given — especially if you have kids. However, over the years I have worked out some little routines that help us as a family to keep on top of the chaos (most of the time, anyway). 

DECLUTTER
My first point is mess = clutter = more cleaning for you. If you really want to do yourself a favour, then you need to declutter. There is no point trying to keep on top of clutter, its very nature is to be untidy. I know the thought of decluttering can seem overwhelming, but this is where I DON’T want you to think of the big picture — aka the whole house. This is where I want you to tackle one surface or small space every day (this will only take a couple minutes from your day). The process will eventually become a habit as, just like fitness, you can’t organise once and expect the house to stay that way (I wish!). Rather, this will become as ingrained as daily exercise to maintain your fitness levels. You will use small pockets of time daily to cull a drawer or shelf. 

Less mess = less stuff to clean

CLEAN
Now we come to the cleaning. This is not about cleaning the whole house — see below for how I tackle that — this is about the little things I do every day to stay on top of the chaos and keep my sanity intact.

• Doing a non-negotiable AM and PM whip-around so the mess doesn’t accumulate to unmanageable proportions over the day. This means picking up toys, decluttering tables and other surfaces where stuff accumulates, putting away clothes, shoes and bags, etc.
• Make beds (it really helps set the tone for the day, and it’s so nice getting into a fresh bed at night).
• Unpack/reload the dishwasher and wipe down benches (after breakfast and after dinner).
• A load of laundry (if I’m really on the ball I load the machine and set a timer the night before so it’s ready to be hung out/put in the dryer in the morning).
• Spot vacuum and/or mop.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Get all household members to help! Ensure everyone knows the daily must-dos, and allocate jobs to partners and kids if they need a nudge.

SCHEDULE
I highly recommend having a weekly cleaning schedule too. Use a schedule that works for you! Here is one I used religiously when the kids were little and it helped me immensely. I like to tackle a zone each day (e.g. bedrooms on Mondays, floors on Tuesdays, etc.). My planners have a super handy cleaning schedule section that you can use to organise your AM/PM tidy and zone cleaning. 

If you are in the position to afford a cleaner for completing the deep cleaning of your home (e.g. bathrooms), this is invaluable.

Hot tip: Don’t know what to buy your friend as a gift? Pay for a house clean from a local cleaning company — amazing gift for new mums!

What are your daily non-negotiables? Tag me in your posts using the hashtags #stephing #cleanwithsteph and we can all help each other get organised!