How to get motivated to clean your messy house
A messy house can be overwhelming and stressful, but finding the motivation to clean it can be a challenge in itself. Whether you’re a busy professional, a parent with a hectic schedule, or just someone who struggles with keeping things tidy, there is a way to change your habits and take control of your messy home.
Motivation to clean a messy house comes from quick wins and the inspiration to get started in the first place. Why do you want a tidy and clean home? What would life be like if your home was always kept nice?
In this blog post, we’ll explore some practical tips and strategies to help you find that cleaning motivation so you can transform your home into a clean and organised sanctuary.
1. Start Small
One of the biggest hurdles to cleaning a messy house is feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks that need to be done. To overcome this, don’t focus on the whole house – start small and choose small tasks to tackle first, like a single room or even just a cluttered countertop.
Once you’ve completed that, you’ll likely feel a sense of accomplishment, which can motivate you to tackle larger areas or bigger cleaning tasks. Once a small area is clean and tidy, you will be able to see the benefit and visualise what the whole room might feel like – you’ll be surprised how much you’ll want to get done – but you just need to take that first step.
2. Set Achievable Goals
Setting achievable cleaning goals is essential for staying motivated. Instead of saying, “I need to clean the entire house,” break it down into smaller, specific tasks. For example, you might set a goal to declutter and organise your closet one day, clean the living room the next, and so on.
Achieving these smaller goals, taking these small steps, is a great way of providing a sense of progress which will keep you motivated to carry on.
3. Create a Cleaning Schedule
Establishing a cleaning schedule can help you stay on track and prevent your messy house from getting out of hand in the first place. Decide on a regular cleaning routine that works for your lifestyle. It could be a weekly cleaning session or 15 minutes of cleaning each day. Consistency is key, and over time, it will become a habit that gives you a clean home in less time.
To create a cleaning schedule you need to establish what needs doing on a regular basis and work from there. A load of laundry a day? A wipe down of the bathroom once a week? When do you have the most time – morning or evening? A daily routine will help keep on top of those jobs that would otherwise become overwhelming.
4. Use Visual Motivation
Visual motivation can be a powerful tool. Take before-and-after photos of the areas you clean. When you see the transformation and the positive impact of your efforts, it can serve as a great motivator. You can also create a vision board with images of your ideal, organised home to remind yourself of your cleaning goals.
How do you want your home to look? What do you want to feel when you walk into each room? Use those emotions and the visions you conjure to get you motivated.
Another way to get that visual motivation is to watch other people cleaning and tidying their homes on social media. Cleaning inspiration comes from the craziest of places, so if watching a YouTube video makes you want to get up and clean your dirty dishes then watch away!
5. Reward Yourself
Give yourself incentives to clean your messy house. After completing a cleaning task or hitting a milestone in your cleaning schedule, reward yourself with something you enjoy. It could be as simple as a cup of your favourite tea, a piece of chocolate, or even a relaxing bath.
These small rewards can make the cleaning process more enjoyable and motivating. Some people prefer to reward themselves upfront with new cleaning products in a bid to motivate themselves to get started – do whatever works for you!
6. Listen to Music or an Audiobook
Listening to good music or an engaging audiobook can make cleaning more enjoyable and less monotonous. Create a cleaning playlist filled with your favourite upbeat music to keep your energy level high.
Alternatively, listen to an audiobook or podcast that piques your interest, making the cleaning time pass more quickly so that before you know it, you’ve finished an entire room and are well on the way to having a tidy house.
A very motivational book to start with would be The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo!
7. Get Help
Don’t be afraid to enlist the help of family members or roommates. Cleaning can be a shared responsibility, and tackling the mess together can make it more manageable and fun. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity for bonding. Each family member can take charge or a specific job, reducing the load that you would otherwise carry alone.
And don’t forget the kids – they can help too! Give them simple chores to complete even from an early age – it will help them learn important skills around home management. Everyone feels the benefit of a tidy home, so everyone should contribute to the housework – even little kids that might simply follow you around ‘lending a hand‘.
8. Declutter Regularly
Prevent your house from becoming messy in the first place by adopting a minimalist mindset. Regularly declutter your living spaces by getting rid of items you no longer need or use. The less clutter you have, the easier it will be to clean and maintain your home. Clutter is detrimental to your mental health and drains us of so much energy – so by reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ you own you’ll clear space in your home but also in your mind.
And remember, organising is not the same as decluttering. If something does not have a home and you simply do not need it or want it, let it go. Donate to charity, sell items to make some cash or trash anything that is of no use to anyone anymore – but don’t let it take up valuable space in your life.
Maintaining a clean house may not be the most exciting task, but with the right motivation and simple steps, you can turn it into a more manageable and even enjoyable experience. Remember, the first step is to start small, feel accomplished with those quick wins and build up to a cleaning routine that gets everyone involved.
We are so used to spending so much time cleaning and tidying that we feel as though that is the norm – but there is another way. Get everyone involved, declutter everything that drains you of your time, and start enjoying your life again.