Make House Cleaning More Enjoyable–Really

Today I wanted to address just how awful housekeeping can be sometimes. Most house cleaning chores are tedious, boring, and require us to divert our attention away from something more stimulating such as shopping, movies, or catching up on a good book or magazine. Typically I get my cleaning done on Sunday afternoons because I  don’t have time to properly clean throughout the week. And on those Sunday afternoons I always ask myself why I didn’t do this earlier in the week.

The truth is that I just don’t wanna. Sometimes when I get home from work  the last thing I want to do is make sure that the house is spotless and that the laundry is all put away. So how do I motivate myself on those days? Here’s a great list that I’ve come up with to cure your house cleaning blues.

•  Take a relaxed approach to house cleaning: The more relaxed that you are, the more enjoyable it’s going to be. The thing that you need to tell yourself is that your house is not always going to look like the cover of House and Garden Magazine. It’s just not. And you don’t need to apologize for that. You live a real life in your home and sometimes it’s going to get messy, especially if you have little ones or pets running around.

•  Open up your home to fresh scents: When you’re cleaning it’s helpful to immediately feel and smell something fresh. So if you can, open a window or a door and let the gorgeous smell of the outdoors filter into your home. Lighting fresh smelling candles is also a really great idea. However, be sure to use soy candles that don’t pollute the quality of your indoor air.

•  Remember that cleaning is a form of exercise: A great excuse to skip the gym is to vigorously clean your home for a few hours. You give your body the exercise it needs and you end up with a clean home. How can you beat that? And in case you don’t believe me, here are some of the stats.
-Vacuuming: 238 calories burned per hour
-Dusting: 170 calories burned per hour
-Taking out the garbage: 204 calories burned per hour
-Scrubbing the bathroom tile: 260 calories burned per hour

•  Play music that YOU want to play: If you’re going to be the one cleaning up this mess, then no one is allowed to complain when you blast something they don’t want to hear. So go ahead. Play ABBA as loud as you want and enjoy yourself.

•  Designate “cleaning clothes”: The best way to get down to business quickly is to change into some designated “cleaning clothes.” Buy something cute and comfortable to wear when you clean. Splurge on that pair of cute sweatpants from Victoria’s Secret or some new moccasin-style house shoes. The only rule is that you can only wear it when you clean, so putting on the outfit signifies to you and to everyone else that you mean business.

• Invite someone over. I honestly think the greatest motivator to clean is to invite someone over for dinner. Sure, a little clutter or dust might be okay for you to look at every day, but when someone else comes into your home you want it to look spotless.

•  Have someone else do your house work. If all else fails, treat yourself to an occasional professional house cleaning. Because, you know what? Sometimes we just don’t feel like doing anything, and that’s okay. And don’t forget to call Kiwi Services for help with the heavy duty cleaning  for the carpets, rugs and upholstery.

What are some good tips you use to motivate yourself to clean? I would love to hear them in the comments section.