Cleaning Hacks: 20 Minutes to a Cleaner House

 

Ever wonder how some people keep their house looking so…pristine? Well I’m here to let you in on a BIG secret: it’s done in tiny pockets of time throughout the week.

20 minutes to be exact.

It’s the 20-minute technique and it can drastically whip your home into shape in no time.

How? By breaking down all the different things you need to do into manageable, bite-size pieces and then knocking them out each evening.

I know, it sounds crazy easy. And too good to be true. But it seriously works.

So let’s take a look at how you can use these cleaning hacks in your own house.

 

 

Organize Your Cleaning Tasks

 

The first thing you need to do is jot down all the different cleaning tasks you like to get done each week.

Here are some ideas:

• Wipe Down the Kitchen
• Sweep the Kitchen Floor
• Load the Dishwasher
• Unload the Dishwasher
• Declutter the Kitchen Island/Table
• Declutter the Living Room
• Dust the Living Room
• Swiffer the Floors
• Wipe Down the Bathrooms
• Vacuum
• Clean the Litter Boxes
• Take Out the Trash
• Change the Bedding
• Pick Up the Kids’ Clothes
• Fold Laundry
• Put Away Laundry

I suggest thinking through everything you typically do on a weekend to clean your house and writing it all down so you don’t forget anything. Every house is unique, so a blanket list doesn’t always work here.

 

Check out 10 Simple Ways to Keep Your House Clean and Tidy for more ideas!

 

Time Them Out

 

Then, jot down how long each task should take.

For example, it might take me 5 minutes to wipe the kids’ bathroom down, 5 minutes to put their clothes away, and 10 minutes to unload the dishwasher.

Next, pull out 20 minutes worth of tasks for every day of the week.

The example I used above is 20 minutes, so that could be my Monday list. On Tuesday I’d do a couple more things. And so on.

 

Schedule Them In

 

Then, look at how you’re spending your evening.

When could you set aside 20 minutes to get this done? After dinner? After the kids are asleep? Maybe right when you get home while you still have the energy?

Whatever works best for your schedule is ideal.

And that will likely change as your kids get older or are enrolled in different programs throughout the week.

But regardless of what you have going on, you can find those 20 minutes.

 

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

 

And then finally, look at everything you couldn’t fit into your weekly schedule.

Maybe it takes you longer than 20 minutes to vacuum. Maybe you just have too many things to keep clean around the house.

One option is to finish the rest on Saturday morning. And there are likely a few things you would need to get done then.

But your other option is to take some of the smaller things that you can’t fit in and delegate them to your kids.

Yup. Add them to the chore charts.

This way you’re not just assigning them random chores to keep them busy. You’re delegating certain tasks on certain days to make sure that all of your household chores are done every single week.

You, of course, need to keep it age-appropriate. But honestly, the list of chores only grows as the kids get older, so it’s easier to spread everything out as they’re able to help you out more.  

 

Create the Habit

 

And then once you have everything planned out, you need to make sure it actually gets done.

And I get it. I don’t want to do much of anything after a long day.

But I love having more free time on the weekend. And few things make me happier than a clean house. So taking a little time every day is totally worth it.

So do what you can to stick with it.

For example, you could set a timer for 20 minutes every night to make sure everyone is doing their part. You could even turn it into a fun game or competition.

If you aren’t sure what time works best, try a couple different times out. See what everyone prefers. There are likely times when everyone will have a little more energy or motivation to get it done quickly (and without complaining).

I always say that the perfect system comes from a little trial and error, and this is no different.

So feel free to rearrange the tasks, match different ones up on different days, delegate different things, try different times.

See what works best for you and your family. And then get it done every day. You’ll seriously be amazed by how clean it keeps your house…and how much time it frees up on the weekend.