My Favorite Way to Motivate Myself to Clean Every Day
I need a lot of motivation to clean; I certainly don’t finish my workday and think to myself, “It would be relaxing to vacuum and do laundry right now.” Sometimes I can lift my spirits by following techniques or using a reward system , such as watching my favorite show while working. Other times, complete motivation eludes me, but even then, I do one thing to keep someone alive.
My trick for staying motivated to clean
I believe that cleaning should be done in portions so that it does not become tiring. Whatever schedule you choose is up to you, but I’ve found that even if I don’t want to clean up all the mess, like cleaning the living room or kitchen, I still do better if I choose just one thing to clean each once. night.
For me it’s the dining table. By tidying it up every evening, it doesn’t become cluttered, although it certainly tries to, accumulating mail, everything I hold in my hands when I enter the apartment, and all sorts of other items throughout the course of a normal day. But no matter how busy I am, how tired I am, whatever it is, I clear the table in the evening so I can go to sleep feeling a little accomplished and wake up with something that feels okay, even if there are still others things that need to be tidied up later.
Why This Cleaning Approach Works
First of all, while I’m decluttering my desk, I usually default to cleaning or organizing something else, whether it’s laundry, mail, or whatever it is since it’s sitting on the desk. Sometimes clearing my desk puts me in the mood to clean even more, so I end up cleaning other places as well. It’s a motivational boost, and because I’m used to it, I can put it on autopilot a little bit and just move on.
Even if I don’t feel like cleaning anything, I feel good if I took on at least one thing. A sense of accomplishment is vital to preventing burnout and feelings of overwhelm. When I wake up and see that at least something looks put together, I’m also reminded that I can make everything else look that way, so even if the previous day wasn’t one where I felt like doing a big tidy up…up. on this day, of course, maybe.
If you have trouble focusing and motivating yourself when you want to declutter, identify an area in your home that often gets cluttered and challenge yourself to take care of it every day, no matter what. This could be the desk where you work at home, a side table, a kitchen counter, or any other place where a lot of stuff accumulates. After a few weeks, you will notice a positive effect and generally become more consistent with your cleaning schedule.