The Easiest Way to Motivate Yourself to Clean
If you’re having trouble finding the motivation to clean, you’re not alone—that’s why there are so many different techniques that involve rewarding yourself a little after completing a difficult task. You can use apps to gamify your productivity, or follow the proven Pomodoro method , where you work for 25 minutes and then enjoy a five-minute break before getting started again. However, these approaches may not be suitable for everyone, so why not try changing up the old reward system a little?
Reward yourself in the moment for motivation
This idea came to me while listening to a HuffPost podcast featuring Patrick Richardson, author of Love in the Home: A Joyful Guide to Cleaning, Organizing, and Loving the Home You’re in . Richardson suggests that the next time you’re shopping for cleaning supplies, you should also bring your favorite candy, but don’t eat it until it’s time to clean. The idea is very simple, but brilliant: eating a “cleaning candy” that you enjoy while you work gives you something to look forward to and may even make you want to clean.
It reminded me of things I’ve done in my life without even realizing it. I started watching Gossip Girl a few years ago and fell in love with it, but I’m not one to really watch TV. But I really wanted to watch this particular show, so I started watching it while I was at the gym. I swear my time on the cardio machines doubled, if not tripled, because I never wanted to look up and stop watching. Pretty soon I became very interested in going to the gym, even though working out had never given me energy or made me happy before. If anything, it was more of a necessary chore, but adding a show that I could only watch on the elliptical made it feel like a luxury.
A treat that you enjoy exclusively when you’re doing something that you don’t naturally enjoy can only really help you from a motivational standpoint, whether it’s a “candy cleanup,” a show, a podcast, certain music, a special drink, or whatever. anything.
Why and how it works
Giving yourself something to look forward to when the task at hand is otherwise uninteresting is a simple way to make a difference. Maybe you don’t want to clean, but you want to grab a snack or listen to a podcast, so you end up cleaning just so you can.
The trick here is that you have to commit to not enjoying your chosen treat until you clean up. Don’t relax and tell yourself that one episode of your show or a sip of a special drink won’t hurt when you’re relaxing. It’s a slippery slope: When Blair married Prince Louis in season five, I gave myself permission to watch the episode on a full-size TV instead of my phone at the gym, and felt so guilty about it that I still remember it years ago later. . If it helps, designate candy or a show that is your second favorite as a cleaning treat so that you can’t and won’t want to indulge while you’re cleaning up.
Over time, you will begin to associate treats with cleaning, and cleaning with treats. Whatever little mind games you have to play to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do is normal. Just make sure that when snacking and cleaning, you wear gloves while working and take them off when reaching for candy.