In an interview I did recently, I was asked what the three most impactful things I do every day to keep my home tidy. Prior to being asked, I hadn't really given it much thought. Upon reflection I realized that there are three things I do each day that help keep my home clutter free and organized, so I thought I'd share them with you.
make the bed
It wasn't until I was an adult that I made my bed everyday routinely. Making the bed each morning helps start my day in a positive way by accomplishing a small task, but it also has the added bonus of visually improving the space. For me, seeing the bed made helps me shift my focus from sleep mode to getting started with my day. At night, entering into a clutter free and peaceful bedroom after a long day is a joy and sets me up for a good night's rest.
But don't take my word for it, research studies have found similar positive benefits from the ones I've noticed personally. Research shows that making your bed can make you happier and more successful. One study conducted by socio-economist Randall Bell, Ph.D., concluded that the most successful people follow specific daily rituals and routines, or what he calls “rich habits” and one of those rich habits is making your bed each day.
Another study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation supported that those who make their beds every day or almost every day are more likely to get a good night’s sleep than those who don't make their bed daily.
put dirty clothes in the laundry
The second habit I do everyday is to make sure we get any dirty clothes from our various bedrooms to the laundry room. This simple task gets the dirty laundry off of the floors, which helps create a tidy bedroom quickly. This is a good daily life skill for children to get them into the routine of not letting dirty laundry pile up in their bedroom.
To learn more about our laundry routine, check out our Spot Treating Your Laundry Situation blog post.
clean the kitchen
The third and final routine my family tackles daily is cleaning the kitchen after our meals. This routine is most especially important after dinner. For us, it's an all-hands on deck exercise so we share the load which helps us finish more quickly.
The tasks we do each evening after dinner are:
Put dishes into the dishwasher - we fill the dishwasher with our dishes from dinner as well as take a quick run through the house and grab any miscellaneous cups, bowels, etc to put in before we run the dishwasher prior to going to bed.
Hand wash and dry any non-dishwasher dishes - we make it a point to put dry any hand washed dishes from dinner and put them all away so the counters are completely clear. I like to do this both for the completion of the dinner clean up, but almost more for how peaceful it is to walk into a clean kitchen the next morning.
Scrub the kitchen sink - once the dishes are clean, we do a quick scrub down of the kitchen sink with a DIY cleaner we make using baking soda and essential oils. If you're looking for a more detailed post on cleaning, check out our Spring Cleaning + The Coronavirus post.
Wipe down the counters and table - to me, there is something satisfying about wiping down the kitchen counters and the table after a long day. We use a simple DIY solution of Castile Soap and water in a spray bottle. If you're interested in natural cleaning, I've curated a list of Neat Little Nest's favorite natural cleaners.
Sweep the kitchen floor - this is the last step as it is necessary to pick up all of the crumbs and tracked in dirt from the day out of the space.
When we have so much to do every day, it’s easy to tell ourselves that we cannot get to the many of the small daily tasks. The reality is, no matter how busy you are, if you take a handful of minutes each day to tidy your home, it will save you stress and strife in the long run because it is easier to manage a handful of simple tasks daily than wait for it to pile up leaving you with a more time consuming bundle of tasks later on.
Photo credit: Jes Lahay Photography
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