Many people feel little enthusiasm when it comes to doing their household chores. Some because it’s routine and gets boring over time. While others, cleaning isn’t their cup of tea and they would rather be doing something else. It was easier in your younger years where you could see cleaning as a game and play your way through it. Anyway, back then it wasn’t expected to be perfect and probably mom would redo it.
When reality kicks in as you grow older, it is expected you become responsible. Therefore, you have to look for ways to do your chores perfectly and have fun at same time. Otherwise, it’s not funny how devastating and mind-numbing it can get. If you are reading this, chances are, you need saving from your home duties which you have fallen behind in. Don’t worry anymore, here are tips you can use to bring joy into your everyday cleaning:
Listen to Music While Cleaning
Everyone has a genre of music they love listening to. This is a great opportunity to turn on the upbeat music. It’s a total judgment and boundary-free zone, where no one is looking at how good you can dance or how you are singing along to very different lyrics. You can totally do whatever you like as you do your cleaning and this gives you a sense of freedom. Which instantly makes you feel good (and maybe the only time you feel in control of your life). The melodious notes in music also have the power to relax and uplift, which goes a long way to making your cleaning time enjoyable. If you love jazz music, that’s beautiful, but you might consider playing music that will put you in the cleaning mood. Therefore, feel free to clean to the beat as you are transported to the world of melody.
Household chores hacks
Do you know it is possible to do your cleaning perfectly as usual but in a shorter time? By using cleaning shortcuts, you will not only clean effectively but also save time and resources. Some of the hacks include: when you want to clean the microwave, let a cup of water boil in the microwave. The steam will loosen up dirt making it easier and faster to clean it. If you want to clean the toilet, give it a good squirt of the bleach of your choice then let it soak as you clean other surfaces. Getting back to it will only require a swift brush then flush. There are endless cleaning hacks, try asking that friend who seems to have a perfectly clean house always. Chances are, they know plenty of cleaning tips.
Open up space
This might be done in various ways and definitely works. For starters, pull away from the drapes and open up the windows and doors. This will instantly make you feel better as fresh air circulates. Additionally, your house will look bigger, therefore less chaotic and give you the motivation needed to start on it. Clearing clutter, before starting on a specific chore also gives you an illusion that your work is easier than earlier thought. You can also turn on the fan to get the stale air moving.
Fantasize
Who says that your whole mind should be on scrubbing floors? – is it even possible? Anyway, you can use this time to explore your imagination. And please do yourself a favor by not thinking about how your life would be better with help around. That will leave you feeling sorry for yourself. Think of relaxing things are going to do on the weekend. Or of the date you had. You can also use the time to analyze your life and see how far you have come. This is because you might not be able to create some other alone time, considering the hustle and bustle of city life. Doing this will distract your mind and you’ll be done with your cleaning faster and happier than you thought.
Turn chores into a game
When the word fun is spoken, games come to mind. Turning your cleaning time into a game is very effective in making you have a good time. Of course in a game, the more the better. Yet if you are alone you can still have great fun. You can time yourself and see how fast you can clean while still doing a good job. You can also use a timer to motivate yourself to finish fast as you reward yourself for every achievement.
Getting everyone involved
If you there are other family members around the house, the better. It’s a great opportunity to have cleaning fun as a family. It can be done in various ways. If you kids, the secret is in motivating them because they don’t see the need to clean in the first place. You can hide treats at different spots where they are expected to take after cleaning the area. Another good game is playing police. Whereby, you have two of the kids as inspectors and go round picking the day’s clutter. They will place them in a basket (jail), and for one to get their stuff back- including mom and dad- a chore must be done. It makes kids feel involved and gives them a sense of responsibility. When you try it, it’s likely your kid might open up to you and talk about what’s up with their lives.
Create a chore list
It might totally scream boring and to some extent frustrating- especially if the chores are many- yet it comes in handy. Good preparation saves time used to clean, and definitely the less time you spend cleaning the less your chances of getting bored. It will also give you a rough idea of how long you take to do certain tasks and motivates you to improve or get them done if you have been postponing. And the most uplifting one is when you cancel out the tasks done. Goodness! It’s such a good feeling that encourages you to do more.
Reward yourself
After cleaning, definitely, reward yourself. And of course, since you don’t want to use it as an excuse to overspend, you either do two things: Reward yourself reasonably like making yourself your favorite lunch or generously reward yourself after completing the particularly onerous task (those that you do once per month).
