Running a household is complicated, regardless of how many people you have living under your roof. No one wants to spend all of their free time cleanings, doing dishes, etc., but failing to stay on top of essential household tasks leads to larger problems. We all know exactly what happens when we put off certain tasks for far too long!
If chore day is far from your idea of an enjoyable day, you’re not alone. Fortunately, tending to household tasks doesn’t have to be downright miserable. You may never have fun sorting socks or scrubbing toilets, but there are plenty of things you can do to make the process easier and, therefore, more pleasant. Making the process easier also means you won’t need to spend as much time working on your least favorite tasks. If you’re ready to run your home more efficiently while staying on top of all of your responsibilities, keep reading to discover a few simple improvements to make chore day easier.
1. Ditch Your Old Cleaning Products
Upgrading to better cleaning products makes most tasks easier. For example, switching your old detergent for laundry detergent sheets eliminates the effort of carrying large, heavy bottles, figuring out where to store them and recycling them once empty. Plus, these eco-friendly laundry products do an exceptional job of cleaning clothes without leaving behind single-use plastic jugs that will litter the planet for centuries. If you have a child with sensitive skin and usually use a different detergent for them than the rest of your family, laundry sheets solve that problem, too. Since they are dermatologist tested and hypoallergenic, they are safe for the entire family.
Try reusable paper towels, too. They are more environmentally friendly than disposable paper towels, of course, but they can also make chores easier and less unpleasant. If you normally use dish rags or sponges when tidying up around your home, you know that they can get gross pretty quickly. Made of cellulose, reusable paper towels are easy to clean and less susceptible to bacterial growth and mildew than regular cloths and towels. After you use one, simply rinse under the tap, add a drop of soap and then wring to dry.
Reusable paper towels are highly absorbent, allowing you to clean up messes with a single sheet rather than using half a roll of regular paper towels. Plus, they have a textured side that’s perfect for scrubbing and won’t simply fall apart like their disposable counterparts.
Replace other ineffective cleaning products in your home, too. Whether that means replacing your vacuum cleaner, investing in better-quality products that are easier to use or just switching to cleaners with more pleasant fragrances, making even the simplest changes can make your entire chore day easier.
2. Get Rid of Excess Clutter
The less stuff you have, the easier it is to stay on top of keeping everything clean. It takes a considerable amount of time to sort through everything and get rid of the things you don’t need anymore — but once you’ve done some serious decluttering, future chore days will be a lot easier.
You don’t have to fully embrace minimalism and donate or resell most of your possessions. Even removing a few things from your home can make a big difference. From large items, like furniture, to smaller things like knick-knacks and clothes, anything you get rid of is one less thing you need to clean, move or clean around. Having fewer physical objects also reduces visual clutter, which can help you focus and be more productive.
Not sure where to start? Commit to taking out one small bag of clutter every day. Spend a few minutes walking around your home and filling up a grocery bag with odds and ends you can throw away, recycle or donate. Make this part of your daily routine for a month and you’ll be surprised at just how much stuff you can remove from your home with minimal effort.
3. Practice ‘One In, One Out’
Decluttering is only one step in making chore day easier. You also need to maintain your newly clutter-free space. Practicing “one in, one out” is one of the best ways to avoid ending up with too much stuff again. Every time you bring something new to your home, find something to donate, throw away or give to someone else. For example, if you just bought a new book, give one from your collection to a friend. When you buy new clothes, donate the same number of garments to a charity shop.
4. Don’t Put It Down — Put It Away
The less mess you have to deal with on chore day, the faster you’ll get through all of your tasks. Instead of letting things pile up and then dealing with them in one day, get in the habit of putting stuff away after using it. In other words, don’t just put things down — put them away. Put your dirty coffee mugs in the dishwasher immediately instead of letting them pile up on your desk. Don’t toss your mail on the coffee table. Sort through it and deal with it accordingly as soon as you bring it in.
In most cases, putting things away rather than just setting them down only takes a few seconds. That’s a lot easier than trying to put away an entire week’s worth of things all at once. Plus, doing so will help you keep your flat surfaces and floors free of clutter. And less clutter means fewer places for dust to accumulate. Uncluttered surfaces and floors are also more accessible and much easier to clean.
Conclusion
Most people don’t love doing chores, but doing so is an essential part of maintaining clean, functional homes. Fortunately, there are a lot of simple improvements that can make chore day easier and less overwhelming. Try the suggestions above and you’ll likely be able to shave a considerable amount of time off your next chore day.