Is your mudroom in need of some serious attention after a long winter? If you’d like to get all the advantages of a deep spring cleaning without spending hours tackling chores, you’re going to need a plan. The first step is putting together a list of must-do chores and the order you’d like to accomplish them – such as decluttering before starting to clean.
While some tasks will naturally take longer than others, there are a few ways to race through everything on your list.
10-Minute Bursts
Choose a chore and a room and give it everything you have for a short period of time. This breaks down larger chores, making them easier to manage while keeping you motivated and on task. For example, set your timer and dust the bedroom. After that, the next 10 minutes can be focused on baseboards. Then spend 10 minutes wiping down all the light switches and door handles.
Elist Help
Make spring cleaning a family affair. Gather the troops, divide the tasks and get the work done in a fraction of the time. Even young children can help by putting away their toys, sweeping or trying their hand at the vacuum.
Get Competitive
Keep the cleaning going by adding an element of competition. Turning cleaning into a game or competition is a fun way to stay on task. Whoever completes the most tasks correctly gets their choice for dinner or the next family movie night.
Stay Entertained
Have your favourite playlist going in the background and clean to the beat or put on a pair of headphones and listen to a podcast. Keeping your mind engaged while cleaning is a great way to keep up the pace and help the time pass by.
Get Inside Your Appliances
The oven and refrigerator might be on your radar already, but other big appliances like your washing machine, dryer and dishwasher are also due for a good interior scrub. These workhorse machines are easily forgotten since you’re usually busy cleaning smaller items. All the same, mould, mildew, smells and sticky messes can build up over time and affect their performance. If your dishwasher is a relatively new model, check to see if it has a filter inside; you’ll want to clean that part too.
Declutter Your Digital Life
From unwanted emails and forgotten subscriptions to unused apps and countless near-identical photos, your online world and the devices it’s on can get cluttered before you know it. Although this mess may not exist in your physical space, an organized phone, tablet or computer can extend the serenity of a freshly clean home base. Get ahead of storage-full warnings by setting aside time in your spring-cleaning schedule to delete or file your downloads, update your contact lists, clear out your inbox and back up your photos.
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