10 Simple working mom cleaning hacks for a tidy house
Keeping a house clean is a struggle for all but it is overwhelming for working moms. Working full-time and keeping a clean house is a real struggle. I get your pain, can talk for hours over coffee about so much it takes to keep the house clean and yet it is never done. It’s like chasing the horizon, you never reach there. But I have found my peace with having a tidy house through good organization and a cleaning schedule to keep it clean but in this post, I am sharing with you some simple working mom cleaning hacks to make life easier for you. So if you are wondering how to keep a tidy house even if you are working full time keep reading for working mom tips.
How to keep the house clean as a full-time working mom
Here are the 10 cleaning secrets that you must know as a working mom for a tidy house. These working mom cleaning hacks are simple enough for anyone to follow
1. Get organized
You spend more than the required time to clean your house if it is not organized. Having a place for everything in the house makes it so easier for you to maintain them organized and clean.
When organizing keep in mind the functional use and do not organize things just to make them look beautiful, trust me that organization system will not last. Organize based on your workflow and your lifestyle. Also, clutter cause stress, so declutter frequently and organize your house. Once things are organized and there are systems in place. It is just a matter of maintaining them organized and you eventually get in the flow of it.
My go-to way to keep things organized is with baskets, they are saviors and make the space look neat. I have a detailed post 10 Tips To Be An Organized Working Mom for more details on keeping your house organized.
2. Have a cleaning schedule
Maintaining a clean house becomes easy when you have a plan and schedule to clean. There are certain things that need to be done on a daily basis to have a clean house but others can be done once a week or once a month. Identify your daily cleaning tasks and include them in your morning or evening routine.
Divided your weekly chores for each day of the week to make them less overwhelming for your busy life as a working mom. I suggest not to keep many cleaning chores for the weekend as you deserve some rest and I use weekends for meal planning and other things that let me have a better week ahead, here are 10 Things for working mom weekend routine.
Once you have a cleaning routine you gradually build a habit to follow it and cleaning the house will not be overwhelming, also with routine cleaning the house is less messy and it takes less time and effort for cleaning.
Use a cleaning planner that helps you plan effectively and track your progress. Don’t spend time planning every time just spend a few hours and make a cleaning schedule for an entire year. I use a Google sheet cleaning checklist to plan my cleaning routine for an entire year. It has 4 types of cleaning planner for all cleaning needs.
Cleaning Planner Google Sheet Template
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- An easy-to-use tool that helps you stay on top of your cleaning tasks
- Make a cleaning schedule for all needs
- Use to make your daily, weekly cleaning routine
- Make weekly or monthly cleaning schedules when you are out of routine or planning deep cleaning
- Make cleaning schedule room by room
- Make a quarterly, yearly cleaning plan
- Track your progress easily with graph and % completion
- Customize weekly cleaning tasks that you do more than once.
3. Do speed cleaning
Another way to make cleaning easier for you is by doing speed cleaning. To do speed cleaning you should assign each cleaning activity a time like 5 minutes or 10 minutes depending on the amount of work and make sure to complete it in the defined time. The best is to set an alarm for the same. Speed cleaning makes you more efficient and keeps you focused to complete the task at hand. I find myself less tired when speed cleaning as I am focused on the room I am cleaning and not making multiple walks throughout the house.
At times when I get too busy and lose track of the cleaning schedule I do a quick 1-day cleaning on the weekend. I am sure all working moms end up in this situation, you can read How to get the household back on track after busy times.
4. Clean as you go
This is a great working mom cleaning hack. Try cleaning as you go rather than piling the tasks for the cleaning time. This saves a lot of time and is less stressful. When you are cooking keep the ingredients back in place as you use them and rinse the dish and add to the dishwasher as you are cooking. This way after cooking you need not spend much time cleaning the kitchen.
When using the things keep them back in the right place after use to prevent cluttering, keep things maintained, and not waste time searching when you use them next. This is a habit that builds over time but is intentional to clean as you go and you will start doing so without realizing it.
5. Keep cleaning supplies handy
You will find it easier to clean when you have your cleaning essentials easily available. There are 2 things about cleaning supplies, first is choosing the right one for each job, and second, keeping them organized and easily accessible for the cleaning task. If all your bathroom cleaning supplies are available for use in the bathroom, you are more likely to use them rather than bring them from the kitchen. Also, you will need a string cleaner for the bathroom cleaning than the living room cleaning.
Keep separate cleaning supplies for each area you need to clean. It will make cleaning less overwhelming, and more efficient.
6. Do spot cleaning
With kids in the house spot cleaning is a rescue. Anytime you see a spill or dirt in an area clean that immediately before the dirt spreads. Also, when you clean immediately the stain is not tough and you need to put in less effort. You save time and energy and the house is clean. I keep a spray bottle with cleaner and a few drops of citrus essential oil diluted in water, along with a microfiber cloth handy and anytime there is a spill I immediately wipe it.
7. Automate cleaning
Make use of modern technology to beat the issue of limited time as a working mom. Load the dishwasher with dirty dishes at night to wake up with clean dishes. Use an automatic robotic vacuum cleaner to clean and mop your entire house while you are asleep or off to work. These may be expensive but a good investment for the long run to ease your job of cleaning the house.
8. Share work
Try to distribute the cleaning chores among the family and involve kids in cleaning. You need not distribute the work equally but just a few things to ease your load. Involving kids teaches them many important lessons like sharing responsibilities, keeping their surrounding clean, and valuing a clean house as they know the effort it takes to keep clean. My 3 years daughter is now used to putting her toys after use and throwing chocolate wrappers. This makes 1 less task for me to do. As she grows I am planning to use a chores chart, you can try too.
With Google sheet cleaning planner it is easy to share the cleaning schedule with your partner to help them share the work.
9. Clean the kitchen at night
At the end of the day, I highly recommend doing a quick cleaning of the kitchen. Dispose of the leftovers, take out the trash, wipe the kitchen counter with cleaner, etc. This lets you start the next day from a clean slate, start directly with the task for the day and also avoid pests.
10. Use essential oils
Lastly, who doesn’t like a nice-smelling house? At the end of the day when you come back home a fresh-smelling house feels relaxing. Use essential oils in your cleaning routine, they can be disinfectants too. Using essential oil deodorizes the surface and also, brings a pleasant smell to the house. The visual of a clean house and a pleasant smell is so rewarding and welcoming.
P.S. For spring decluttering and cleaning, try my Spring cleaning and decluttering checklist. It is loved by most and also has a 30-day Spring decluttering challenge, completely customizable.
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Conclusion
These are the simple tips that you can use as a working mom to make sure your house is clean. These 10 simple working mom cleaning hacks for a tidy house are easy to follow even for a full-time working mom like me.
Just so you know, there will be days when you are not able to keep pace with house cleaning but that is ok, be gentle and graceful with yourself. Following these cleaning hacks will help you get back easily.
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