Wondering how to clean your house in 15-minutes a day or think it’s just not possible? Well you’re in for a treat. The tips and insight I give you below will open your eyes to what it takes to clean your house in just a few minutes a day.  Even if your home goes by the street name Casa de Catastrophe.

To get started, let’s borrow a quote from the business world that’ll take your mind exactly where it needs to be if you want to clean your house in just 15 minutes a day…

That’s right.  People with the cleanest homes are not slaving away spending all their time cleaning!  As a matter of fact, people with clean homes don’t have to clean nearly as much as people with messy homes.  Yep.  Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side!

So here’s the real golden nugget – if you want to clean your home in 15-minutes a day, it’s not about moving super fast.  You’re more than likely just going to look silly.  I know I look silly when I try to move fast.  Maybe because I’m old.  Who knows.  

What you seriously need to do is make sure that 15-minutes is spent cleaning the just right things so you have something to show for yourself.  

For example, if your entire house is a mess, cleaning out the junk drawer is not going to get you to clean.  Not that you shouldn’t clean it out.  It’s just, there’s a hierarchy of sorts when it comes to what should be cleaned first in your home.  

You don’t want to spend 15 minutes cleaning your house only for no one to notice that you just sacrificed 15 golden minutes of your life cleaning right?  Super deflating.  And yes, it’s happened to me.

Instead of giving you fluff bunnies, I’m going to give you the real deal on what you need to actually clean your house in just a few minutes a day and make sure your hard work it’s totally noticeable by anyone that enters your domain.  What’s wrong with getting noticed?

Disclaimer / I ended up writing way more tips than I expected so the first 7 below will be considered *Part 1* and the rest of the tips will be posted as *Part 2*. You may continue scrolling!

The non-negotiable things you need to do if you really want to clean your house in 15-minutes a day  

Tip 1 /  Cleaning your house in 15-minutes is not about being able to clean fast

How long does it take to clean a 3 bedroom house? How about a 6,000 square foot house? When it comes to being able to clean your home in a few minutes a day, size does matter guys. The bigger the home, the more minutes or time you’ll have to dedicate to cleaning. And the same goes for people. The more humans – and animals – you have living in a house, the more you’ll need for cleaning.

So here’s a simple way to help you think about how much time it really takes to clean your home and keep it clean. One thousand square feet of space should take about an hour to clean. However, when we get to around the 4,000+ square feet, start adding in some extra minutes. Trust me. It’s about an hour and 30 minutes for each additional1,000 sq. ft. of space over 4,000.

And in case my explanation left you confused /

• 1,000 sq. ft. house should take about one-hour
• 3,000 square foot house should take around 3-hours
• 5,000 sq. ft. house should take around 6-7 hours

So with that in mind, cleaning your house in 15 minutes a day really comes down to two simple ideas: 

(a) cleaning the right things at the right time and 

(b) cleaning efficiently or basically not wasting time or energy and getting 100% out of the cleaning sesh.  

I don’t need to write a paragraph on this because a few of the following tips build on this idea.  So prepare for a few instances of she already said that.  (Because it’s that important.)  

Tip 2 /  The 5-Unforgiving Chores are heartless…get to know em’

Ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  Of course you have.  Only 20% of what you do really matters – or something like that.  Google it. 

Before you focus on 15-minute blocks of hardcore cleaning, make sure you’ve mastered the 5 unforgiving tasks – aka the universally agreed up cleaning tasks that if left undone for days or even just hours in some cases, will spawn unspeakable herds of clutter, chaos and mess all throughout your home.   

These small tasks account for 80% of the mess you probably see in your home but if kept under control, will only account for 20% of your time.  Ewww, the truth hurts.

Sidenote / if you clean your house and it still looks messy, you might want to take some notes my friend. 

Here are the 5 (unforgiving) tasks:  

• laundry
• dishes
• tidying up
• trash 
• toilets 

Bottom line /  Don’t bother with real cleaning if the dishes, laundry or other essentials are out of control. Center your daily 15-minute cleaning sessions (more time if you’ve got it) on the 5 unforgiving chores for a few weeks so that you can get these areas under control once & for all.  

Now, if you’re really in the mood to clean random things around the house, head on over to my post, How to clean a flat screen tv so that it’s streak-free. Because the big screen is no place for a smudge to hang out.

Tip 3 / Make a chore list, a cleaning schedule or cleaning plan so you’re not being a total random 

15 minutes isn’t a long time but you can do a lot in those 15 minutes if you plan.  Make sure those minutes are well spent by knowing exactly what you want to clean today.  What you clean today will affect tomorrow.  

You don’t want your cleaning sessions to be cleaning whatever catches your eye.  Go about cleaning that way and you’ll end up realizing the whole house is actually disgusting, and in walks anxiety and overwhelm.  And you don’t have time for that so let’s make a cleaning plan instead.   

When it comes to making a cleaning schedule, keep things simple and use a daily, weekly or bi-weekly cleaning list.  

Sidenote /  a cleaning schedule, cleaning plan, chore list or even a cleaning plan are all kind of the same thing so you may see me use these words interchangeably.  Just didn’t want to confuse ya!

Here’s a super simple sample weekly cleaning schedule / 

Monday – Bathrooms (Full cleaning)

Tuesday – Kitchen (Full cleaning)

Wednesday – Dust

Thursday – Vacuums 

Friday – Mop Floors 

Saturday 

Sunday – Prep & Plan

And just like that, you’ll have focused cleaning sessions that’ll keep you from bouncing around from place to place.  Instead, you’ll clean what needs cleaning and have a very productive 15-minute cleaning session.  Cheers to that. 

Tip 4 / Clean your house in 15 minutes. Or maybe 20?

Goal gettin’ has been a heck of a movement but no matter what anyone tells you, you cannot clean your whole house in 15 minutes. Unless it’s a tiny house.  Maybe.  I need to see one in real life to really know for sure though so err on the side of caution with those as well for now. 

Point is, the last thing you want to do is set a big lofty goal for whatall you can clean in 15-minutes.  Why?  Because if you can’t do everything you thought you could, you’ll probably be bummed out. And bummed-out-you is less inclined to stick with your daily 15-minute cleaning blocks.  And your messy house troubles will ultimately return. 

Tip 5 /  Make big spaces bite-sized

Everyone has their own cleaning speed.  Same way we all have our own walking pace.  Some people walk slow and some people walk fast.  God’s plan right?  But regardless of your speed, some spaces will just be too much to clean in a 15-minute span.  Let’s look at an example.  

Can you clean your bathroom from top to bottom, including vacuuming and mopping in 15 minutes?  Umm, if it’s a half bath – definitely.   But a full-on master bath with yucky super soaker jacuzzi blasters and a tile-and-grout walk-in shower speckled with mold & mildew spots like the 101 dalmations – probably not.   

So how do you handle areas that are a bit too much for a 15-minute cleaning session?  I’m glad you asked.  

You have permission to break big jobs down into smaller bite-sized chunks.  But I know you were already thinking that.  Sometimes it’s just good to have someone validate the genius thoughts you have in your head so your welcome.  

With that being said, it’s ok to break the bathroom down into the smallest bits you can handle and clean the tub – or all the tubs – today.  And the shower tomorrow.    

Here’s a sample schedule for cleaning your bathroom in just 15 minutes a day /

• Monday – sweep, vacuum, spot clean floors and take out trash
• Tuesday – clean the bathroom sink, counter, cabinet doors
• Wednesday – wipe down all the baseboards,  doors and wall fixtures
• Thursday – clean the tub
• Friday – clean the shower

So yeh, it’s one week in the shower but you’re basically doing a little every day, sometimes less than 15 minutes to keep your bathroom super clean. 

And now my moment of truth: I actually clean the bathroom surfaces on one day and then the bathroom floors (vacuuming & mopping) on the day I vacuum and mop the entire house.  There’s no wrong way to do it.  Thank goodness. 

Bottom line / Instead of trying to cram as much as you can into your 15-minute cleaning session (and only getting half of it done), plan to clean less than you think you can.  You’ll be surprised by how good it feels to accomplish an obviously-accomplishable cleaning task. 

But the real magic is that it’ll naturally lead you to say, dang, I can do more!  And that’s the energy you need to stick to cleaning your house in just 15-minutes a day for the long haul.  

Tip 6 / Don’t let clutter punk you…

Since this post is about how to clean your house in 15-minutes a day, we have to talk about clutter.  If you’ve got a lot of it, it’ll definitely slow you down if you don’t know how to handle it. 

For starters, it’s not always immediately obvious how you should handle a cluttery situation.  Whether it’s the floors, bedroom dressers or the bathroom counter, should you:

(a) move everything off,  clean the surface and then put it all back

(b) clean around all the knick knacks or 

(c) pretend you don’t see it and move on to the next area

Interestingly enough, any of those answers could be right.  And yeh, I know that’s not super helpful but what I want to highlight is that you should have a plan for clutter.  Not having a plan for clutter is an invitation for overwhelm.  Trust me.

The second thing I want to mention is more of a rule.  And that is, don’t let clutter hijack your cleaning session.  

Set aside a block of time just for decluttering the bathroom cabinets.  And a time just for scrubbing bubbles. Staying focused on cleaning during your cleaning sessions will give you the result you’re looking for – a house that looks clean.  

Bottom line / There’s a time for clutter and there’s a time for cleaning. (Said in my cowboy voice) Create dedicated time blocks just for tackling clutter and likewise, time just for cleaning your home.  (And by cleaning I mean vacuuming, mopping, dusting and all that good stuff.)

Tip 7 / The 3C-Mafia

To clean your house in just 15-minutes a day, procrastination has got to go! If you let the messes stack up for days without getting checked in the spirit of *I’ll get to it later* well, you can kiss the dream of a 15-minute clean goodbye.  

To make quick & sweatless cleaning sessions a reality, here are three different strategies you can stack to keep your house clean enough so that when it’s really time to clean, you can breeze right though it.  

Introducing the 3C Mafia!  Inspired my favorite rap group when I was a youngling fresh from Germany, these 3 cleaning strategies work together so that you can have hyper-productive 15-minute cleaning sessions: 

• Dedicated cleaning sessions to one particular task a few days out the week (vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc.)
• Cleaning as you go for example, clean the kitchen & wash dishes while you cook. Or scrub the toilet right after you do the doo…
• And lastly, spot cleaning. Make it a point to wipe up spilled juice and foods now while they take less than 2-minutes to clean up. The longer certain types of messes sit, the sticker and grippier they get to surfaces. And old messes are a quick way to blow a 15-minute cleaning session.

Bottom line / Cleaning your house in just 15-minutes a day sounds wonderful but it’s nothing more than a pipe dream if you aren’t doing other things to make it a possibility.

Let’s wrap this up /

Finding a painless way to keep your house clean is a journey.   But it’s the type where you learn so much along the way that it makes you a better version of yourself.  I say that to say, don’t beat yourself up if you’re struggling to keep your house clean.  You’re not alone.   And I promise, as long as you know why you want to keep your house clean and are willing to put yourself first, the rest will fall into place.   Not the advice you were expecting huh? 

Ready to get your home under control once & for all? 

Quickly find your zone of clean so that you can create a home you’re proud of and reveal the blueprint to a home that stays clean, cleaner or cleanish all the time in just 7-days.  Check out the Clean Vibes Kit & Caboodle today! 

Best Selling Items This Week:

• Dye Catchers Cut down how long it takes to do laundry with these! Toss everything into the washing machine and get on to all the other things. Without worrying about those whites turning pink.
• Scotch Brite Non-Scratch Scrubbers If I have to choose between these & my husband, I’m definitely taking the scrubbers. They seriously do allllllll the work when it’s time to clean. Unlike him.
• Window/Glass Cleaning Cloths Ok, if you believe it’s impossible to have streak-free mirrors or glass, prepare to be impressed. You don’t even need window cleaner with these things. Just a little water & shizam. All clear.
• The Roboroc Robot Vacuum It sweeps, mops and is soo smart, it avoids both cat puke & dog terds . If you have pets, you know that’s huge. It’s also $30 off right now.

Good things are meant to be shared! Save this to your Pinterest account so you can actually find it later. And get a little clout by showing others you always find the good stuff:-)

The post Clean your house in 15 minutes a day. Seriously. appeared first on 🙌 House Cleaning Service In Columbia, SC | The Cleaning Club.

Follow this step-by-step guide to discover how to create a home management binder – the smart girl’s solution to living a full life, keeping your home clean and making it look oh so easy.  

Nothing brings me joy like a york peppermint patty – and talking about a super simple tool that will make big waves in your life. Like help you get organized at home and get rid of the chaos & messy house. And eliminate a boatload of stress from your life in general.   (Stress makes you age faster so consider this a skincare hack as well!)

I personally didn’t even think about *home management* or a HMB until…well, until I started looking for ways to better help my clients. After dibbling and dabbling with the idea of having one for a few years, I finally got one going. And haven’t looked back.

Sharing is caring. I used this super quick tutorial below from our friends at OrganizedMom.net to get my home management binder setup so I think you’ll find it equally useful.  

Ok so before you dive in, think about this for a second… You’ll see the benefits of using a home management binder almost immediately – guaranteed! So don’t do like I did and wait years to do this. Set aside an hour or two and seriously organize your life – you’ll thank yourself every day that you did it.

Why You Need A Home Management Binder  

From cleaning schedules to account passwords, a home management binder should be like the official Google of your life!   When you need to know something related to your family – from when it’s time to clean the baseboards to what bills are due this week – the answer should be in that binder.   If it’s not in the binder, it doesn’t exist lol.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

Write down why you want a home management binder in the first place.

1. What is driving you crazy about your life right now?
2. What keeps happening over and over that you could stop simply by getting organized?
3. How will being more organized improve your life?

This will help you create a system based on your actual goals and priorities instead of just copying what you see someone else doing and trying to make it stick. (Because it won’t!)

Everything You Need To Create A Home Management Binder

Creating a household binder is pretty simple. Ir’s either a physical three-ring binder or a digital equivalent that contains important documents and information about your family life.  

Before you get started, you’ll want to decide if you’re creating a physical binder or a digital version for your computer, tablet, or phone. Or some combination of the two.

I recommend a physical binder, at least at first. And that’s what we’ll focus on in this post. Maybe I am old fashioned but I like writing things down anyway.

With that being said, I use the Notes and Lists app on my iPhone to keep certain things like my running grocery lists.   I actually copy a lot from my binder into my phone – for example, I keep passwords in both places. Just remember, there is no wrong way to do it!  

The ingredients for a home management binder /

A large binder | You’ll be amazed at how quickly your household binder will fill up.

Page dividers

Sheet protectors OR hole punch | You’ll need to use one of these so that you can add paper to the binder.

Paper | I like to use 24pt. paper for my binder cover and sections.  The heaviness of the paper just makes it all feel so royal.   And of course regular paper for the rest.

Sticky notes

Sidenote:  My home management system is kinda all over the place lol. Intentionally. I use a physical binder for things I don’t need often. Important documents, passwords, and medical information are in my binder. Basically the stuff that if I loose it, I’ll be screwed!

But the items I need – all the time – like my schedule for the day, running grocery lists and meal prep ideas are on my phone and my clipboard.   I share this to say, don’t box yourself into one way of managing your home or getting organized. Do what works for you and it’ll all come together. I promise.

If you want to find your cleaning style, check out The Clean Vibes Kit & Caboodle. Knowing THIS could be the missing key if you’ve been struggling with your home for awhile.

Divide Your House Management Binder Into Sections

Every family’s household binder is going to look a little bit different. Just use the categories or sections below as a guide. As you start putting your binder together, you’ll think of more sections to add – it’s perfectly normal. Consider the binder like a pair of yoga pants – it should stretch and give room for things to change over time!

Calendars + Schedules

The section I turn to most in my household binder is calendars and schedules. You can include everything from monthly calendar pages to a daily to-do list in this section. And don’t hesitate to divide the section into smaller sections.

You may want a schedule section for each family member to note after school activities or work travel. Or separate sections for daily, weekly, and monthly schedules.

Experiment to find the setup that works for you. But just know, after you write everything down, you definitely need to set up your Google calendar with all this stuff.

Family Budget + Finances

Creating a family budget and keeping it in your household binder is a useful way to keep track of your household expenses. And if you’re currently trying to get out of debt, this section is even more important!

I also store bills in this section and make notes of when they are due and when payments have been sent.

If your binder is kept secure, consider making copies of your credit cards and storing them in the event one is ever stolen. For those – knock-on-wood – my purse was stolen from the car at the hotel moments.

Your Contacts Contact Info

Don’t roll your eyes. This is one of those things where it’s not until you need to find this info that you’ll appreciate this – probably super short – section.

You can make a sheet of emergency contacts. Another with names and phone numbers for babysitters, pet sitters, coaches, teachers, or anyone else you may want to keep a phone number or an address for. Again, for those super random just in case moments.

Health + Medical Information

The health and medical section of your household binder can be for everything for immunization records to copies of your health insurance cards.

It’s also a good place to keep records if you have insurance appeals or other ongoing issues where the documentation – and headaches – add up quickly.

Cleaning Schedules + Checklists

Creating a daily cleaning routine and cleaning schedule is one of the smartest ways to keep your home clean and organized.  No matter how crazy your life is!  Daily cleaning, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal deep cleaning schedules (or checklists) should be included in your household management binder.   Wait, let me clarify – it’s actually a must-have!

UPDATE Nov 11, 2020 – Create notes for your cleaning service if you have one or plan to in the future. There’s a fine line between being over-the-top OCD about everything – and scaring your cleaner off – and just making sure you get the cleaning you want. Keep your list for them simple & make note of little stuff like where the small bags are for the bathroom trash cans or which products you want used on your floors.

Add a maintenance section so you can keep up with when the nuts & bolts around the house need to be tightened so to speak. I’m talking about everything from how often your AC should be serviced to paint colors used in rooms. It’s definitely a list that you’ll kiss yourself for every time you have to pull it out.

Meal Planning + Grocery Lists

Meal planning is a great way to save time and money when it comes to grocery shopping and feeding your family.

Create a weekly meal plan for your family and plan your grocery list accordingly. Keeping these items together in your household binder will make them easier to coordinate.

Family Travel

A family travel section of your household binder is the perfect place to store confirmations for upcoming family trips. And to keep copies of packing lists, maps, and lists of favorite hotels. Anything that will make family travel more organized.

Utilities + Internet + Other Service Provider Contact Information

If every time you needed to contact a service provider from your internet provider to your garbage company, the phone number was conveniently located in your household binder imagine the time and frustration you would save.

Make sure to note your account number or any other reference number next to the provider information. No more searching for an old bill or searching the internet for phone numbers. All the information will be right at your fingertips.

Home + Auto Insurance

Your household binder is the perfect place to keep your home and auto insurance policies. Along with contact information for your insurer. And copies of any insurance cards. Yes everything is online, but there’s real wisdom in keeping things written down. What if someone else needs the information and you’re not available? Smart right?

Membership Information

If you belong to a church or a gym or a rowing club, or any other organization, this is a good place to keep contact information, reference numbers, dues information, copies of membership cards or any other miscellaneous information you may need as a member.

Update Your Household Binder Regularly

Once you’ve created your household binder, the next step is to use it. Big surprise right?

Make updating your home management binder part of your weekly routine. I like to do it as part of my *prepping for the week*. You’ll also want to think of using a home management binder as an experiment. By that I mean, are there things you’re constantly going to your binder for that could be more accessible if you placed them somewhere else?

What if you make a home management binder but never touch it?

All is not lost. That simply means that a closed binder may mean *out of sight out of mind* for you. So maybe you need things out in the open like me. Perhaps keeping go-to information on a dry erase board or a clipboard with what you need to know on the front page would work better.

Personally, I only use my home management binder to store the stuff I barely, hardly ever need. Having it all in one place that I know it will not move from gives me piece of mind. But for the things I need daily – like my to-do lists, schedules, meal plan, etc. – all of that is on my clipboard and on my phone. I need to keep stuff out in the open. In my face.

If you’re not at the point where you’re planning and prepping regularly, or just trying to get into the swing of having a *routine* when it comes to keeping up with everything at home, these are the very things I cover in the The Clean Vibes Kit + Caboodle. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on how to get your house together and keep it clean. And do it in a way that works for your personality. Which is *the key* to a clean house:-)

Final Thoughts

Juggling a family, house and career is a lot of work but with the right tools and strategies, you can handle everything on your plate like a piece of cake! This is a fail-proof tool that simply requires a little time upfront to organize your world but if you set it up right, and use it, you’ll be able to run your home like a well-oiled machine.

If you’re ready to get organized and get your home control, you should check out The Clean Vibes Kit & Caboodle. It’s all you need to get your home under control once and for all – even if you’re naturally unorganized!

Good things are meant to be shared! Save this to your Pinterest account so you can actually find it later and so others can see you’ve got all the good stuff!

The post How To Make A Home Management Binder – Demystified! appeared first on 🙌 House Cleaning Service In Columbia, SC | The Cleaning Club.