Mastering the art of keeping your home or your apartment clean is directly correlated with how well you master the art of discipline. Keeping your space decluttered and fresh requires you to do the things you don’t want to; at the same exact time, you really don’t want to do them. Like right after dinner, when all you really want to do is to relax and digest while picking up that new book or scrolling through your queue on Netflix. Keeping your home fresh means that you will have to make the decision to hand wash the dishes, or load the dishwasher of your mess, right then and there.
Get it off your plate and out of your way, making more time for the other home maintenance chores. Make the little amount of time you have while working from home, work for you. Do a load of laundry before you sit down for work, and when you need a break from the computer, switch that load to the dryer and fold the dry clothes. Use your spare time productively and keep the cycle going. It’s best to do a little as you go along, then to let it pile up for full days of work. When you are making phone calls for work, or even calls to catch up with friends or family during this pandemic, use that time to tidy around the house. Rearrange and organize your desk while you talk, straightening out any important papers and planners.
Stowaway loose pens and pencils, highlighters, and post-its. If you have the multi-tasking ability, use the time you catch up with your friends to map out important deadlines for work in your planners. Review your notes, rewriting anything vital down to your calendar, highlighting any details that will need to be remembered. After your chit-chat and a much-needed break, you’ll have a clean, productive space to re-enter, with an updated calendar, and loose ends buttoned up. If you are engaged with a customer on the phone, look for other things to tidy. Pick up any outdated mail, magazines, postcards, wrappers, or mediocre menus and throw them right into the trash. Wipe down counters, disposing of crumbs and stickies leftover from late-night snacking.
Water your plants, straighten out your books or magazine stash, and put away laundry. Learning how to make your steps count for you is the trick in keeping a tidy residency. How do I do that? On your route from the kitchen to your room, to the living room, what can you grab, wipe down or straighten during your trips to and from?
Do as many small chores as possible as you walk around your space and consider implementing the five-minute rule. Any idea what the five-minute rule is? Basically, what can you do within five minutes that is going to save you sixty minutes later in your day? For example, when you are heating up your lunch or making yourself a needed second cup of coffee, challenge yourself to clean, red up or put away items before the microwave sounds. Not only will you be making the absolute most out of your time, but you will also be creating a fun challenge for yourself.
