Cleaning the home "on the go"
by Samantha Johnson
Cleaning can be a real chore and keeping your home or location constantly clean can be time consuming. People find that when mess builds up, it can become overwhelming and will tend to put off cleaning it up. When you see a little bit of work to be cleaned up, you can be motivated to take care of it immediately because there's only a moment of work involved rather than the anticipation of hours of work.
The trick to doing anything that you consider a nuisance is to do it the most efficient way possible time-wise so that you spend less time on something you don't like, plus doing it until it becomes a habit. When it becomes a habit, you don't notice it as much anymore.
This is the same for keeping your home, workplace or any other location around you clean and in order. I've found that rather than putting things aside to be done later, leaving you with a big, time-consuming chore to do, if you do them a bit at a time while you're doing your daily routine, it will be much easier.
Below are some ideas that will help you stay organised while taking only a little time out of your day.
Most important rule
I believe that the most important rule in keeping a house, workplace or any location continually tidy and organised is to put things away where they belong the moment you've finished with them. If you don't already do this, just do a trial run to see what happens by doing it for yourself for just one or two days. You'll soon see that the benefits far outweigh the effort and that in fact, the effort is lessened when compared to the big clean up you'll have later when all of the messes are combined.
Cleaning the toilet
Keep your toilet brush next to the toilet and perhaps some cleaner nearby so that when you get up in the morning to go to the toilet, you can give it a quick clean with the brush. You're there anyway, and it only takes about 2 seconds to do this every morning. This will ensure that your toilet is always clean.
Cleaning the shower/bath
Normally you'll have your shower each morning or night. While you shower, clean the shower. Keep a cloth in there and give it a wipe down or you could have a hook and a small squeegee to wipe down the glass and tiles in the shower to remove water droplets when you clean it. I hook a bottle of shower cleaner over the end of the shower cubicle and spray that when I'm finished. It only takes a moment and keeps the shower free from build-up and mould. In addition to this, I will occasionally give it a quick spray down with bleach to keep the grouting white and mould free and this prevents the need for time-consuming scrubbing.
The same goes with the bath. You should be washing with a washcloth so when your bath is finished, before you get out, put some soap on the washcloth and wash around the bath. This will help to remove any build-up from the bath and is much easier to do than leaning into it to clean. Then you can rinse the washcloth in the water until it's clean, empty the bath and it's left nice and clean with the dirt going down the drain with the bathwater.
Cleaning the bathroom
When brushing your teeth or doing any daily routine at the basin, take a cloth from under the basin or keep one somewhere nearby and just wipe all surfaces down. Ensuring that you put the toothbrush, paste, hairbrushes and anything else you're using away immediately as you use them will save you hours of work later. You have to put it down somewhere so it may as well be where it's meant to be. What's that I hear you say? It's the other people in the house leaving things around? Well, it will take persistence, but ensuring that they do the same thing will leave you with much less work. Train them and let them know that it will make their life easier too when they can locate items without needing to search plus keeping the atmosphere in the area much nicer because it's always clean.
I have noticed that a lot of people don't wash the toothpaste away from the basin when they brush their teeth and men sometimes don't wash the whiskers away properly when shaving so doing the 'wipe down' routine each time you're in the bathroom will keep it in top condition and only takes a second which is much better than the time used to scrub away dried toothpaste etc. later on.
Tidying the Bedroom
When you get out of bed, make it immediately. Don't wait. It only takes a moment to fix up the sheets and blankets etc. then you can put your pyjamas away immediately when you take them off so that you can wear them the next night.
Make sure that when you take your shoes, jacket, belt or anything else off, you put them away immediately. This way you always know where they are and will find them. Don't toss your clothes on the bed, floor or anywhere else. If you change clothes, hang them immediately or if they're dirty, make sure that you have a basket or similar nearby to put the clothes in immediately. Alternatively, put them straight in the laundry.
Bedside tables tend to gather things from the night before such as books, coffee cups etc. When you leave the bedroom, make sure you take them with you and just do what I call a 'delivery' and return them to their place in a quick walk through the house on your way to the kitchen or wherever you're headed.
The men may wish to have a small container beside the bed to put the contents of their pockets until the morning. Such things as watch, change, wallet and anything else you usually put in your trouser or jacket pockets can go there so that they're within reach and easily locatable. If you choose a nice bowl or something that matches the bedroom, then it will serve the double role of a nice decorative item for the bedroom during the day. Be careful about allowing other things to go in the bowl though because it will become an ugly storage place that's on display for all to see.
Meals, the kitchen and dining room
With simple meals such as breakfast, after making it and before eating it, put away the food that went towards making it such as the cereal and the milk. Do it while you're standing there with them next to you otherwise you'll have to use up more effort later walking over to them and putting them away. If you're like a lot of people who don't have to do these things because your mum or somebody else does, then think about this: If you're not interested in doing it because it's boring or time consuming, what are you doing to the poor person who you're leaving it for? That's not fair and you could do a wonderful thing for them by putting them away. Not only that, but you will also make yourself feel good.
After you've eaten, give your bowl/plate a quick wash and any other things that you used to eat your meal or put them in the dishwasher and wipe over all surfaces. Any items left sitting around on them can be put away too and you'll find that you've always got a nice clean kitchen. It only takes a moment to wipe them too because you don't have much left sitting on them.
A lot of people like to leave their coffee and tea etc. on the cupboard top for convenience. Well, you can have the same convenience by having them organised in your cupboard. The few seconds it takes to open and close the cupboard door is worth it when you see that lovely clear surface each day.
Having clear surfaces also allows you to see when things are not in place easier, so you can put them away immediately before they build up.
When you're cooking, put away each food item as you use it. For example, if you're putting spices in the food, then put the spices back in the cupboard after using them rather than leaving them on the cupboard. The same with chopping food; make sure that the rest of the food goes back into the refrigerator and the scraps are tossed into the bin rather than being left for later.
This will mean that your cupboards stay clear, that you have plenty of room to prepare your meal and that you will only have the dishes and clearing the table to worry about afterwards. You won't need to clear off a full cupboard top as well.
After eating, make sure that the table is cleared immediately with everything put away and wiped over. Choose the simplest jobs for the littlies so that they can help and they will also learn to put things away when finished. When everyone gets in to help, it really only takes a moment and through such duties, the family members learn to work together. This will encourage them to stand by each other in other areas of life too as it becomes a habit.
Taking care of the rubbish can be a pain, but you can lower the time involved by having a bin for each type of rubbish that you put out. Some suburbs have separate bins for general rubbish, garden waste and recyclable rubbish. Flatten each piece before throwing it away in its' prospective bin and consider using the scraps from vegetables etc. in your own garden to help it along and save space in your bin. Using a bin liner will keep the bins clean, hygienic and make the job for the person who's putting it out much nicer. One thing though…ensure that the bins are emptied before they start becoming overloaded and resembling Mt Vesuvius. You could put them out each night when you're turning the lights off and closing up.
You could choose that time to give them a quick wipe over with a cloth that you keep nearby for that specific purpose (don't use it for any other purpose to prevent the spread of bacteria) and this will help to prevent smells and messes building up. Using the tie-top bags will help prevent insect infestations around the big bins.
If you have your own personal bins at your home that are emptied each week, as soon as they are emptied, take a hose and give them a quick hose down, leaving them upside down to dry. This will help keep them tidy and prevent the need for a big scrub down later on.
Lounge and other living areas
I figure that the less surface areas you have to put things on, the less work you'll have. People just can't help themselves, they just have to place that latest magazine on an empty table or surface so limit the number of tables etc. to the bare minimum and make sure that you have plenty of shelves, drawers etc. so that everything has a place. This is also very helpful when buying things. Often people may buy something because they want it, but don't really have anywhere for it to go. This is your sign to not buy it until you have cleared out some of the things you already have in your home rather than just adding to it. Remember, the fewer things you have to be cleaned, the less cleaning you have. It will also save you money too.
Because the living areas are for just that - living - then you'll often find that shoes, jackets, remote controls, blankets, toys or pretty much anything is left laying around. You can teach your family that when they are leaving the room, they can take something with them that goes in another room and put it where it belongs along the way. You'll find that the room will remain a nice place to spend time in. Small accessories that help keep you organised such as a magazine rack or remote control organiser can help you to keep things tidy.
If you find toys all over the floor on a constant basis, then you need to address the bedroom because that's where they should be. The child will tend to play wherever the toys are. There should be enough storage space for all toys to go away and they should be at a suitable level for the child who plays with them so that he/she can return them. If you train him/her to put toys away immediately when finished with them, then the child will grow up naturally being organised.
You could keep a small box of toys in the corner of the room that the child can put away when they are finished with.
Make sure that CD's (whether games, movies or music), go back in their correct case immediately when finished playing or listening. This avoids long hours of correcting and sorting later and keeps them in good condition. It's too easy to have your hard-earned money wasted on game disks and DVDs that are scratched and ruined. If you live in a home where this is a regular occurrence, just have a think about how much money has been thrown away in the last year on ruined disks and you'll find your motivation for doing this "three second job" when you're using them.
Hallways and doorways
Some family members tend to like leaving things lying around hallways and doorways. Strictly speaking its best to keep these areas free of any surfaces that can have things dumped on them and if nothing belongs there, then it's easy to see when items are left there that should not be. The person who left it there could then take it with them when next passing through.
Study
Assuming you might have a computer in your study (or any other room), having adequate storage for all of your computer disks etc. is the only way to keep it tidy with ease. Then you only need to ensure that all disks go away as you use them. This way you don't end up with piles of them sitting around being ruined or lost. Make sure that everyone understands the importance of putting them in their correct place too to avoid hours of hunting around for disks later.
Mail
A mail organiser is the perfect solution for having a place to put the mail so it's always available when you need it, and you don't have piles of mail lying around. It's really important to adopt a 'Do it as you use it' attitude with mail too. By sorting out mail that you're not currently using and filing them immediately as they come in through the mail, you'll only have one or two papers to file rather than a pile of 20.
In and out trays keep you on track with what work is to be done without having papers all over the desktop.
Organisation is really the key to keeping the Study tidy and clean. Ensuring that the bin is emptied once a day as you're leaving the study area will prevent rubbish build up.
Placing a corkboard on the wall in a convenient location is useful for pinning up things that you need to remember. This means they're convenient, easily accessible and keeps your desktop free for work.
Use a pen and stationery holder. Putting the pen in its holder when you're finished with it instead of dumping it on the desk top will ensure that you can find it at a moment's notice.
Laundry
The laundry is really the easiest room in the house to maintain. A place for dirty clothes, a place for clean clothes and a place for the cleaning products with everything kept in its' place is fairly simple, but it's amazing how many people neglect to clean their machines. Giving your washing machine a quick wipe-down when you've finished the washing will keep it in good dust-free condition. Also wiping away excess powder left sitting around the inside of the washing machine as you go each day will prevent build up and annoying time wasted clearing it away later. This will help maintain the life of your machine and it will also mean cleaner clothes.
Throwing a few loads of washing in the evening and hanging them first thing in the morning helps you to keep up with your laundry. Take the time to fold the clothes as you take them off the clothes line. This seems time consuming, but it actually saves more time in ironing later on as the clothes will be less crushed and some will be able to be put away immediately saving you from having piles of clothes to contend with.
If you use a clothes dryer, do the same thing. Of course they can be great for cutting down ironing time as they will remove most creases from the clothing. Be careful not to overload the dryer so that they can move freely and you'll get more drying done because they'll dry faster. I discovered to my dismay a few years ago that many fires in homes are started by the lint filter in clothes dryers not being emptied correctly and a spark sets them alight. Many people have had their homes burn down, so do yourself a favour and empty the lint filter with each and every load. It does seem to be a pain, but if you keep a small bin in the laundry, you can just pop the lint into there. Don't forget the bits of lint that gather around the outside of the lint collector either. Use your handy laundry cloth to wipe over the dryer as you do the washing machine and it helps prevent dust build up.
Take it with you
Many people start to put just one thing down here and there and shortly have a build-up of mess which makes living and thinking uncomfortable. Then you train yourself to not see it by ignoring it and over time you really won't see it.
The problem with this is that your guests and visitors will see it, but where you can ignore a whole pile of things, the visitor sees each and every little item. So you need to train yourself to see these things again by standing still in the room and looking for anything that is not where it should be. As you leave the room, if you see something there that belongs in the room you're heading to, then take it with you and put it away saving you extra time later. I will pick up things that belong in any room on the way to where I'm heading too and whilst I may have to stop about 4 times on the way, I just saved myself 4 trips later.
If you have a family who is putting things away when they use them and taking it with them when they go into other rooms, your actual housework will be cut down to cleaning and the tidying part will basically be taking care of itself.
I do this with the housework too. I'll be walking to the kitchen to make a cuppa and if I'm passing by the laundry, I'll put some clothes in the washing machine and take the washed ones with me to hang out while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.
Use hooks
Anything that you use each day can be placed on a hook in a handy location that is not necessarily on display for all to see. Keyhooks are one of the small and insignificant uses of hooks that will save you tons of time and stress. Mops, brooms and the like can be hung up out of the way and always handy for you to grab on your way through.
A place for everything
The only way this system can really fail is if you give up or if you don't have a place for everything. If each item has a place, it's easy enough to just make sure it goes back where it belongs. Organising cupboards so that all items are easily accessible will help prevent losing interest and just 'tossing' items in a cupboard or on a surface.
Keep a cloth handy
Find a location in each room for a handy cloth to be kept so that you have one when you need it and can just give surfaces a quick wipe over.
Maintaining the processes mentioned above means that vacuuming will be a dream because you can simply walk from one end of the house to the other vacuuming the floors without incident because they will all be clear.
Most people adopt the philosophy of "If it fits down the vacuum, suck it up!" but this is not actually the way to do it. The quickest way to vacuum and to ensure a long life for your vacuum is to take a quick walk around all of the rooms that are to be vacuumed and to pick up anything that you can see. If it's a piece of paper that is big enough to fit down the vacuum, pick it up and put it where it belongs. General rule is that if you can see it, then it should be picked up.
The vacuum should really be used for picking up the bits and pieces that you don't see plus dust etc. This will save you money on vacuum bags and if you are using a bagless vacuum, it will mean less trips to the bin to empty the vacuum. It also helps to prevent clogging in the vacuum. Try to pick up chunks of hair, thread and the like because it can cause problems later if they create a lump or type of net within the vacuum.
Believe it or not, totally clearing the floor and picking up things before vacuuming actually makes the job much quicker because you won't need to stop and pick anything up or move anything while you're vacuuming (except furniture). You can vacuum through the whole house in no time and you'll save those precious items that you will no longer be accidentally vacuuming up.
While you're vacuuming, take a damp cloth with you to wipe over surfaces that haven't already been done and then when you're finished, your house will feel wonderfully fresh and clean. You might even consider buying or making an apron that you can put on before cleaning that has pockets to carry anything you might need. Then it's a quick run through the house each day, take off the apron and voila! You're finished and your clothes are protected.
Of course, this is based upon cleaning and maintaining a home, but the same principles apply in the workplace. Keeping things organised and putting them away as soon as you use them will save you countless minutes trying to find things and will be impressive to anyone who is entering your workplace. You'll appear (and become) organised and efficient and don't underestimate how this can help your job prospects.
So keep it in mind that many of the small time-consuming jobs around the house can be done while you're doing other things. It will save you a lot of time and break up the cleaning so that it is less of a chore. Don't expect to remember to change everything at once. Take it a step at a time and soon you'll find it quicker and easier to keep your area organised and clean.