I Used to be Lazy, But Now I LOVE Housework | How To Simplify Your Routine

Keeping the house clean was something I didn’t understand how to do.

Sure, I knew how to deep clean. And now and then, I would…

I would scrub the tub and the toilet, clean out the fridge and vacuum the living room floor. But the house was never kept clean.

Honestly, it’s not something I really felt compelled to change either.

The idea of having a clean house seemed like I would spend all my days running after my kids to pick up behind them. I imagined myself folding clothes and constantly putting them away. I was sure if I did the dishes regularly, it would take me 2 hours a day.

There were so many more fun things to do-I loved sewing quilts, I was an avid scrapbooker, I loved reading, and well, Oprah was on every afternoon.

For me, the journey to finding joy in cleaning my home was a long, drawn-out process. But it doesn’t have to be for you! That’s why I’ve broken down the whole process for you here.

Please keep in mind though, even though you can learn to enjoy cleaning much faster than I did, (it took me a good 10 years!!) changing your thoughts and actions is not something you can have immediate, over-night success with. But keep working at it, and I’m positive you can get there must faster than I did!

Why am I lazy?

Laziness is a lot like procrastination-people look at that umbrella word and say, “That is my problem.” But with procrastination, there’s always an underlying issue-fatigue, fear, avoidance, confusion.

Often, “laziness” isn’t the actual problem. Here are some actual culprits that are keeping you from keeping a clean house.

1. Overwhelm

When we feel overwhelmed, it doesn’t really matter how motivated or determined we are to tackle our chores. We just can’t.

Being overwhelmed will sink your energy levels, kill your motivation, and put you in a freeze response where you don’t even take a tiny step toward cleaning your house.

2. Clutter

Part of that overwhelm-or all of it, honestly-is likely that you just have too much stuff! A declutter will enable you to keep a manageable to do list and avoid overwhelm.

If you need some guidance or have no idea where to start with decluttering, try joining our Clutter-Free Army for a simple, straightforward weekly assignment that you can finish in 10 minutes. Anyone can do anything for 10 minutes. You’ve got this!

3. Mental health

Many mental health struggles like depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and other things that might damage our motivation or energy prevent us from completing simple daily tasks-much less decluttering and cleaning an ENTIRE house.

When you add home overwhelm to an existing mental illness, it will get worse and worse without attending it. We can’t clean the house because we’re exhausted-emotionally, mentally, or physically-so we feel guilty, but that’s not enough to motivate ourselves to do it!

Read up on the clutter-depression-anxiety cycle to learn how you can shake yourself free from it.

4. Lack of motivation

It’s hard to do any task regularly if we lack motivation. What would motivate you to do chores?

Motivation ideas

• figure out just what you want your house to look like
• invite friends over regularly, if you’re someone who needs the house shiny top to bottom for company
• work to make your home more environmentally friendly
• enjoy a certain piece of media only when doing chores (audiobooks and podcasts are great for this)
• look at clean and organized homes on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration
• maybe even start your own account to track your decluttering, cleaning, and home styling journey. oftentimes, having someone else see and acknowledge your hard work can be motivation in itself

5. No clear goals

It can be confusing to keep ourselves accountable with regular household chores-or with anything-when we don’t really know what we’re aiming for.

Make a list of the benefits you might receive from a cleaner, lovelier home. You could finish projects more efficiently when your tools and materials are organized. You could invite people over more often. You could feel a sense of pride in where you live. You could lessen your stress with a peaceful surrounding.

Break down how to get there. Now get specific with exactly what needs to be done, how often, and when the most convenient times for you to do them are.

Can you go further and set yourself up for success by streamlining the process? Maybe buying new supplies, or reorganizing them to be more accessible?

6. Poor habits

Poor cleaning habits can stem from a lack of organization, mental health problems, or simply never having been taught how to clean.

If this sounds like you, learn about HOW to clean before you try to make yourself do it.

7. No systems

Lastly, but probably most importantly, a lack of systems will make us appear slack in our housekeeping.

Without systems in place, you’re reinventing the wheel every day. You might intend to clean, then kind of wander around the house trying to figure out what to do first. Or you might lose track of time entirely, then before you know it, it’s been three months since you’ve cleaned the tub.

No matter your issue, we can make adjustments to improve it!

Start with routines

Start with a simple morning and evening routine.

• Do the dishes
• Throw away any trash
• Wipe the kitchen counters
• Doing the dishes twice a day takes very little time

I do my typical routine in about 10 minutes. That means I spend a whopping 20 minutes a day cleaning the house. So much for the hours long cleaning routines, right?

My routine even includes doing a load of laundry and getting it put away.

The important thing to know is:

If you do little things each day, it is never allowed to become an overwhelming heap.

When you are planning out your morning and evening routine, keep it manageable: keep it to only a couple things.

You can add more in later if you wish, but for the first month, keep it very minimal. This way it sets you up for success. If you plan out too much, that in itself can be overwhelming and you can burn out.

Get rid of a bunch.

It’s not fun to clean the kitchen counters when you actually have to move a rice cooker, coffee pot, kitchen aid mixer, water filter, piles of paper, boxes of cereal and baskets of fruit.

To move all that and wipe off the counters? Then move it all back? Yeah, I’ll find something else to do… thank-you-very-much.

Work a little each day to get rid of that excess.

How often do you use the appliances sitting on the counter? Does it actually justify the space it takes? If you need to keep it, are there things inside the cabinets that you don’t use that you can get rid of to make cupboard space for these things?

Most often things are on the counters because there isn’t room in the cupboards for them. So sort through those cupboards, get rid of things you don’t use, and make space for the things you do need there.

After the counters are done, work your way around the room (stay in the kitchen till it’s done) one category at a time. It’s easier to focus, if you are only going to work for 15-30 minutes. Only sort one space or category at time and put things away in that area before moving to another space.

Set a weekly cleaning time for household tasks.

This is not something I figured out until just a few years ago. I had the daily cleaning down, but I still was embarrassed that the floors were sticky and the bathtub always needed hefty cleaners to remove the soap scum.

I had always felt like the weekends should be enjoyed and I felt bad asking my husband to clean the house after he worked all week. (More on this thought in a minute!)

But when I finally determined to have a ” weekly reset” of the house, it made such a HUGE difference!

The weekly reset

We have a bigger family, so now, every Saturday around 10 AM, all 7 of us get to work. One person takes the kitchen, one person the bathroom, one the living/dining room and the little kids work on their room. Brian and I normally work on the same room together along with giving direction to the littles on what steps they need to take.

All the surfaces get cleaned- even on top of the fridge (say what?! That used to be a yearly chore!). The tub is scrubbed, the floors are all swept/mopped/vacuumed, everything is dusted (I always wondered when people found the time to dust the picture frames!).

Because everyone is working at once, often with load upbeat music, it takes us 60-90 minutes and the house is beautiful. Like the-cleaning-lady-just-left beautiful.

Then we are free to do whatever we want for the weekend.

Want to see my weekly cleaning list? Sign up below and get it as a free printable:

Change your thought process.

But that added to my issues. The more I thought “I hate cleaning, I’m not even good at it.” Well, the more I did hate it.

As I learned to enforce the weekly cleaning (with myself as well as the kids), I noticed, I enjoyed the outcome. I learned to ask my husband to take charge of certain areas or rooms and he happily obliged.

I began to look forward to Saturdays because I knew the house would be pretty. I learned to say to myself “I enjoy cleaning on Saturdays!”

I often invited people over for Saturday afternoon or evening get-togethers, because I knew the house would be something I was proud of.

And my thoughts changed from “I hate cleaning” to “I love having a clean house.”

And now, after a few years of having that weekly cleaning time in place, I’m excited to say that I wake up on Saturdays eager to clean. I find fun music, the kids and I race to get things done. And often times, the teens will end up talking to me while we work together.

And as an added benefit: The kids are learning that we clean on Saturdays.

Does it have to be the weekend?

No. It doesn’t. But for most people, the best time to do this weekly cleaning is at the beginning of your “weekend,” regardless of what day it is.

1. You have more time and energy

Because you wake up fresh and have more energy on the weekend-more so than on a typical work day-even if you are a stay-at-home mom. When you have no school requirements and your spouse is home, it’s easier to get the house cleaning done.

2. You can enjoy the rest of it

Getting the house to a clean state means you can enjoy the rest of the time off without thinking of things that “should” be done. When everything is caught up and nothing in the house is pressing, your mind can relax and enjoy some much needed R & R.

Reasons to keep up with your household tasks

There are so many benefits to staying on top of your cleaning schedule and taking the time to mindfully declutter your home.

1. Company can come over whenever

A functionally clean home means you don’t have to stress about people coming visit. Your house is either already clean or just a few inches away from it and easily manageable.

2. Less stress

Staying on top of chores means you don’t have to worry about them, feel guilty about not doing them, or just be surrounded by clutter and filth.

Our environment greatly affects our stress and comfort levels, so keeping a clean and tidy home will improve your mental health.

3. Teach your kids good habits

If you have kiddos, or particularly hopeless roommates, setting a good example can also improve their lives.

4. Routines leak

Creating a healthy habit in one part of your life will leak into the rest of your life. Just having a healthy morning routinewill make the rest of the day much easier, more productive, and probably happier than if you didn’t put in that simple routine.

The Ultimate Cleaning Hack: Minimalism

In the end, the ease with which we clean our homes really comes down to how much clutter we keep. For a leg up on your decluttering journey, check out our room-by-room guide.