motivation for cleaning

Motivation for Cleaning Your House [11 Tips to Get Motivated to Clean!]

Cleaning the House Motivation

Sometimes getting motivation to clean your home just feels daunting and like you’ll never have the time. Below, you’ll find 11 great tips to give you more motivation for cleaning your house!

I know how it feels to have a cluttered and unclean home.  Sometimes life and time just get away from us. 

Then, even if we have the time, it doesn’t feel like we have the time.  There’s always something else to do, something more important or more time sensitive. 

There’s also the fact that we need to relax sometimes instead of burning ourselves out!

But cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore.  

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motivation for cleaning

There are small things you can do throughout the week to make cleaning day easier.  You can clean a room a day if you want so you don’t dread a half or full day of it. 

There are plenty of ways you can get yourself in cleaning mode!

I mean sure, we need to be cleaning our houses, condos and apartments.  We’ve gone over that part already.  Yes, cleaning is just a fact of life and part of adulting.  But also, it’s something to make you feel accomplished!

Have you ever heard the idea that the first thing you should do in the morning is make your bed? 

The idea is that making your bed first thing will get an item off your to-do list right away in the morning.  Tackling a small task like that will feel like an accomplishment for you (and it should!).  Cleaning is the same.  

Here are some tips to help get yourself psyched up and motivated to start cleaning!

cleaning motivation tips

Cleaning Motivation Tip #1: Create a Cleaning Playlist

I don’t know if you have certain go-to songs that just pump you up, but I sure do.  Grab all of them and make a playlist! 

If you don’t have specific songs then get a random playlist on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to music! You might just find a new artist or song you love!

I love these headphones while I’m cleaning, especially while vacuuming. You could also use a bluetooth speaker, which I also use while I’m cooking!

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Cleaning Motivation Tip #2: Listen to podcasts while you clean

There are TONS of podcasts out there talking about what seems like a million different topics. 

I listen to a lot of blogging and business podcasts, but one of my favorite podcasts that applies to everyday life is The Motivated Mind.  

You can find a podcast about almost any topic! It’s also a great distraction, and you can even use shorter episodes to time yourself.

Click here to see my favorite headphones for both cleaning AND working out!

Sometimes in a 20-30 minute episode, I’ll have a goal to get a certain number of cleaning tasks done!

Cleaning Motivation Tip #3: Listen to Audio Books

Apps like Audible have tons of audio books to choose from, and some are even free!  

Check out these apps for audio books:

Motivation for Cleaning Tip #4: Turn on a show or movie

But hey, if you’re going to sit down and watch it, this won’t actually work!  Sometimes I find a TV show I’ve already seen and play reruns while I clean.  

Check out Hulu to find some of your favorite shows!

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Motivation for Cleaning Tip #5: Before & After Pictures

I don’t do this in my weekly cleaning routine, but I do this for big jobs. 

For example, before finding an organizing system that worked for us, our basement would get out of control.  

I’d spend an entire day reorganizing it. It would stay nice and tidy for a little bit, and then it would eventually get back to being crazy and out of control. 

Which brings me to another tip for organizing – don’t get discouraged!  

Sometimes your first idea (or first 5 ideas) just aren’t something you want to maintain, or the organization didn’t make complete sense for you and your life. 

I’ve been there a million times with the basement and home office.  Sometimes what makes sense at the time doesn’t make as much sense once you start functioning with it.  That’s okay!  

What’s most important is that you found the motivation to do something once, and you can find the motivation to do it again IF you need to. You can do it, I KNOW you can!

Before and after pictures are really great for showing yourself you’re a cleaning and organizing boss that can tackle the bigger and tougher jobs.

Plus, there’s something so satisfying about checking out those pictures at a later date. The pictures you take can even give you motivation for another, completely separate task!

Cleaning Tip #6: Make a Cleaning Schedule

Once you’ve gotten it all cleaned, try out making a schedule to help you maintain it so you don’t get overwhelmed again.

This can be cleaning one room per day. It can be vacuuming every other day, making sure the dishes are done before you go to bed at night.

It can be implementing a 5 minute pick up rule in the house.

A 5 minute pick up rule is where everyone in the house spends 5 minutes putting things away. Honestly, this helps so much!

You can also start as small as making sure that all your mail has been sorted every day, or making your bed every morning.

Do whatever you need to do to help get yourself into a routine! If you need some inspiration, check out my Ultimate Guide to Deep Cleaning Your Home Workbook! In it you’ll find a master cleaning list, cleaning supply suggestions, as well as daily, weekly, monthly and annual schedules to make sure you can make a cleaning schedule you can stick with!

Get the Deep Cleaning Workbook for 25% off here!

Motivation Tip #7: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help!

Enlist your spouse, kids, heck even your mom or BFF might be willing to lend a hand! 

Even if it’s one room you can tackle with a partner, it can definitely help and brighten your mood and motivate you to do more after!

If you really want a clean slate and are willing to pay for it, you can hire a professional cleaner or even an organizer!

But I have total faith that you can get it done without hiring someone.

Here’s a little extra motivation! 20% off my Ultimate Guide to Deep Cleaning Your Home Workbook! It has 49 pages of printable schedules in different colors and formats, along with sample schedules! Use code MOTIVATE20 at checkout! >>>GET IT HERE!<<<

Cleaning Motivation Tip #8: Start Small & Break It All Down In a To-Do List

I am the self-proclaimed queen of to-do lists. Or even just lists in general. I have a list for EVERYTHING.

When I make a to-do list, I don’t just put “clean house” on the list. 

That seems incredibly daunting and overwhelming!  I break it down by room.  So my list will look like this:

  • Clean kitchen
  • Clean bathrooms
  • Clean living room

And I’ll continue to list all the rooms in the house. I separate things out like “vacuum stairs,” that gets it’s own space on my list.

If you need to, get even smaller than that!  Let’s say you’re going to clean the bathroom.  Make your list something like this:

  • Clean toilet
  • Wipe down sink
  • Clean bathtub
  • Wash floor
  • Throw out expired makeup

If you don’t finish it all today, that’s okay, your list will be there when you’re ready to pick things back up. 

Honestly, I love crossing things off a to-do list. It’s so satisfying to be able to cross something off your list!

Motivation Tip #9: Reward Yourself

I’m not saying you should clean the house and then book a flight to Aruba, but reward yourself with something you’ll enjoy! 

A nice dinner, going out to a movie, taking a bath and/or reading a book, playing a fun new game. Anything that gets you excited to reward yourself for accomplishing your cleaning goals!

Cleaning Motivation Tip #10: Don’t Get Discouraged!

Seriously, mess happens.  Disorganization happens.  Clutter happens. 

Starting is the most important thing to do.  When you feel discouraged, just remind yourself that you’ve started to tackle the problem and you’re making steps toward fixing it!

Go back and look at the before pictures (if you took them) and you’ll see some progress!

Remind yourself that you can finish this, you will get everything cleaned and organized, and most importantly, remind yourself that it takes time!

Motivation Tip #11: You’ll Feel SO Much Better When You’re Done!

Honestly, when I come home and see disorganization and chaos and clutter, I feel really overwhelmed. 

It’s just a reminder of more things I need to do. 

Even if you chip away at it slowly, when you come home to a little less clutter or to things a little more clean, you’ll automatically feel better. 

Sometimes it’s a sense of accomplishment, sometimes it’s just as easy as feeling a little more content or relaxed.  And it’s sooo worth it!

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BONUS: Reasons We Lose Motivation for Cleaning the House

Here are the top 3 reasons we lose motivation for cleaning the house…

Reason #1: It gets so cluttered that we get overwhelmed.

There’s a difference (at least, in my mind) between a dirty house and a cluttered house.

Sometimes they do go hand in hand, sometimes they are totally separate form each other.

There have been plenty of days where my floors and windows are sparkling, but my dining room table had so much stuff all over it that using it for it’s purpose – sitting down and eating a mea – was laughably impossible.

I’ve come up with a routine to keep the clutter toned down, and that has helped SO MUCH in the overwhelming clutter department.

Reason #2: We don’t have a routine

When we don’t have a routine, it can be harder to get. motivated. I’ve gotten my routine so fine tuned that I don’t even need to think about it anymore.

For example, I know that while the bathroom floor is drying, I’m going to be dusting and vacuuming the bedrooms, and so on.

I also know exactly how long it takes me to clean the whole house, on both good days (when I’m not dragging my feet) and bad days (when I sit down and scroll Pinterest after dusting one shelf)…because even being someone who is crazy about cleaning, like myself, I still get distracted and have days I just don’t feel like it!

Reason #3: We’re picking the wrong time to clean

I like to get a majority of my cleaning done in one day, and I like to have it done first thing so I can have the rest of the day without the task looming over me.

HOWEVER, that doesn’t work for everyone!

I took a quick poll of some friends and family, and I found that some people agree with getting it done first thing, while others preferred to have their mornings to relax.

THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER!

One friend prefers to clean on one day, like me, but she would rather relax in the morning and then get it all done later in the day.

Another friend likes to clean throughout the week, tackling the kitchen and dining room one day, bathrooms another day, bedrooms on their own day, etc.

Try to clean at different times of day while you’re making your routine and schedule, that way you can see what might work best for you! Try cleaning over two or three days, or do one room every day.

Don’t be upset if you can’t get into a routine right away, it’ll take some time spent experimenting to see what is best for you, your family, and your lifestyle!

Need more motivation? Check out this article Why Cleaning is Good for Your Mental Health.

BONUS #2: Get the Ebook or Workbook

I’ve written an ebook all about deep cleaning your home! It has everything you should be cleaning, step-by-step tips on how to do it, and tips on how often you should clean things.

There’s also a workbook, packed with 49 printable pages full of schedules for you to customize along with a Master Cleaning Checklist. Grab one, or both of them here!

If you want more information about what is included in each, check out this page.

Don’t forget, just by reading this post you are already motivated! I’d like to reward you for taking this first step by giving you 20% off the cleaning schedule templates! Get it below, and use code MOTIVATE20 when you checkout!

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The Ultimate Guide to Deep Cleaning Your Home

Related Posts:

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Motivation for house cleaning

Motivation for Cleaning My House

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