15 minutes a day: 11 ways to forget about spring cleaning forever

Does the thought that it’s time to start a vacuum cleaner spoil your mood? While they raked one room, did a lot of junk accumulate in another? The child came from the kindergarten, and the whole order is down the drain? Do you have neither the time nor the energy to endlessly wipe, wash, clean something? You can, of course, try to act on the system of restoring order, since there are a lot of options. But sticking to one of them is never easy. And if you take the best from each? Maybe then we’ll start to enjoy cleaning. Let’s try.

Put things back in place

The system of “anonymous lazy” (or “slob”, as you like) is based on this principle. It is based on the story of an American woman, Sandra Felton, who could not find her own dissertation at home. But if the papers had a place where they always lie.

This is the basic principle of her system: take it, use it – immediately return it to its place. You can no longer search for the TV remote control all over the house, as well as the telephone.

Don’t put off what can be done quickly for later

Place two pairs of shoes on the shelf – 15 seconds maximum. But if you don’t do this right away, two pairs will eventually turn into ten, and then you have to tinker. The sweater can be thrown on a chair or sofa, or can be neatly hung on a hanger – it will take the same amount of time.

Involve the whole family in cleaning

This is, of course, the most difficult for the Russian mentality. How can you get rid of the head of the family making money from the couch? Or load your beloved child with work? Try it once, you will definitely like it! Who said that cleanliness is exclusively a woman’s concern? Patriarchy seems to have been abolished long ago.

Wash the kitchen sink

According to the FlyLady system, this place symbolizes the cleanliness of the house. Don’t ask why, just take it for granted that cleaning the kitchen sink is the first step to perfection. It is believed that it shouldn’t take long, but looking at your cleanest sink, you won’t want to go back to the mess. It is important – the sink should not only be washed, it should be perfectly clean, shiny and as if even polished.

Do not spare unnecessary things

Decluttering is an important issue in most cleaning systems. Throw away without regret anything you don’t use or don’t wear for over a year. Or, as the Japanese woman Mari Kondo suggests, get rid of what does not bring joy. We like the three-box option: throw it away, give it away, put it away. This third can be hidden for six months and then looked at again.

And let’s add on our own: the main thing is not to think. If you start remembering how you went on your first date with your future husband in a happy dress, you will never be able to throw it away. Even if it has been hanging in your closet for 10 years. By the way, psychologists are sure that decluttering in an apartment helps to put things in order in your head. Kondo also writes about this: having dealt with things, a person begins to better understand what he really needs in life.

Focus on one room

One day – one zone. Today you clean only the living room, tomorrow the bathroom, the day after tomorrow the bedroom. You clean – I mean fully, with raking out cabinets and other things. There is one minus – in other rooms, at the same time, it is necessary to maintain at least minimal order. Otherwise, you will walk in circles.

Clean every day for 15 minutes

How to brush your teeth, how to wash your hands, how to comb your hair. Take 15 minutes to dust off, load the dishwasher. Every day has its own business. It is advisable not to miss. But then choose a day completely free of cleaning. Let it be – suddenly – Saturday!

Make to-do lists

It is at the heart of the German “Shining House” system. The Germans are great pedants, and therefore they can be trusted. If you draw up a cleaning plan, the process will go much faster than you will haphazardly grab one thing or the other.

Observe storage rules

You must clearly know what, where and how you have it. Then you don’t have to think about where to put the next donated souvenir. And the main secret of Marie Kondo is the vertical storage of things: this way they are always visible and you can easily take out any thing without disturbing the rest.

Clean up on the go

This was not invented by us, but by writer and blogger Leo Batuta, who talks about how to make life easier. He suggests making cleaning a part of a routine, a habit that you can do without thinking.

Get angry

Have you ever noticed how negative energy contributes to the cleaning process? If directed to the mess, the house will simply sparkle.