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Lacking cleaning motivation? Feeling overwhelmed or just generally can’t be bothered?
We know we need to clean but totally struggle with motivating ourselves to actually do it.
A lot of people tend to find themselves in this situation where they want so badly for the house or apartment that they live in to be clean and tidy- yet when tasked with doing the actual work needed there is a reluctance because cleaning can seem like such an arduous chore.
You know it’s true. You can’t keep your house clean if you’re not motivated to do so. Anyone who has tried knows that the mess just creeps back in without any effort whatsoever! But there are ways to stay motivated, and it just so happens that cleaning motivation has become my speciality on YouTube. I have 12 tricks for you here that will help make your house sparkle again!
Table of Contents
YouTube Cleaning Motivation Videos – Tip 1
Obviously, I was gonna lead with this first tip. YouTube is full of motivation to get you in the mood for cleaning. Of course, there is my own channel below.
And there are so many other channels to look at too. Some of my favourite cleaning motivation channels on YouTube are:
Sarah Goldsmith – My Channel again haha
You can subscribe to any of these cleaning motivation channels by clicking the name links.
Start With The Small Things – Tip 2 – Cleaning Motivation
If you’re just not feeling it or feeling completely overwhelmed, then I recommend starting with something small like washing the dishes or loading the dishwasher.
Our lives are full of small tasks that lead to other tasks which eventually lead to the bigger picture. In this case a clean home.
You’ll spend less time on household chores if you just do a little each day. So stop waiting for the weekend and get started washing those dishes!
Make Cleaning Rewarding – Tip 3
Having a clean and tidy home is reward enough for me.
However, If you’re cleaning the house and find it to be tedious, take a break once in a while. Reward yourself for every completed task by taking time out of your day to do something that’s more fun than scrubbing floors.
This will make cleaning seem less like an obligation!
Get New Cleaning Tools – Tip 4 – Cleaning Motivation
There’s no greater joy for me than taking out a new cloth or sponge to clean with. It looks and feels so nice but also, a new microfiber cloth or sponge, cleans so much better than an old raggedy one. This can reduce cleaning time significantly and make cleaning a breeze.
I recommend the Costco Kirkland Yellow Microfiber Cloths for cleaning cars, kitchens, bathrooms, dusting furniture, well, just about everything. How much more cleaning motivation do you need?
More! OK!
Buy New Cleaning Solutions – Tip 5
Aside from cleaning with new tools. The cleaning sprays and solutions you use to clean could be the reason your cleaning motivation has up and left the building.
Using a good quality cleaning solution that smells amazing can be so motivating for some people. Just imagine when you’re all finished and the house smells fresher than ever!
My recommended cleaning solutions are listed below:
Mrs Meyers https://amzn.to/3hRapfc USA
Skoosh http://bit.ly/SGSkoosh Australia
Method https://amzn.to/3qTdv6C United Kingdom
All of these cleaning solutions are Eco friendly.
Keep A Cleaning Kit in Every Room – Tip 6
Why not remove the obstacles altogether?
I mean, isn’t it so soul-destroying to get all the way up the stairs to the bathroom only to find out it needs cleaning?
But! Going back downstairs, all the way to the kitchen or utility room just seems like too much hard work, so you shut the bathroom door and pretend it’s not happening.
Sound about right?
What I like to do is, keep a cleaning kit in every room. It’s not a massive kit, just a few microfiber cloths, a duster, some cleaning spray and a packet of wipes in each bathroom.
These small basket caddies are perfect to tuck away in a drawer with all your fave cleaning supplies in them:
USA
UK
Australia
Turn Off Distractions – Tip 7
In my house, the TV is very rarely off. It’s hard to concentrate, hell, it’s blaring right now while I’m trying to think. My family are neanderthals, what can I say?
But if you seriously need some cleaning motivation, then turning off all the distractions is gonna drastically improve your productivity levels.
Take it one step further, turn off your phone too, lock the doors. Do whatever you can to get focused for an hour.
Turn On Some Music – Tip 8 – Cleaning Motivation
When I was a kid, we knew sh@t was real when Tina Turner was turned on the record player. If Tina Turner came on that meant that Mam was about to have a serious clean!
Use this same method to motivate yourself to clean. Put some Tina Turner on, put some euro rave on, rap, whatever it is that gets you excited will motivate you to clean too.
I use the Amazon Show and the Echo devices to play music, this way, I can have it in every room as I make my way around the house. So motivational.
Use a Cleaning Checklist – Tip 9
Write yourself a checklist (or feel free to use mine) to break down your tasks and remember everything you need to clean.
A checklist not only keeps you on track but can also give you cleaning motivation by seeing each task being ticked off as it’s completed. Each completed task brings you closer to the finish line! How motivating is that?!
Make Cleaning Fun – Tip 10
A lot of our members in Keep It Clean Club are taking my advice from the habit-building section of the course. The advice, taken from James Clears book, Atomic Habits, states that making a task more attractive or fun makes the task easier.
What we’ve been doing for laundry folding specifically is, watching TV or a Netflix show while we fold laundry. Most of us don’t even realise we’re folding laundry and it’s done subconsciously while we enjoy doing something we find fun.
Try it next time you’re folding laundry.
Have a Place For Everything – Tip 11
Removing the obstacles from cleaning makes getting motivated to clean so much less of a chore.
Putting things away immediately after using them reduces the amount of clutter lying around and makes cleaning easier.
It’s so much more motivating to clean when you can see the surface you’re cleaning.
Get a Cleaning Routine -Tip 12
Cleaning motivation is a hell of a lot easier if you already know what your routine is. A good routine swings back to what I said earlier about a checklist. Using a combination of both reduces the friction between doing something and not wanting to do something.
In Keep It Clean Club, we use routines for daily tasks, weekly tasks and monthly tasks. Breaking it down into routines like this, helps us build habits and when a task becomes habitual, it becomes autonomous. Therefore, most of us don’t even know we’re cleaning when we are.
You can build out your own routine or join us in Keep It Clean Club at sarahjanegoldsmith.com
Join A Like-Minded Community – Tip 13 Cleaning Motivation
Just like joining the gym to get inspiration and motivation. You can join a community of like-minded home keepers to get yourself some encouragement and cleaning motivation. I’ve mentioned Keep it Clean Club above which is our paid membership with so much guidance and perks. But, I also have a free community, My Free Facebook Group, Cleaning Hacks, Tips and Advice.
Please feel free to join us, the group is packed full of, you guessed it, hacks, tips, advice but also cleaning motivation. I post my cleaning motivation videos in there as well as my product reviews, how to’s and memes.
Conclusion
From routines to checklists and even down to your cleaning product arsenal. This post is sure to give you some cleaning motivation to tackle your to-do list today.
If you found this post helpful, pin it on Pinterest to your cleaning board.
This post contains affiliate links.