How to Find a Good Carpet Cleaning Company: Simple Shortcuts : Cleaning Routine

I’m so excited to share a new series with you – Clean Mama’s Simple Shortcuts. Every Monday for the next six weeks, I’ll be sharing my favorite simple shortcuts and gathering yours on Instagram. I’ll share them on Instagram as you are sharing them but I’ll also gather them up over the next six weeks and share them as a free printable at the end of the series. I’ve been feeling like I really need simple and easy right now – you too? I can’t wait for us to all gather tips that help us over the next six weeks. It’s going to be really fun and helpful with a community feel. Make sure you’re following along on Instagram too!

Today, we’re going to be talking about our favorite Simple Shortcuts for a Cleaning Routine! I’m going to list some of mine below, add yours to the comments here or head over to Instagram to add yours in the Stories question box.

My favorite Simple Shortcuts for a Cleaning Routine?
Of course, the first one would be the Clean Mama Routine – it’s a simple shortcut for a cleaning routine in and of itself. The fact that it works is what keeps me and the other thousands and thousands of people that do it motivated. If you’re new here, you can find out more in this post and/or on my Start Here page. This is a long post FULL of tips, I’m also sharing some of my favorite cleaning tips at the bottom of the post.

Put aside any misconceptions you have with cleaning. The Clean Mama Routine is different. There are 4 components to the Clean Mama Routine – but don’t start with everything at once. The dirt will still be there when you’re ready to implement the Routine to the fullest – start with the DAILY TASKS. These are things you’re probably already doing – you can even just start with one a day for a week. Add a second task the 2nd week and keep going until you feel like you have a good grasp of the Dailies. If you want to find out more, make sure you head to the Start here page.

Split up cleaning tasks. If you want to do a cleaning routine but know you have snippets in the day to get things done (before work, after work, nap time, etc.), here are my best tips. I do most of these things because I am a clean a little bit as I go person. I actually find this to be the best for me both from a productivity and a getting things done standpoint. Don’t underestimate those 5 and 10 minute bursts of cleaning energy! See more about the Weekly Tasks here.

Vacuuming and floor washing can be a hang-up – they’re time consuming on their own and with the Clean Mama Routine we do them on subsequent days. Here are a couple ways to split them up: I vacuum late in the day on Wednesday and wash the floors early on Thursday morning. Split up half of your house one day and vacuum and wash the floors in one half one day and the other half the next.

Bathrooms can feel overwhelming. With the Clean Mama Routine we clean bathrooms on Mondays – get it out of the way and get on with the week! We save floors for Wednesday and Thursday to make it even easier. If you feel like bathrooms are a struggle, set a timer and follow my simple Monday is Bathrooms Day Routine.

Bathroom Speed Clean – If you’ve struggled with cleaning your bathroom, use my method to get that chore down to 15 minutes. You can GO HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE METHOD and grab a free printable to walk your through it.

Simplify your cleaning supplies – less is more with a lot of things but this is definitely true with cleaning supplies. You can make your own cleaning supplies with just a handful of safe ingredients. You won’t have to worry about what’s in your cleaners and you’ll have the ingredients you need on hand. Get started with this post.

Pair tasks together – I talk about this at length in my latest book, CLEAN MAMA’S GUIDE TO A PEACEFUL HOME. When you pair a ‘happy task’ with a ‘pain point’ it’s easier to get things done. I unload the dishwasher while brewing coffee – this makes me move more quickly and gets this task out of the way.

Put things on auto-pilot. There are certain things I do automatically. Take a minute to think about what things you do daily already and build on those. We clean up the kitchen nightly and years ago I added our Nightly Sink Scrub to this nightly routine. Now the kitchen sink is empty and clean every night – and I actually enjoy the scrubbing the sink process.

Just do one thing. If you’ve heard of choosing three things in a day and would be happy to just get ONE THING accomplished, this is a perfect start for you! Here are a couple mindset shifts to help you get started.

My personal favorite, ‘What ONE thing would make my tomorrow self feel better?’
What ONE cleaning task can I do today, that will make a difference in our home?
What ONE organizing task can I do today, will make a difference in our home?
Is there something I can reward myself with that might motivate me to do ONE thing?
What ONE task can I do in the 5 minutes I have? I have a FREE PRINTABLE with tasks you can do in 5 minutes if you need help getting started.
Ask yourself, ‘If I can do just one thing today, what will it be?’
Or how about this, ‘What’s the one thing I HAVE to get done today?’
Clear and clean just ONE surface. HERE’S HOW!

Motivation can be something that holds us back in a cleaning routine. Here are some tips for just getting started:

Start in the worst area first and keep going with that momentum. This is why I clean bathrooms on Mondays. If this mindset doesn’t work for you, start with something easy first!
Choose cleaning supplies that you enjoy using. Color coordinate or just choose supplies you like the look of – I find that having Cute Supplies Make Cleaning More Fun!
Don’t put it off – get it over with and get on with your day.
Listen to a podcast, audiobook, or your favorite music – think of it as an escape.
Call someone and chat while you’re cleaning. Chances are you’ll enjoy the conversation more than you realize that you’re cleaning.
Make it a game – set a timer and race yourself.
Invite someone over – you will probably get more done in a shorter period of time.
Reward yourself with something that motivates you when you accomplish your goal.

Be consistent. If you decide that it’s helpful to do a quick clean up before rest time or nap time every day, take the 5-10 minutes that it takes to do that little clean up. Being consistent helps to build habits and it helps to make it easier to clean up when you’re doing it regularly.
Write it down. If you feel like you get to the end of the day and you didn’t get anything accomplished, start checking things off a list. I use my HOMEKEEPING PLANNER and love being able to reference it all year long.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s trite and overstated but really, it’s so true. So what if you have to order pizza because everything went south. Didn’t do the laundry every day this week? No big deal! This is why I built Fridays as a Catch-All Day into my routine. A grace day built into a routine that has room for LIFE. It’s refreshingly simple – just use the next day to start over, or the next week – there’s always room for the unexpected.

A few bonus Cleaning Tips:

Wipe down the refrigerator shelves before going grocery shopping. This keeps your refrigerator clean most of the time and makes it less of a hassle when you have to clean it.
Run your kitchen sink tap water on hot before you run the dishwasher to warm up the water and make your dishwasher start with hot water.
Keep a small baking pan for uncooked meats in the refrigerator to keep your refrigerator shelf clean.
If you have little ones that love bath time and are old enough to play independently while you are in the bathroom with them, CLEAN IT with Clean Mama products, of course
Stop using a top sheet. This simplifies bed making when paired with a duvet and launder-able duvet cover.
Keep your daily used cooking supplies on a cutting board by your stove for easy access and less clean up.
Put daily items like dish soap, hand soap, counter spray, toiletries, etc. on a dish or tray. This makes cleaning the counter easier and helps to contain those supplies.

I can’t wait to see what your Simple Shortcuts are for a Cleaning Routine. Come on over to Clean Mama on Instagram to share them!

Want to give the Clean Mama Routine a try? Start with these 3 free printables – you’ll find them at the top of the Free Printables page you’ll find the Calendar of the Month, a how-to guide and tips and tricks for incorporating the Clean Mama Routine.