How To Clean Up After Thanksgiving

I know that it can seem like a mammoth task to clean up after a festivity, however, with a plan and motivation this isn’t as hard as you first think. Sometimes it is the overwhelming feelings that the task is bigger than it actually is; with a plan of action and a list of tasks getting your house tidy and back into feeling like a home, won’t take you long. Having help is always a great way to complete the task quicker but I don’t always feel it is necessary, I can get a lot done on my own with my timer in hand, it keeps me focused and on task.

House Clean Up After Thanksgiving

Start with a list and work out what areas bug you the most, put these at the top of your list. For me, I hate dirty floors and always focus on these areas first. The second area to deal with is the kitchen; dirty dishes piled high can seem like a task from hell, but with a system, you can quickly take control of your kitchen and get it back into your normal clean kitchen.

I like to create not zones as such, but areas I am working on, this helps to keep my focus, if I know what needs doing in each area it makes it more difficult to lose focus and get distracted.

One important area you must plan is breaks; these help to identify how well you are doing, but also time to look back at the work you have done, ensuring that important areas haven’t been missed. You need the motivation to get up and start working, there is no time for procrastination if you want to get your house straight and cleaned up after Thanksgiving.

Related article: How To Organize Those Last-Minute Thanksgiving Items

Create Your Clean Up Plan

Don’t be distracted, creating an elaborate plan, and then not have time to actually do the tasks needed. You just need to note down the tasks, on a scrappy piece of paper or something more technical like an electronic to-do system, it doesn’t matter what you use as long as it is right for you and works.

Prioritize the tasks you need to do, create the list knowing, which is the most important area to tackle and leave the easiest until last. This will help you push forward to the end because you know you have the easiest task to do.

If there are others who are helping with the clean up, divide the tasks and conquer them individually. Make sure it is a fair share of labour, get people to pick their favourite areas to clean; it can help to avoid cleaning a dreaded area.

If there are larger cleaning tasks that are going to take more time and planning, schedule the planning session when you can move ahead with this task. It might be an oven cleaning session or three, which you need to find time for or a carpet cleaning session where you need more time to prepare. Find out how to deep clean your carpets here!

Book a five-minute session in your day planner for a day or so in the future and note that you need to schedule in these tasks, look at your commitments and work out your best time to tackle these longer, more in-depth cleaning sessions, today is just about getting your house clean and feeling like home again.

Some suggestion of clean up tasks:

• Vacuuming the floors: this might not seem like much, but I hate to see dirty floors, it is one of my pet hates, it drives me nuts! I recently got a new vacuum, I moved to a Shark vacuum and I have to say it is awesome.
• Putting out any rubbish: this is something I always seem to forget to do until I can’t put more into the bin! I wish I could tackle this more effectively!
• Dusting: don’t you just hate how quickly dust can build up on surfaces and make it look like you live in a house that seems to create dust? I do have more dust, but we have an open fire so when that gets cleaned out every morning it does tend to make the room have that dusty layer, but it is no problem to quickly wipe that away.
• Putting away any decorations that you don’t want left out. Some things that are OK with staying out and others you want changed out, this is fine, but know what needs doing and what is staying out in advance.
• Cleaning the bathroom: this is an area that I am paranoid about, I clean the toilet daily, a quick clean should just be needed here as you probably did a deep clean before Thanksgiving, after all, it is just about getting your house back as your home and not a spring-cleaning session.
• If you had guests to stay there will be beds to strip and washed, the sooner you tackle this the easier it is to feel like home again.
• Washing dishes: why is there always washing up that needs doing, it is something that has driven me mad for years, but when it is clean and tidy it does help to bring the whole house together.
• Sorting out any leftover food and adding this into the weekly menu so as it doesn’t go to waste.
• Catching up with laundry.

If there are loads to clean, I love setting a timer and just getting stuck in with the task in hand. The timer spurs me on to push my limits and to see how quickly I can tackle a project and get something ticked off the list!

It is overwhelming, I get that and it is hard to see a massive cleaning list to get your home clean. Once the list’s written and I know where to start I do like to forget about all those other areas that need cleaning and just focus on the task in hand. Not only does this mean I don’t get distracted and feeling of not being able to tackle all the tasks, it also means I don’t get distracted and forget what I’m supposed to do at that time.

Therefore, if you are looking to clean up after Thanksgiving and get your house back into your home, then it is time to start. Plan what needs doing, who is helping and doing what tasks first. Set a timer and don’t forget those breaks. It is easy to put off a task and not take back control, but the sooner you tackle the task the quicker your house feels like your home again.

If you are looking for more articles on this topic head over to the landing page where you will fond links to other posts on cleaning.

What’s your best Thanksgiving cleaning tip?