10 Quick Cleaning Tips To Beat Procrastination
Are you struggling to get your cleaning done? Are you spending more time procrastinating rather than just doing the task that’s required?
Check out these 10 quick cleaning tips to beat procrastination before it even starts.
We need to live in a clean home and the more we tackle the cleaning the less time it takes us because we are constantly tackling the tasks. If you are struggling and need more reasons for cleaning your home then you might need more than these 10 tips.
However, starting with these 10 simple and easy tips will help you to start the process.
Why Do I Procrastinate When It Comes To Cleaning?
There are so many reasons why you might procrastinate when it comes to cleaning your home and you might not even realize it.
- It’s become a habit
- You don’t like to clean
- Cleaning sounds like hard work
- We think of it as a chore
When was the last time you thought positively about the cleaning of your home?
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Tips To Beat Procrastination
When it comes to avoiding cleaning there are some simple things that you can do that might help.
- Set a timer
- Create a checklist
- Start small
- Reward Yourself
- Enlist Help
- Set Realistic Goals
- Use Technology
- Focus on the Benefits
- Establish a Routine
- Embrace Imperfection
We will look at each one of these items and how we can use them to avoid procrastination.
How Do I Stop Procrastinating?
Sometimes it’s really easy to stop procrastinating on a task, you just have to get up and do it. But our minds play tricks on us because we make out these cleaning tasks as hard work and often they are just simple and easy tasks to do.
We put off things that sound like hard work because, after all, we work hard during the day for our jobs why would we want to do that again when we come home?
Check out these 10 simple ideas to help you beat your procrastination for good.
1: Set a Timer
This is perhaps one of the simplest of ideas and it can have the biggest impact.
Setting a timer for 5 minutes and seeing how much you can get done in that time is a great motivator. As long as you do your 5 minutes at that task you can stop, chances are you might do more than you could imagine doing.
2: Create a Checklist
Creating a checklist is one of my favorite things to do. I love ticking off the tasks that I complete, it makes me feel good and I have evidence that I did something.
You can write a list of the tasks you want to do and then cross them off or put a tick next to the item.
You can even use a list in your daily plan, this way you can see how much you have done during the week.
Check out my weekly planner, you can print it out, fill it out on the computer, or write on it on your tablet with PDF software.
3: Start Small
The biggest thing to remember is not to get overwhelmed and think that you have to do it all. If you are struggling, the last thing you want to do is everything.
This is why I always break tasks down into small and manageable chunks because I have an attention span of about 20 minutes max.
If it’s not done in that small time frame, chances are I will get bored and leave the task half-done.
4: Reward Yourself
The most important thing to do is to reward yourself for a task that you have completed. The more you praise yourself for what you have done the more you are more likely to do.
When I talk about rewards the little things matter:
- A coffee break
- 5 minutes on your favorite social media channel
- A walk around the block
- A cuddle with your pet
- Read a few pages of a book (I’m reading this fiction book series at the moment)
It doesn’t have to be a large reward, but there is nothing wrong with these little rewards adding up to something bigger at the end of the week or month.
5: Enlist Help
Knowing that you don’t have to do everything is good too. It took me a long time to accept help from others because I didn’t feel like they did a good enough job.
I realized that I was doing more work and not teaching family members how to do the tasks on their own. It’s a skill they need to learn and I was failing to teach them this skill.
6: Set Realistic Goals
I know it would be nice to have a clean and organized home at all times, but you have to live there too.
When deciding what you want your home to look like don’t think it has to be Instagram-worthy at all times.
The lived-in look is ok too!
7: Use Technology
We are so lucky to have technology directly in our hands and use it for the better. Have a home management folder on your smart devices and use it to ensure that you don’t forget things around your home.
If you have appointments to remember add them to your calendar, it will help you to remember them and to plan them into your day.
8: Focus on the Benefits
Often we focus on the negative side of cleaning, the hard work, the fact that you have to do it every day, and it feels like a chore, all these are valid points but if we reframe how we think about cleaning it can make the process a lot easier.
The benefits of doing the cleaning are:
- You deserve to live in a clean home
- You are company-ready
- It beneficial to your health and your mental health
- It’s good for your family’s health too
These are just a few of the benefits, I’m sure there is more to add to this list.
9: Establish a Routine
Having a routine is good for getting things done within a time frame that you repeat daily. It will help you do the tasks without thinking, like on autopilot.
Doing tasks in a set routine is good for you because you know what to do and when you know that there is a time for that activity it could give you more free time.
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10: Embrace Imperfection
The hardest for me is this one, I struggle to embrace imperfection. But I know that it’s important, everything doesn’t have to be perfect.
You don’t have to spend hours a day cleaning to live in a clean home.
More Ideas For Cleaning Your Home
There is so much information out there that mentions cleaning here are some of my favorites that look at some of the different reasons for avoiding cleaning.
