As moms, we all know how hard it can be to find the motivation to keep our home clean and organized. Some days, we are lucky if we manage to get dressed, let alone clean our house! It takes a lot of energy, time, and effort to do the tasks that are necessary to maintain a healthy and comfortable environment for our families. But it is possible to stay motivated! Here are some tips on how to get motivated to clean your home.
Ask yourself this, would you prefer to live in a messy house or a clean house?
In order for you to find your cleaning inspiration, there has to be a reason why you want to get motivated to clean.
It can be as simple as you getting tired of seeing piles of mail sitting on the dining table, or being embarrassed every time the door bell rings, or you feeling stressed whenever you walk into your home.
Whatever your reason is, find your why, and that will help your cleaning motivation!
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to cleaning your entire house. The mess piles up and the thought of where to begin the cleaning process can be daunting. But don’t worry, you can get motivated to clean even on the days that seems like an impossible task.
Here are some tips on how to stay motivated and make cleaning a breeze.
*This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.
Why Do I Have Zero Motivation to Clean?
i have no motivation to clean my house!
Have you ever stared at your home, cluttered and in disarray, and thought to yourself “I have zero motivation to clean”? If so, you’re certainly not alone. Everyone experiences cleaning motivation burnout at one point or another.
It’s not really surprising that you are finding it hard to find any cleaning motivation!
You’re a mom! You’re busy feeding, loving on, and playing with your children.
At the end of a long day, you simply don’t feel like cleaning, all you want to do is collapse on the couch!
You’re in no mood to start cleaning your messy home. The thought of a cleaning project sends you over the top, because you have so many other things going on.
It’s important though to understand where this sense of lack of motivation comes from. Is it because you feel disconnected from your home and don’t want to invest energy into it?
Or is it because the task seems too daunting for you to handle? If you can identify why you are having a hard time motivating yourself to clean, then it will make it much easier for you to come up with a plan to tackle the issue head-on.
I’m here to help you find the cleaning motivation you need!
Let me ask you how you would feel if you walked into your home and it wasn’t decluttered!
How nice would it be to sit down in a tidy house at the end of your day.
How would you feel if you weren’t always thinking about “oh I still need to clean”, or “I really should clean _____up”.
Think how much space that would free up in your mind if you weren’t always thinking about how you should clean your house because…….
How Can I Increase My Motivation for Cleaning?
The best way to lose motivation is by thinking you have to clean the whole house in one go!
“Ain’t nobody got time for that!”
What we are trying to do here is clean up the overwhelming mess. It can be hard to get motivated to clean when you have toddlers and babies, and you are just trying to survive!
The first thing you can do is to make cleaning fun. Get the kids excited, put on some music, give them little tasks to do. If you’re excited, they will be.
Here are my best cleaning motivation tips:
11 Ways To Get Motivated To Clean (that actually work!)
#1 Stop Aiming for Perfection
As moms, we put so much pressure on ourselves to keep a clean house, get food on the table, keep up with the laundry, and so many other things to do.
Letting go of this unrealistic goal is important when learning how to get motivated to clean! When you have kids (young or old), you are never going to have a spotless home, and you never should.
Family is messy, so relax and have fun.
I am going to help you to have less of a messy house, you’re never going to have a clean house, we just want it to less of an overwhelming mess!
#2 Put a Rush On It?
If there is something in it for me, I will go gangbusters cleaning around my house, knowing there is an end goal.
So maybe you decide to invite your friends over for coffee, or other family members for a get together. Now the pressure is on, and you have to clean your house before anyone comes around.
So come up with your goal, and pick a time. Maybe give yourself a week to clean up things before anyone comes around. Don’t put a time frame of a month on it, that’s just too far away, it makes it too easy for you to put cleaning off. Whatever your reason is, the cleaning motivation will come.
#3 Get Started
Sometimes you just have to get up and start cleaning. As moms, we tend to put things off because we are feeling overwhelmed, and because there is so much mess.
Don’t think about it like that, think about how much cleaner your home and use that as your cleaning inspiration. If you’re waiting until you are motivated to clean – that’s never going to happen.
Believe me, I’ve tried lol.
So take a deep breath and let’s get started towards our goal of a tidy home.
Motivation for Cleaning
#4 Make it Fun!
I like to put on some upbeat music or listen to a podcast when I am cleaning, it helps me to get motivated to clean. If there’s silence in the house, I’m focused on cleaning, if there’s music, I’m listening to that. Music is a great motivator.
At Christmas, I received a diffuser from the kids and I am obsessed with it. It makes the entire house smell good. This may help to give you the motivation to clean. I like tp put mine on first thing in the morning, and I like to put it on when I am cleaning.
If its easier, let the kids watch a movie and take that time to run around and clean on your own.
#5 Get Help
There is no reason why your husband can’t help you with some cleaning tasks, or you can get the whole family involved, or enlist a family member like your sister to come over and help. If you know a friend who is really good at organization, maybe have them come and give you some tips.
When it comes to your husband, the most important thing when getting your husband to help with the cleaning is communication. Talk openly about the tasks that need to be done around the house and make sure everyone knows what their responsibilities are.
This may be as simple as one of you dusting while the other one vacuums. Or he folds the clothes in the dryer while you get dinner on the table. Cleaning can feel less overwhelming when you have a partner to share the mess with.
If he’s not sure how to do something, show him or offer tips; this will help him be successful in his efforts.
Make it more fun, by setting a timer and seeing who gets done first. Cleaning becomes much easier when you make it a game!
#6 Always Have Your Cleaning Products on Hand
There’s nothing worse than having finally deciding to clean your house and finding you don’t have the cleaning product you need. I always like to have a cleaning caddy with everything I need to keep a clean home.
I also like to use cleaning products and tools that make my life easier. I love my iRobot Roomba, If I don’t have time to do a big vacuum, I will send Rover (my robot) off to do my job. I pick everything off the floor and off it goes. I use this in my living space, bedrooms, kitchen. If you have toddlers running around, or a crawling baby, this wouldn’t work, but you could put it in a room nobody is.
#7 Reward Yourself
You see how well rewards work with your kids, I think its important mom gets a small reward when she’s finished. This could be a long, hot bath, or watching your favorite tv show, or enjoying a glass of wine on your own.
Whatever it is, it’s important that you have something to look forward to as this will help you find your cleaning motivation, otherwise you will end up feeling unmotivated and give up!
#8 Keep it Short
One great way of getting past this feeling of unmotivated paralysis is by breaking down larger tasks into smaller ones. For example, if you look around your house and feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do, break down each task into small chunks that seem more manageable.
Make a list of all the things that need doing and divide them up into smaller tasks – for instance, instead of “clean kitchen” as an item on your list, divide it up further into “wipe countertops” and “mop floors” so that each task feels less daunting when taken individually. That way, when you start tackling the items on your list one by one, they won’t seem quite so overwhelming anymore!
When you are trying to find the motivation to clean, and you already feel like avoiding chores, the worst thing you can do is take on a big mess. Instead, focus on smaller tasks that will only take a few minutes. A small task like packing the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or filling the washing machine up with dirty clothes.
Start small, and you will have a clutter free home in no time. Emptying the trash in the bathroom is a quick win.
#9 Make a To Do List
One way to stay on top of your daily duties is by creating a to do list. A well-crafted list helps prioritize what needs to be done to help you keep a clean home. But again, you want to break down bigger tasks into smaller tasks. Don’t write clean living space, clean bedroom or that will demotivate you before you even get started!
Your to-do list should look like this:
- Wipe down the kitchen table and kitchen counter
- Sweep the floors clean
- Pick toys up off the living room floor
- Wipe the bathroom counters
- Empty the dishwasher
Set a time for 15/30 minutes and get your floor clean or remove the dust bunnies from the hallway. Doing just one task a day can help to clean your house clean.
#10 Get Motivated By Doing This!
We get so focused on the big tasks that we forget the smaller tasks. Take a look around at what you did today. Maybe you only managed to get one task done, that’s still one task you completed. As a mom, when you complete one task you need to congratulate yourself!
When I had two kids under the age of three, I would congratulate myself for getting dressed, because it was a big deal!
Cleaning your home when you have kids is hard, so it’s important that you pay yourself on the back when you get motivated to clean!
so as you start to put together a cleaning routine that works for you, tell yourself how amazing you are for getting it done!
#11 Stick to the Time Allocated!
I used to do this and I would end up feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
If you set a timer for 30 minutes and your task is not done, don’t continue on. Now, if all you need is another 5 minutes to finish, go for it.
But, if you still have a lot to do, walk away and finish it the next day if you can. It’s important for your future motivation to clean that you stick to the time you allocated for that day.
So if you could only fit 5 minutes in your day to clean something, that’s fine.
Stick to the 5 minute timer and congratulate yourself for accomplishing something.
If you push yourself to do more, you will demotivate yourself and put too much pressure on yourself.
My Bonus Tip
If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I will always recommend that you start small with simple tasks. However, if there is one task that is a giant pain, and you know you will feel better when its done. Let’s get it done.
This might be tacking an overwhelming mess like the toy room that needs to be tidied, or the outdoor porch that is covered in spider webs. If you feel that these chores will help you to feel less overwhelmed, than schedule a time in your cleaning routine where you can fit them in.
Remember, it’s okay if these cleaning tasks take longer than a couple of days to complete.
How to Get Motivated to Clean
I know it can feel overwhelming when you look around your house and there seems to be a mess everywhere. Most of us have messy homes, that’s just life!
You’re never going to get every toy off the floor, you have little ones running behind you dropping toys just because.
So your idea of the perfect home isn’t going to happen, but you can have a nice, clean home that doesn’t stress you out. A home where you walk in the door and it feels like home.
I hope all my above tips will show you how to get motivated to clean your home.
Remember, start small, do a little something every day and make it fun, put on some good music and have sone fun, and always make sure to enjoy your reward – whatever that is, you deserve it!
Finding motivation for cleaning can be tough, but with a little bit of effort and patience, it is possible! Start small and focus on organized spaces; this will make tackling larger tasks less daunting in the long-run. Finally, don’t forget to reward yourself for all your hard work, and remember to make sure you are taking breaks. Don’t go from cleaning a room straight into making dinner, make sure to take a break first!
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