Cleaning Everything in 30 Minutes
Clean your bathroom. Clear everything off of your sink, toilet and the ledge of your bathtub. Spray these areas down with your cleaning product of choice and then give each area a quick scrub. Return everything you moved back to your sink, toilet, and tub. Grab any dirty linens and throw them directly in the washing machine or laundry hamper. Scrubbing Bubbles is a great all-purpose product for bathroom cleaning. Allocate ten minutes to clean your bathroom. If you have time, wipe down the bathroom mirrors as well.
Clean your bedroom. Concentrate on making your bed; once your bed is made, your whole room will look far tidier. Pick up loose clothes and shoes and return them to their rightful places. If you have dirty dishes lying around, return those to the kitchen. Allocate five minutes to clean your bedroom. Save time off your bed making by leaving the flat sheet untucked - hospital corners take a long time to construct and your comforter will cover them anyway, Open windows as you go to eliminate odors and get a nice cross-breeze going.
Straighten out your living room. Rearrange your couch cushions and throw blankets. Consolidate any remote controls to one area and straighten up loose magazines and books. If there are any dirty dishes or loose pieces of clothing, return them to the kitchen and bedroom respectively. Tuck a trash bag into your pants so you don’t have to keep running between the room you’re cleaning and the garbage. Allocate five minutes to clean the living room.
Do your dishes. The most obvious sign of a messy kitchen is a pile of dirty dishes. If you have a dishwasher, load it immediately. If not, pile all the dishes into the sink and let the hot water run. While the water runs, wipe down all the surfaces in the kitchen using a rag and some disinfectant. When your surfaces are wiped, wash the dishes and load them into the drying rack. Allocate ten minutes to clean your kitchen. Empty the trash you’ve been carrying around from the living room into your kitchen trash can. If your pots and pans are scorched through, fill the pans with water and a cup of vinegar, then allow them to simmer on the stove. Remove the pan from the stove, add two tablespoons of baking soda, then scrub the pans till they’re clean. If your backsplash is covered in oil from cooking, use a damp paper towel with some soap to cut through the grease.
Managing and Motivating Yourself During Chores
Set time limits. If you have more than one chore to accomplish within 30 minutes, you need to be conscious of how long it takes to complete each chore. If you have six chores to do in that time, find six songs lasting five minutes each and make a playlist. Play the playlist while you work and as soon as the song changes, switch tasks. Make sure you’ve completed each task to the best of your ability before moving onto the next one. If you have fewer chores, choose longer songs or set a timer for the amount of time it takes to do each chore. Use fun as motivation. If your favorite TV show comes on at a certain time, start your chores thirty minutes before that time. That way, you’ll be motivated to finish your chores within those thirty minutes in order to catch your show.
Swap chores with a sibling. Doing the same tasks over and over can be boring, so switching up your routine keeps things fresh. Ask your sibling if you can trade chores for the week; if they usually empty the dishwasher, ask if you can swap your laundry chore for that task. However you want to mix it up, switching chores will make the work more challenging and interesting. If you’re going to trade chores, make sure you both hold up your end of the bargain. The work still needs to get done. If you’re spending time cleaning their room, be respectful of their property. If you betray their trust, they may not want to trade chores again.
Turn chores into a game. Just because you have work to do doesn’t mean you can’t make the work fun. Turn your chores into a race with your siblings or parents to see who can get their work done the fastest. Turn on some music and have a dance party while you work. Whatever it takes to make your chores more enjoyable, do that. You can’t win the game if your work is done sloppily, so make sure to be thorough. Ask your parents to help you find a phone app that tracks and rewards chore performance. Check out Chore Wars, which gives you experience points for completing household tasks.
Creating a 30 Minute a Day Cleaning Schedule
Do your toughest chores on Monday. Monday is the first day of the week, so your productivity and energy are at an all-time high. Use your thirty minutes on Monday to vacuum the main rooms (living room, kitchen, dining room, etc.), do laundry and pick up anything in a room that doesn’t belong there. To save time, throw laundry directly in the washing machine, instead of in the hamper. Leave the machine running as you do other things. As you start to vacuum each week, the length of time it will take to complete this chore will decrease. Soon, you’ll be deep cleaning less and maintaining your clean more.
Clean your bathrooms on Tuesday. A bathroom deep-clean includes scrubbing your toilet, mirrors, sink, and shower. You’ll also need to mop the floors, remove any debris that is lying around and change out any old towels or linens that are lying around. To save even more time, leave cleaning product and a rag in your shower and clean your shower as you use it. For bonus points, spray your shower down after every use. This will make your weekly bathroom cleaning sessions go by much faster. Cut a grapefruit in half, sprinkle salt on it, and use it to help get soap scum out of your bathtub.
Use Wednesday to clean all surfaces. Start by dusting everything, then wipe down all tables, windows, mirrors, etc. End by thoroughly vacuuming everything you didn’t already vacuum on Monday. If your floors need to be mopped, mop them after vacuuming. Always start with dusting; otherwise, you’ll get dust on your newly cleaned floors. If you’re mopping, mix a floor cleaning product (like Pine Sol) in with your mop water for the ultimate shine on your floors. Use an already used dryer sheet to dust. The anti-static will help repel dust.
Tidy up on Thursdays. Whatever is left lying around by Thursday needs to be organized and put away. If your house is pretty clean at this point in the week, use this day to focus in on a particular area, like an overflowing closet or messy cupboard. Don’t be afraid to get rid of stuff you don’t use. Donate it to charity or throw it out, but if you’re not using it, it’s got to go. Strategically place bins or baskets in each room to corral random items. This will make each room look cleaner and more polished, and will also help you cut down on the time you spend cleaning up.
Cleaning Tips and Tricks
Clean as you go. The more you get in the habit of cleaning each mess as you make it, the less the messes will pile up. If you make dinner, wash the dishes as you cook. If there are clothes all over your bedroom floor, pick them up before going to bed. If you allow a mess to pile up and sit, it will look much more intimidating than if you take care of it early and often. Never leave a room empty-handed. If you see something that doesn’t belong, take it with you. If your house has two floors, make a rule that you never go upstairs empty-handed; always bring something with you that needs to be put away upstairs. Institute the one-minute rule: if something takes less a minute to do, do it right now.
Clean your microwave in five minutes. Cut two lemons in half and place them in a glass dish with some water. Microwave the water until it starts to boil, then allow the bowl to cool in the microwave for a moment. The steam from the bowl should allow you to easily wipe away the mess in your microwave. Allow the water to boil while you wipe down your counters and appliances for a five-minute kitchen clean. Keep an eye on the water in the bowl to make sure it doesn’t boil over. Otherwise, it will take you twice as long to clean up.
Set a timer. The key to getting everything done within your thirty-minute timeframe is to stay focused. For the thirty minutes your timer is on, you only do the chores and tasks you have assigned. Do not allow yourself to get distracted by e-mails, texts or anything else. Work as hard as you can for the thirty minutes allotted, and when your time is up, move on to something else. Reward yourself with a treat or fun activity for completing your work. Invite friends over to help (but keep in mind, you may end up having to help with their chores as well.)
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