How to Get Motivated When You Don’t Feel Like Cleaning

Don’t feel motivated to clean? Here are four ways to motivate yourself to clean, so you can maintain a tidy home and keep your house ready for guests!
Don't feel motivated to clean? Here are 4 ways to motivate yourself to clean, so you can maintain a tidy home and keep things ready for guests! Click through to find out exactly what they are! #CleaningTips #Homemaking

I don’t loathe cleaning, but sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it. 

Actually, a lot of times.

I’d much prefer to bake something or declutter anything.

On the other hand, I really love a clean home. While for some people messy means comfortable, for me clean is cozy. Over the last 5+ years of keeping my own home, I’ve found four things that are particularly effective for motivating me to clean. 

There’s a chance these won’t work for your personality type, and at the end of the day you’ll be just as unmotivated to scrub your tub. The risk is pretty small, though, and the potential payoff is tidy home you actually enjoyed cleaning!

How to Motivate Yourself to Clean:

1. Make one cleaning project part of your morning routine

The best way to ensure you clean something is to do it as soon as possible during the day. Grab 20 minutes before the house wakes up or immediately after breakfast to clean the bathroom, sweep the porch, or scrub out the kitchen sink–whatever is on your list for that day. Knocking out your cleaning first thing also makes you feel really productive, which is an awesome feeling to take with you into mid-morning.

2. Don’t clean alone

If you have a family, they should be helping with some portion of the cleaning. I’ve found that cleaning becomes a lot more fun (and we actually go “overtime”) when my husband and I clean together. We don’t work on the same task at once, but we divide and conquer what needs to be done, and have a good soundtrack playing to spur us on to victory.

3. Plan a reward in proportion to your cleaning project

Anticipating a treat to enjoy when you’re done cleaning is a good motivator! The more or longer you clean, the bigger or longer the reward. If you do a quick, 20-minute cleaning project, promise yourself just 5 minutes to fix a snack afterwards. If you clean for an hour or two, enjoy 20-30 minutes of downtime afterwards to read on the porch. If you engage in an all-day workday with your family, go out to eat afterwards or make sure the whole evening is relaxing and includes pizza.

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4. Use cleaning products you specifically like

For a long time, I underestimated the importance of this. I think the smell of conventional cleaning products makes a lot of people hate cleaning. Usually when companies try to compensate for their chemical-laden cocktails by adding “fragrance” it just makes it even worse. You might enjoy cleaning more if you engage your senses in a positive way; make or buy a few multi-use cleaners that are naturally scented and won’t sting your eyes and skin! Find some scents you really enjoy and can actually look forward to using.

I recently added a few Caldrea products to my modest collection of natural cleaning supplies. They contain essential oils and other ingredients I’m happy with. While I love that basics like vinegar and baking soda are cheap, sometimes it’s fun to have something a little fancier, especially if you can get them for a good price. 

You can also easily mix up your own cleaning recipes using essential oil scents you love.

I hope these tips will make cleaning more of a joy for you! Just remember, you are cultivating the environment of your home when you clean, making it a pleasant place where people (including you) will want to spend time!

How to Get Motivated When You Don't Feel Like Cleaning

[question]How do you motivate yourself to clean? [/question]

4 Comments

  1. Awesome tips! I know it’s a lot easier for me to get started cleaning when I have a little help and can divide the work evenly. Nice work!

  2. When my little boys (2 & 3) take a bath, I clean the rest of the bathroom. We use Shaklee for everything but their cleaning products are perfection. They are all natural, non toxic (no fumes!) and they work.

    Before I go to bed I do dishes, a load of laundry and meal prep for the next day’s dinner. If I can get those things done it makes it easier for me to move on to bigger tasks. Plus, my house looks ok if we ever have guests.

  3. Sometimes Cleaning alone bored you a lot.So try to clean house with you partner & have some fun also. I always buy my favorite cleaning products to make cleaning action interesting.Thanks for sharing,keep it up!

  4. Cleaning becomes a much interesting task if we have all the products we like.Others tips are useful too.Great post man,Keep it up!

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