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When life is busy (and when isn’t it?), how do you motivate yourself to clean? How do you find the time and energy to keep your house in order when you work full-time and have a busy evening calendar filled with practices, games, appointments and homework?

I have learned over time that by keeping my house clean I feel healthier, happier and less anxious. For me, keeping up on the housework is not nearly as exhausting as living in a messy home.

When your house is messy, everything takes more energy. Finding shoes, matching socks, looking for pants that are still in a pile on the floor next to the laundry that wasn’t washed, searching for misplaced homework…you see where I’m going with this?

A messy and cluttered house leads to a feeling of anxiousness and of being overwhelmed. Keeping a clean house is important for both emotional and physical health. Knowing that is often enough to get me cleaning. But sometimes I need a bit more, actually, a lot more.

Below are some of the ways that I motivate myself to clean when I don’t know where I’m going to find the energy or the desire to do it.

Look Around

How do you feel when you look around your house? Do you feel anxious? Worried? Close your eyes and envision your house after the cleaning is done. Imagine how it’ll make you feel when there aren’t any dirty dishes in the sink or piles of laundry on the floor.

When I do this exercise, I often think of Mary Poppins. Oh how I wish I could wriggle my nose or point to something and make it move!! If only. Since I know I’ll never have the magical powers of Mary Poppins, I get up and start moving things myself.

Create a Plan

Before you start cleaning, create a plan to follow. What areas do you want to clean first? Which areas require some organization and/or decluttering before you begin?

Do you like to check things off a list when you’re done? Download a free checklist. Check-out my posts below on spring cleaning, weekly cleaning and quick cleaning. Each of them has a checklist you can download for free.

Ultimate Spring Cleaning Guide (How to deep clean your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, foyer, living & dining room)

Weekly Cleaning Schedule for Working Moms

How to Quickly Clean your House

Listen to Music

Listening to music helps to make the time you spend cleaning go by quicker. Turn up your favorite tunes and get lost in the lyrics. Before you know it, you’ll be done with that chore you dreaded the most.

Plan to Have Guests

What?! When you plan to have guests, you will not only get your cleaning done in time, you will also do it well. You’ll be less inclined to skip a few steps if you know people are coming over.

Now I know your guests aren’t going to judge the cleanliness of your home. They will enjoy being with you regardless of how shiny your floors are. The point is to clean as if it does matter.

When we go the extra mile to make our homes feel warm and inviting, we are sending a message to our guests that they are special. It’s a message that says that they are worth the time and effort it took to make the house look and feel amazing.

Start Small

What is one task that can be completed quickly and easily? Do that as motivation to keep you going. One small accomplishment followed by another will eventually add up to a clean house.

Also, by focusing on smaller tasks you’ll be able to clean in bursts rather than all at once. With a busy family schedule, this method is ideal.

Need some suggestions on what small tasks to get started on? Read my post on Fifty 10-Minute Cleaning Tasks.

Try New Cleaning Products

Try cleaning with something new to motivate yourself to clean. Now that I order cleaning and household products from Grove Collaborative, I look forward to trying out new products. Receiving my box from Grove in the mail always gives me the motivation to clean.

Right now, when you order $20 or more from Grove you’ll receive Mrs. Meyer’s Fall gift set for FREE! Click here for details and to check-out all of the other amazing products for you and your home.