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Paralyzed with overwhelm over your messy house? Check out this simple, ingenious plan to start getting your house clean today, with zero overwhelm and zero guilt!
It’s the worst kind of catch-22.
You’re so stressed over it, and the fact that you’ve let it go this long without taking action. At the same time, your head spins when you think about the sheer volume of things that need to be done. You’re so paralyzed with overwhelm and guilt over your messy house, you don’t now how to start making it… NOT messy.
Overwhelm and Guilt Over a Messy Home
When it comes to household management, few things are worse than the guilt of knowing you need to clean, pitted against the paralyzing overwhelm of having SO MUCH cleaning to do. It can increase your stress and cause you to shut down, vegging on Netflix instead of getting things done at home.
Why a Messy House is Overwhelming
The paradox of knowing you need to clean your house but feeling paralyzed with overwhelm is such a sad, frustrating place to be. You might feel helpless, confused, even angry with yourself. But where does that feeling of overwhelm come from?
A messy house feels overwhelming because it feels like there’s so much to do. Saying you need to clean your entire messy house adds hundreds of tasks to your to-do list in an instant. Wow, that’s overwhelming! Your head spins when you think of all you need to do to get your house clean. It sounds and feels really difficult to achieve.
A Path Forward From Guilt and Overwhelm
What if you could make that overwhelm go away? What if you could replace that bewilderment of -Where do I start cleaning?- with confidence in a solid plan that will help you get the clean home you crave? What if you could drop the guilt of knowing you should clean, and replace it with a feeling of accomplishment by taking action every day to keep your house clean?
It is TOTALLY possible, my friend. Today, I’m going to give you a super simple system for how to keep your house clean when you’re overwhelmed. I’ll show you where to start cleaning your house when it’s messy, and guess what? It’s not going to be overwhelming at all.
Want my detailed, printable guide to the no-nonsense cleaning system I lay out for you in this post? Join my email list and grab your free copy of my 10-Minute No-Fail Cleaning Game Plan For Working Women!
How to Keep Your House Clean When You’re Overwhelmed
I think you’re going to love this system, because it’s really simple. Ridiculously simple, in fact. However, we put so much pressure on ourselves to get everything clean RIGHT NOW that this kind of simple cleaning routine doesn’t even occur to us. This method for how to get your house clean will drop your overwhelm to zero and have you cleaning with confidence in minutes.
Start With Grace
Before we start talking about the cleaning routine in earnest, there’s a little pre-work to do. It’s not hard, I promise.
Your pre-work? Be kind to yourself. Start with a gift of grace to you, from you. Forgive yourself for not taking action to get your house clean sooner. Promise yourself that you’ll do your best going forward, and that doing your best will be enough.
This might seem silly or weird, but it’s incredibly important. Self-criticism, guilt, and holding yourself to unrealistic standards are a 1-way track to get back on the messy house bus.
Giving yourself grace, compassion, and encouragement? That positive reinforcement, along with a healthy cleaning mindset, will keep you going strong on those days when your overwhelm starts to creep back up. So sign up to be your own biggest cheerleader, and let’s get your house lean!
Remember to claim your copy of the cleaning plan I’m about to show you! Join my email list and grab your free copy of my 10-Minute No-Fail Cleaning Game Plan For Working Women so you can follow along with a done-for-you, no-overwhelm cleaning schedule!
Step 1: Set a Timer For 10 Minutes
How do you like the sound of only having to clean for 10 minutes?
If you’re trying to figure out how to keep your house clean when you’re overwhelmed, setting a timer is the perfect solution. You get 10 minutes to be productive (you can get a LOT of cleaning done in 10 minutes!), and you get to stop cleaning as soon as the timer goes off. No guilt, no questions asked.
Of course, if you WANT to continue cleaning after the 10 minutes are up, you can. But, you have permission to stop cleaning after 10.
Step 2: Work on Cleaning a Specific Area of Your Home
What should you do with those 10 minutes of cleaning time?
The most efficient way to spend your 10-minute cleaning session is to focus on a few targeted tasks in the same area of your home.
For example, let’s say you start with your master bathroom. If it’s really messy and you only have time to clean the sink and toilet before the 10 minutes are up, that’s okay. Actually, that’s awesome!! And you know what? We’ll build on that progress later.
So, you should do as much thorough cleaning as you can in 1 room of your home during your 10-minute cleaning session. Once the 10 minutes are up, you’re done cleaning for the day.
Step 3: Spend 10 Minutes Each Day Cleaning a Different Area of Your Home For a Week
Are you sensing a pattern here? That’s right, you’ll spend just 10 minutes each day cleaning a specific area of your home. This simple daily get your entire house cleaner gradually. In addition to cleaning rooms, like the kitchen and bathrooms, you might want to consider doing specific tasks on specific days, such as dusting or cleaning floors/vacuuming.
This is the perfect solution to the question of how to keep your house clean when you’re overwhelmed, because you’ll see results without getting stressed about all the cleaning you think you need to do. After a week, your house will look much cleaner. It might not be perfect, but we’re going to get it there!
Step 4: Rotate Back Through the Areas You Cleaned For a Second Week
Once you’ve made it through week 1 of cleaning your house for just 10 minutes a day, you should rotate back through and clean the same areas for a second week. You’ll still be cleaning for just 10 minutes a day, but you’ll be able to build on last week’s progress.
For example, let’s say you go back at the beginning of week 2 to clean the bathroom again. You spent 10 minutes cleaning the sink and toilet last week, so they’re probably still fairly clean. As a result, it might only take you 4 or 5 minutes to clean both this time. You can spend the other 5 or 6 minutes cleaning the tub/shower. See how 10 minutes a day can help you keep your house clean when you’re overwhelmed?
Step 5: Continue Cleaning For 10 Minutes Each Day, Permanently
After a few weeks, you’ll get your house up to speed. You’ll be able to completely clean most rooms – or completely finish most specific tasks – within your daily 10-minute allotment. From here on out, you STILL have permission to stop cleaning after 10 minutes!
How to Keep Your House Clean When You’re Overwhelmed: Conclusion
I said earlier that this is a super simple system, and it really is. Whether you work full-time, or you’re otherwise busy or short on time, you do have the power to keep your house clean. To recap, here’s a quick rundown of my simple, 10-minute cleaning system:
- Set a timer for 10 minutes
- Clean 1 area of your house (such as the kitchen or bathroom) or work on 1 task (such as dusting or vacuuming) until the timer goes off
- Clean a different area of your house or focus on a different task each day for a week
- Cycle back through the same areas/tasks the next week to build on last week’s progress
- Continue this 10-minute cleaning habit as a permanent routine going forward to keep your house clean
Did you sign up to claim your free printable copy of the cleaning plan above? Join my email list and grab your free copy of my 10-Minute No-Fail Cleaning Game Plan For Working Women and get a done-for-you, no-overwhelm 10-minute cleaning schedule!