Cleaning when You Don’t Have the Time

If you are having a busy day, week, or if life in general seems to be filled with endless things to do, finding time to clean your home can seem almost impossible. You’re heart may be to clean your house and have it all in order but often times other things steal that time away from you. After all you are a homemaker, you have a lot of roles to play and not everything can have the same amount of time and attention. Sometimes you need to dedicate more time to cooking or canning, leaving almost no time for cleaning. Or perhaps you do have kids and they may need your time more than cleaning does. This can lead to our housework falling behind, and the more it falls behind the more overwhelming it can become.

I know that when I’m falling behind in housework or there is too much going on in my life, I have a hard time trying to think of things I can do, that doesn’t take a lot of time, to stay ahead in my cleaning. That is why I compiled this Quick Cleaning Checklist that you can pick and choose from to help you stay ahead of some of your housework. Each of these chores takes little time to complete on their own so you can choose what to do now and what to do later. That way, even on your busiest days, you can still get a little cleaning done; preventing you from falling too far behind. It’s amazing how cleaning a few things in your home can make a big difference in the home’s atmosphere and in ourselves as well.

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Here is my Quick Cleaning Checklist:

I often struggle with perfectionism and I find myself putting off cleaning an area if I don’t have the time to clean the whole thing. If I can’t do it “perfectly” or what I consider to be complete then I just won’t do it. What I’ve had to learn is to allow some things to be “good enough” for the time being. This list is focused on doing what you can when you can do it, even if it’s not a whole room. Remember, you’re still making progress doing a little at a time.

• Clean Toilets and Wipe Down Bathroom Sinks. If you don’t have time to clean the whole bathroom, just these two things can make your bathroom look and feel a lot cleaner.

• Make the Bed. If you have kids and they’re old enough, this is a great chore they can help with! It only take few minutes and I love to come into my room at night to a nice, made bed; it’s so welcoming!
• Sweep or Vacuum. I may be a tad crazy but have you ever walked into a room and it felt clean? This is one of those things I do that makes a room feel clean to me. It takes very little time and even if the room is still a bit messy, it still feels clean.
• A 15-Minute Pick up. Setting a timer can help you focus and it’s nice to know that you don’t have to keep working once the timer goes off. If I’m struggling to get things done I’ll set a 15-minute timer and spend no more than that in each of our downstairs rooms. I often find that it takes me less time to pick up a room than 15 minutes. You can also set a 15-minute timer for your whole house, whatever works for you. Doing this in the evenings is a great way to get everyone involved in picking up clutter before going to bed, so you can wake up to a clean house in the morning.
• Choose one Surface you can De-clutter. It’s funny how flat surfaces can become a catch-all. You may not have the time to clean off all of the tables, night stands, and counter tops today, but if you pick one to do now, that’s progress!

• Dishes. This is something that must be done in my house everyday, no matter what. If it’s the only thing I get done, it was still a productive day for me. Having the dishes clean allows me to have space to make dinner and it looks nice when I walk into my home and there’s not a pile of dishes staring at me. I understand that this may not be quick for everyone, depending on how many dishes you have and if you have to wash them by hand or not, but if you have a few minutes now, you can do a few dishes then finish the rest later. When I’m hand washing dishes I like to do them in sections: All of the glasses and mugs, then all of the plates, then all of the bowls and so on. If you can knock out a few of those sections while waiting for your coffee to brew, you’ll have less to do later and the amount won’t be as intimidating.

“It’s amazing how cleaning a few things in your home can make a big difference in the home’s atmosphere and in ourselves as well.”

• Clean the Mirrors. This is something that I often overlook while doing my daily chores but it still need to be done! I only have a few mirrors in my home, so wiping them down real quick takes no time at all. I’m always surprised with how dirty they can be, and seeing them shine again is very satisfying.
• A Quick Dusting. This is another thing I overlook but it’s also something that can change how a room feels to me. Just like #3, dusting can make a room feel clean to me, so if there’s still a mess but the rooms dust-free, it feels better and I can save that mess for later. You don’t have to move things around and polish the furniture every-time, just take a few minute to run over the room with your favorite duster.

• Take out the Trash, and Wipe Down the Trash Can. We take out the trash every few days but I don’t always remember to wipe down the trash can. After my husband took out the trash this morning on his way to work, I put a new bag in the can and noticed how grody it looked. So I took a few minute to clean it up and looks so much nicer! And don’t forget to gather the trash from other areas of the house, such as the bathroom and bedrooms.
• Clean out the Car. I wasn’t going include this one on the list because it’s not something in the house to clean but it still needs to be done and gets overlooked, especially in the winter. You don’t have to give you car a detailing, but take 10 minutes to take out the trash and bring in the things from the back seat and trunk. You’re future self will thank you! I’m writing this knowing full well that I need to do this to my own car; it’s accumulated quit a bit over the winter, and now that it’s spring, it’s time to clean it out!

Here you can download and print the Quick Cleaning Checklist* to use in your own home!

I’ve also made a Blank Quick Cleaning Checklist* so you can fill it out with your own quick chores to have for a reference on those super busy days and weeks.

*These Printables are for your personal use only, you may share them with friends and family but you may not sell them as your own.*

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Sometimes we just don’t know what to do when life gets in the way and we still want to have a clean house. You may be able to do all 10 of these things on the list and that’s wonderful! Or you may only be able to do 1 or 2 and that’s just as wonderful. The point of this list is to be able to pick and choose what we can do today and leave what we can’t for another time. The goal is to keep moving forward and not get stuck in the “if I can’t do it right, I’m not going to do it at all” rut so many of us can get trapped into.

Please feel free to ask questions and share what it is you like to clean when you don’t have  time.