Becoming tidy.. how long do you spend on housework a day?

[Hakunamatata91]

I'm chronically messy - tidying just doesn't seem to come naturally to me and I keep letting things get a complete mess before having a massive tidy when someone is coming over. I would really like to start keeping things consistently tidy so I can also enjoy a tidy home when there aren't people over. I'm thinking of starting to just do a certain amount of housework a day, but was wondering how much I should aim for? I'd like to keep the place reasonably clean and tidy but it doesn't need to be spotless. Smallish property. Any tips from anyone else who has managed to turn themselves from a messy person to a tidy one also very welcome!

I started listening to a slob comes clean podcast. It was really helpful as I felt I could spend all day cleaning and still live in a pigsty. Even though I don't properly follow it properly I've taken some really helpful tips.

The tips I've taken from her is always start with visual mess. So walk into a room and what would you notice first. That way when you finish cleaning it visually looks tidier rather than pulling out random cupboards and the your tired and the place looks the same or worse.

5minute timers make a great difference and feel do able when lacking motivation.

That cleaning isn't a project so you are not aiming to be 'done' (like all the times I did major cleans, felt well chuffed with myself then end up in the same situation a week later 🙄)

I also set each area of the house half an hour a day (except weekends). If I stay on top of it it gets a bit better each week (and actually pretty amazing looking!) if I fall behind I've only got a week to catch up on rather than weeks or months if I neglected it before. It also means no area is neglected for more than a week which really helps to keep on top of things.

I found Clutterbug on youtube really helpful. Lots of tips on determining what kinds of storage solutions suit your organizing style and also how to effectively declutter. I've definitely become more organized since I started implementing her advice, I just need to get my DP on board now!

We are very messy and then have to spend most of Saturday cleaning and tidying. As we had been busy all summer by last weekend the house was trashed and it took all weekend to have a good sort out. I was so fed up that this week we have kept it nice by making sure things are sorted every evening.

All washing folded and out away, each room tidied and kitchen floors swept , white kitchen cupboards spot cleaned,, with a mid week go over of all downstairs floors. Its going well so far, in theory that means on a Saturday we just need to clean bathroom, wash floors, hoover and change bed sheets. I hope we can stick to it!