Help for an inefficient cleaner

[FilthyWitch]

I've never been very good at housework. I only have a small three bed terrace, but I can't seem to keep on top of it at all. I seem to spend half my day keeping it tidy (4 year old twins, I shall say no more 😂) and then there's no time to actually give it a proper clean. It's not filthy by any stretch - but I feel like I can only manage the basics.

I work 9-3 four days per week, my twins are now at school and I thought I'd get so much done on my spare day.

Today I started by doing some meal prep / batch cooking for the week ahead. I then spent over two hours cleaning. I gave everything a wipe down with some antibac spray - took everything off kitchen counters, cleaned the toilets and sinks, dusted the window sills and whizzed the vacuum round. And now it's time to go pick up the children. And my shower still needs a good scrub, there are cobwebs on all the ceilings, the fridge hasn't been cleaned out in months and the inside of the windows could do with a clean. When do people do those extra bits? The kids take up every ounce of energy after 3pm, and weekends we are generally out and about. Next Monday all of the things I did today will need doing again, yet my house doesn't even feel clean now. And I don't even work full time!
Any tips?

I'm a single mum by the way, so no second pair of hands unfortunately.

Do you have a dishwasher? The shelves etc can go in or on a glass wash or the lowest temperature.

Do you have much stuff? How about storage? Try to have a big declutter and be totally ruthless getting rid of stuff. Then make sure you have the right storage for things like shoes, coats and toys. Once you can throw things into toy boxes etc you can tidy really quickly. Makes it so much easier to keep on top of cleaning that way

I use the organized method. It used to be called the organized mum method. Theres a book and an app. There’s a set plan of jobs you do every day (should take less than 15 minutes), then you 30 minutes per day on one area eg bedrooms one day, kitchen another. Friday is a 30-minute deep clean job like the kitchen cupboards or something. The Friday jobs are rotated on the app.

Look up the organised mum method

Get a cordless stick vacuum and buy a soft dusting brush for it, great for cobwebs on ceilings, skirting, shelves.

IKEA kallax and drona for kids toys. If they like to play in the living room, don't try to fight it, have a kallax in there. Just grab everything and bung it into the boxes any old how, then sort them out periodically.

Batch cooking, do your kids get school dinners? If they are getting a hot meal a day then you can relax a bit. If budget allows buy some good quality low upf/ upf free freezer meals like 'cook food' and just do sides for them. Previous generations weren't working 24 hours a week whilst parenting very small children, be kind to yourself and have reasonable expectations.

Dust isn't dirt.
Mess isn't dirt.
You already have a lot on your plate, don't be hard on yourself!

Teach your twins the mantra, "choose it. Use it, out it away!". If they can do so just occasionally, it will help! And if the floor is already covered with toys and they want something else out, get them to help you put some things away first. You can make a game out of it.

Otherwise -a rota for yourself. Eg. Kitchen surfaces every day. Bathroom once a week. Beds changed once a fortnight. How many bathrooms do you have? If it's more than 2, then embargo one of them, it won't need frequent cleaning then! Other jobs as you wish.

And don't worry about doing anything more than the basics at this stage! As long as everyone's fed and the house isn't a health hazard, you're doing ok!

Thanks so much for the kind and helpful comments! This has made me feel a lot better. I'm off to download the Organised Method app!

I used to try and get everything done in one day per week and get really frustrated with myself. The organised mum method changed me and instilled good habits. I no longer use the app but I use everything I learned from it and now have a home that looks clean most of the time.

To me it sounds like you got a lot done, make sure you take an hour to yourself on that day off during the week, sit down with your phone or a book, go for a walk or something. Everyone I know spends one weekend morning getting the extras done, so Saturday or Sunday morning (except me as I work weekends!) When I was young Saturdays were our cleaning morning, dad would polish, dust everywhere and wash floors, mum bathroom, kids did bedrooms. We’d stop by 12.