5 Easy Steps to Knock Out Your Spring Cleaning
After a year of pandemic living, your home has probably seen a bit more use, meaning it’s very much ready for a deep spring cleaning. Our main advice: don’t get overwhelmed! Make this a family affair since it’s likely your spouse and kids have made larger contributions to the mess than usual with working and schooling from home. Here are 5 easy steps for planning and executing a successful and well-delegated spring clean!
1. Plan for success - Before you create your spring cleaning game plan, we highly recommend doing some prep and research to ensure your spring clean lasts. Adopting the right mindset and sustainable organization techniques will mean that your cleaned and organized space stays that way. We love everything Miranda Anderson teaches about “practical minimalism.” Check out our review of her book More Than Enough where she shares experiences of her family going a year without buying consumable goods. It will give you inspiration to cut back on the things in your family’s life that are adding extra clutter! You can also read our review of Simply Spaced by Monica Leed which is an excellent resource not only for decluttering, but for teaching you how to create systems in your home that will keep things organized.
2. Create a master list - Get your family involved in this step and walk through the entire house, making notes of all the decluttering, cleaning, and organizing that needs to be done. Ask your kids to make an assessment of their rooms and study spaces. Is their space functioning for them? Will a deep clean be all that’s needed or are there other issues of organization that need addressed? Have your spouse make a list of cleaning and organizing projects that are bugging them as well. Sit down as a family and compare notes, creating one big master list.
3. Break it down - Work together with your family to organize your master list and to break it down into bite-sized tasks. This will help it feel less overwhelming! You could use a blank or dot page in your planner to group lists of to-do’s by room, listing every task that needs to be done in that space and then marking which items are top priority. You can also use our Project Planning pages to sketch out any tasks that are more in-depth, such as re-arranging furniture, painting, or re-decorating. Sketching it out will help everyone be on the same page!
4. Delegate and follow up - Now work with your spouse and kids to delegate each task. If your kids have a say in their assignments, they’ll be more likely to follow through. Agree on a timeline and schedule for finishing your spring clean and then plan to follow up. This doesn’t mean you’re the one who has to nag everyone—encourage your kids to hold each other accountable by assigning follow-up buddies. If you have to introduce a competition or incentives, do it! There is no shame in whatever approach makes it easiest for you!
5. Schedule regular maintenance - A lot of cleaning tasks are easier to do if they’re done more often—the longer dirt and grime get to spend on a surface the less likely they are to part from it without a fight. Help your kids develop pride in their space by getting them involved in a regular maintenance schedule. Decide with them how often they want to clean their rooms and what tasks they want to help with in your shared spaces. Then, help them make a schedule for those tasks. Our Goals page is an excellent resource for breaking cleaning goals into monthly, weekly, and daily habits. Your kids may also love tracking their tidying and cleaning tasks in one of our Kids Planners. Or you can snag a free printable of our Home Care page to help your kids plan and schedule regular maintenance of your home.
We believe in you and know that a deep spring cleaning will do so much to make your living space more enjoyable! What are your most helpful tips for a successful spring cleaning? Share with us in the comments below!