Six Tips to Make Housework Easier.

Fifteen minutes isn’t very long, you can do almost anything for only 15 minutes. It’s amazing how much you can actually get done in 15 minutes, or ten, or even five minutes. And, if you are like me, it is the starting that is the hard part. Once I’ve started I often push on even after the timer has gone off.

This tip also works great for kids. If you know there is going to be moaning about tidying rooms, or cleaning the bathroom, suggest they only have to do it for 15 minutes, as long as they try to get as much done as possible in that time. The results may not be perfect, but it will be better than nothing!

Put on the TV so you can watch while you clean, or load up a podcast or audio book.

If I know I have a big cleaning task ahead of me I’ll download a new audio book and grab my headphones. The longer I clean the more I get to listen!

I use the same method to clean the shower. I put on some music, jump in the shower and clean. Now I have an excuse to have a long hot shower, and sing loudly.

Bonus shower cleaning tip : clean your shower with melamine foam (magic erasers), they do an amazing job and there are no nasty chemicals to breath in. You can also use vinegar in a spray bottle, or a stronger shower cleaner, just spray it on after your shower and wipe clean.

You’ve probably got a dishwasher that auto washes your dishes, and a washing machine that auto washes your clothes, so what other cleaning jobs can you automate?

Ecovacs sent me a Deebot Ozmo 900 to try out, and it is hands down the best thing that has ever happened to my house!

My house feels a million times cleaner when the main area floors are clean, but it hate sweeping and vacuuming all the time and I LOATHE washing the floor, and now I don’t have to. The Deebot sweeps, vacuums and mops.

All I have to do is pick up all the junk off the floor (or get the kids to do it), shut the door of any room I don’t want the robo vac to go in and turn it on… that’s it!

It trundles around my house, it uses fancy ‘Obstacle Detection Technology’ and sensors to get around all the furniture and not run into things, it automatically changes suction for our hardwood floors and rugs, and it sucks up everything. It will even build a ‘smart map’ of your home and, if you connect it to the app, you can tell it to clean or not clean particular areas and even start or stop cleaning when you are not there.

I does an amazing job, and it’s not even very loud!

The Deebot Ozmo 900 is not a cheap vacuum, with a RRP of $999, but it is totally worth it for the time you will save, how easy it is to use, and how good a job it does. It’s available from Appliances Online and Godfreys. Find more information on the Deebot here.

You may not be able to afford to pay a cleaner, but can you afford to pay your kids for doing extra chores?

Our kids already help with everyday household chores and taking care of their own things, but some weekends I put up a list of extra jobs for hire and how much I’ll pay. My kids are always saving for something so they are keen to earn a little more than their very small weekly allowance. Some of the jobs my kids do on a semi-regular basis are – washing the windows, cleaning the rangehood filters, washing down the back deck, and cleaning the walls.

It can be so overwhelming when you look at your messy house, not knowing where to start, knowing it is going to take hours, maybe days, to get it under control. That is often the point where I hang my head in shame and give up, but I’ve found if I break the tasks down into small jobs I can at least achieve something.

What is one manageable task you could get done? Just clean the toilet, or the shower. Just pick up all the junk in the lounge room. Just tackle one room, or even one area in a room.

Now you have one less thing on your list, and you’ll probably feel a little less overwhelmed.

If you are the kind of person that finds making lists helpful then this free weekly cleaning routine printable might be helpful.

This is the tip that saves my sanity. Having a house that is clean and healthy is important, but having a house that is perfectly tidy all the time is not so important.

I don’t start cleaning with the goal to have everything being sparkling clean, I start cleaning with a list of important stuff that needs to get done, and other stuff that can wait if it needs to. It’s ok that our big glass sliding doors are covered in fingerprints, and it’s ok that there is a basket full of washing that never seems to get put away and a pile of papers that still need sorting out. These things can wait if you are willing to accept that you live in your house and for that reason alone it will never be perfectly clean and tidy all the time.