The Organised Housewife Katrina Springer’s easy routines for an orderly home

Keeping a clean home can help to improve our mental and physical wellbeing. Here’s how.

The clutter in our lives, homes and heads can harm our happiness and our ability to focus and relax. On the flip side, keeping a clean home can help to improve our mental and physical wellbeing by reducing stress, increasing productivity and maintaining good health. Let’s look at how to make that dream a reality.

EMBRACE THE IMPERFECTLY PERFECT

Let’s be honest, when it comes to cleaning, perfection is not always achievable. You may not have the time, know-how, finances or motivation – and that is perfectly human. Imperfection is real, especially in a home shared with children and pets.  Rather than feeling overwhelmed or disheartened, I urge you to embrace the imperfect. Putting pressure on yourself to be perfect or do a perfect job is setting yourself up for failure. When you don’t reach the desired result because you’ve set your standards so high, you’ll stop trying and feel overwhelmed instead. The goal is to just do it the best way you can.

It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Allowing yourself to accept imperfection as perfection will help you to reach your goals faster and feel proud of what you do achieve, as well as setting the path for future success.

We all have different home lives and we all have different standards. There is no point in comparing yourself to others. My friends and I do things differently, embracing the imperfectly perfect concept in our own way. For example, I only iron school uniforms and some tops and dresses. I don’t iron linens, such as tablecloths, tea towels or pants. Sometimes I choose not to buy particular clothes as I think of my future self and the ironing that is involved. But one of my best friends, Anneliese, finds joy in ironing everything – to her, it’s therapeutic. And while I know many prefer to iron sheets and pillowcases, I am happy to put wrinkled sheets on my bed as long as they are fresh and clean.

Work smarter not harder and laundry won’t always have to be a chore.

Similarly, I never pair socks or fold underwear. Instead, I buy one brand of socks so they all look the same, sort socks and underwear into piles after they are cleaned, and place the pile into appropriately labelled tubs. But others like to pair socks and fold delicates neatly away into a drawer, not minding the extra time it takes as it makes them happy.

It all comes down to personal preference. I probably don’t dust as often as I should, but I do make an effort to keep the floors clean. I wash my bed linen weekly because I like sleeping in clean sheets, but from a young age I got the kids to make their own beds each day, put away their clean washing and organise their drawers, despite the results making my eye twitch.

Be realistic with the time that you have to spend cleaning your home. You may realise you don’t have a lot of extra time and that your standard of clean can be imperfectly perfect to match the time you have to complete the tasks.

Also, rather than completing all tasks in one go, you can use pockets of time throughout the day to tick off a few tasks from your list. If you find you are always trying to make the end result perfect, set a timer to limit yourself and learn that what you managed to do in the time you have is ‘good enough’. If you can’t finish it all, that’s OK. You can finish it next time. You have at least started.

In her new book, Katrina says: “Everyone’s definition of clean is different.”

Clean to one person may mean not a speck of dust in the home and everything is in its place; clean to another person could simply be a tidy home with some dust, or a clean bathroom and kitchen but toys scattered on the floor.

My definition of clean is that all the most-used spaces (toilets, bathroom and kitchen) are clean for hygiene purposes. While I tidy dishes at the beginning of the day and clean them at the end, I will usually always find dust laying around my home. I find that I don’t have enough time for spotlessness – this is my imperfectly perfect version of clean.

Keep calm, and clean …

THE BENEFITS OF A CLEAN HOME

Keeping a home clean and tidy can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you have young kids to look after and/or a busy full-time job. But taking the time to clean your home can help to enhance mental clarity and eliminate stress and chaos. It also saves you time, because you can quickly locate items, and money, because you are less likely to require repairs or replace furnishings and appliances.

Waking up to a clean home is always a great start to the day. I feel like once I make my bed each morning, I am already productive. It’s such an easy task but it really does set the tone for the hours ahead. The short time I spend investing in cleaning allows me to fully enjoy my home the rest of the time. It also gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Other benefits of keeping a clean home include:

• Eased allergies

• Reduced safety hazards

• Enhanced productivity

• Improved sleep patterns

• Increased physical movement.

BUILD A CLEANING KIT

Make it easy for yourself by having your cleaning essentials on hand. Storing them in a portable caddy allows you to easily carry your kit around the house with you.

CREATE A CLEANING ROUTINE

A routine will help balance out all the areas that need cleaning throughout the home. Fitting cleaning into a busy schedule isn’t easy. A routine will give you more freedom to enjoy your home and family without worrying that you should be cleaning. Seeing a list also allows you to delegate tasks to particular members of the household or to work out what you want to outsource.

CLEAN UP SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

Cleaning is always easier when it’s done sooner. If a stain, for example, is on your carpet, it will be easier to get out now rather than allowing the stain to set in.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

All cleaners, appliances, furniture, linens and clothes come with directions or care instructions that detail the best approach to clean and prevent damage. Always read instructions first.

LET THE CLEANING SOLUTION DO THE WORK

Many cleaning products require them to sit for a few minutes to be effective and break down the dirt and grime. To save you time, spray the cleaning product on to the surface and continue cleaning elsewhere. For example, spray the shower, then continue with other tasks in the room (cleaning the sink or emptying the rubbish) while the product is working its magic.

LEARN KAT’S CLEANING CHA CHA

Clean from top to bottom, left to right, back to front. This way, you won’t miss anything or clean an area more than once, as it will prevent you from accidentally dropping dirt or dust on to a lower surface you have already cleaned.

MAKE IT FUN

Put on your activewear and create a cleaning playlist filled with music that will energise you. I have one on Spotify: search ‘The Organised Housewife Motivation Mix’, do Kat’s Cleaning Cha Cha.

This is an edited extract from The Clean Home by Katrina Springer, Macmillan Australia, $29.99.

Originally published as The Organised Housewife Katrina Springer’s easy routines for an orderly home