Most people spend about two hours a day cleaning their homes. And though this figure might not seem daunting, it still shows how much time you devote to everyday chores between errands, studies, and work. And while it’s impossible to eliminate all that dreary housework from your busy life completely, you can optimize your cleaning routine and actually start doing more in less time. Below are some simple tricks that will help you manage the chores on your plate more efficiently and get your life in order again.

Cut the Pie Up

You’d be surprised to learn how many people tend to put their cleaning chores off until they suddenly run out of clean plates or notice their feet start sticking to the floor. After that, they start deep-cleaning every nook and cranny, spending tons of their precious time and energy. If you recognize yourself in that description, chances are you’re also procrastinating in cleaning! And the culprit behind this might be your failure too.

The easiest way to ensure your house doesn’t look like a mess without straining yourself physically and mentally is to split up your cleaning chores by day or room. What might repulse you from cleaning is having to tackle a wide range of repetitive and extremely tedious chores at once. But if you make it your rule to attend only to a specific amount of housework at a time, chances are you’ll be less overwhelmed and reluctant to do the cleaning. Should the rest of your chores look intimidating, you can always delegate them to a professional cleaning company in London and attend to more pleasant tasks.

Create a Schedule

You can complete any task more time-efficiently if you create a schedule and stick to it. A cleaning schedule is a great way to stay on top of your chores and make sure your home is clutter-free every day of the week. To be effective, your schedule should be as manageable as possible and well-suited to your individual needs.

When creating your cleaning schedule, factor in such things as your free time, your most productive times of day, the scope of work that needs to be done, your cleaning preferences, etc. It’s important that you indicate the times by which this or that task should be accomplished. Make sure to put your to-do list in a place that’s easily seen. Think your fridge, nightstand, or kitchen countertop. This will constantly remind you of the chores you are to tackle and reduce the chance of you evading them.

Put Away Your Things

How often do you actually leave things in the places where they don’t belong? Do you tend to scatter your clothes around the house after a hard day’s work? Do you enjoy drinking coffee in bed and then forget a dirty cup there? Or maybe you tend to let your dishes pile up at the bedside table? Well, if you do, you’re definitely not alone. Still, if you want to keep your house tidy, you should get into the habit of putting anything you use, wear, or carry around back in their places. Make it a rule to grab your belongings whenever you leave a room or load your dishwasher once you finish your meal. Not only will it help your home feel more like home but also make the subsequent cleaning process easier.

Do Quick Tidy-Ups Before You Go to Bed

Even if you feel tired and in no mood for cleaning, try your best to spruce up your space before your head hits the pillow. Nothing extraordinary or physically demanding! Just make sure to look around your apartment with a critical eye and try to figure out what might freak you out first thing in the morning. It can be your socks hanging from the chandelier, streaks on your glass coffee table, or an unsightly pile of paperwork on your couch. You’ll be surprised to learn that something as small as picking up your clothes from the floor, putting dirty plates out of sight, wiping mirror spots, cleaning the sink, or removing that pile of documents from your couch can make all the difference. If the entire house is too much for you, tackle those areas that normally see the most traffic.

You’ll likely change not only your cleaning routine but also your life for the better if you make it a habit to allocate a little time to a small cleanup every night.