You’ve tried chore charts, you’ve begged for the family to help out around the house, or maybe you’ve just thrown in the towel and now you’re walking sideways to make it from the living room to the kitchen. Maybe you’re a mom with little bitty babes and keeping a tidy home seems so far beyond reach. Maybe you just have no house keeping skills.

Why do you think we can’t keep our houses clean?

Could it be that:

1. We are so overwhelmed we don’t even know where to start, so we never do? Meh.

2. We set a day for “cleaning day” which means it stays clean for about 24 hours and the rest of the 144 hours of the week is a bigger nightmare than glitter at Christmastime?

3. We clean for the last minute house guest causing screaming, yelling, and gnashing of teeth to those who are not cleaning fast enough to offer said guest proper hospitality?

I realized something a while back. We ALL have things we say we want to do. We all have things we say we need to do. Maybe for you, you want and need (for your sanity) a simpler life. A lifestyle that isn’t so hectic and a constant battle of too many obligations. What is standing in your way?

To me, I spent years being overwhelmed in just about every aspect of my life. Home, relationships, parenting, marriage. I wasn’t winning at any of them. I wanted to win at all of them, but just wanting it wasn’t going to cut it. I thought about all the ways my life could be better. Easier. Simpler. How could I make that happen? I finally understood I had to evaluate everything in my life and all of the negative I was allowing in my life and make some cuts. My life wasn’t going to be simple all on it’s own. I had to make it so by discarding all of the distractions that prevented the life I needed for my well-being and the lives of my family. I cut out the crap, but now I had to maintain it. That was when my desire for simple really challenged my mindset. When I had to make a plan that I could stick with, I knew it was game on. Here’s what it came down to:

Tackle the mess as you see it.

Dirty clothes on the floor? Put them in the laundry.

Food on the counter top? Wipe it off.

Trash overflowing? Take it out.

I know, you’re thinking, but I don't have time. Bull, I say.

Do you prefer to keep screaming about the mess or would you rather it just stay clean? Thought so. How many times have you heard yourself say, “I just cleaned this up!” I bet its in the thousands. At least for me it is. Keep in mind, you’re within full momma rights to delegate these tasks to the culprit, sure, but you’re the boss applesauce. Make it happen. Don’t let things pile up. Get rid of the extra crap that is shoved in your cabinets and all over the floor then keep on top of it. I swear on my next meal, and I love to eat, that if you too evaluate what truly doesn’t belong in your life and home, the amount of things you have to keep up with will take you MINUTES each day.

I know this because every morning I do a tidying walk through while the kids eat breakfast and my home is back in order in less than 15 minutes. I do this again each night as we put the kids to bed and I can go to bed feeling at peace that my home is in shape (that is after 784 times of fighting kids to go to sleep). In between, all I have to do is tackle the mess as I see it. Never waste a trip. If you’re walking to the kitchen and you see something that belongs in the laundry room, take it there. When you’re in the laundry room and you see something that should be in the linen closet, put it there. To me, my 15 minute round up is religion. To me, it’s a small price to pay to nix the Saturday “cleaning days” (BOOO, who wants to spend their Saturdays cleaning?) or the frantic rush to hide the proof of habitation from your house guests. Nike didn’t make billions on a “Just Do It” slogan for nothing.

What ways could you implement a change that would mean keeping your home simple and clean? How does your current situation work for you? What would tackling the mess as you see it do for your sanity?

Still too much to tackle, hire me to help!