I’m sharing 3 time-saving tips for spring cleaning for working moms to get in, get done, and get out. And, if it’s helpful to have a checklist, I have pinned a few on the Mompowerment Pinterest page.
Sure, there is a lot of advice on spring cleaning. As a working mom, though, you’re time is limited, so let’s think of this as an article on time management meets spring cleaning so you have more time for fun.
While it’s called spring cleaning, I would argue it should be done about once a quarter. (Hint: If you have a housekeeper or cleaning service, ask for a more thorough cleaning about once a quarter or at least twice a year to make sure you’re fighting dirt build-up throughout the year.)
#1 Organize and declutter
The first step is to declutter and organize. It saves you time and money and might even make you a bit happier, once you’re done.
This could take days or weeks. Start this as soon as you can in small chunks over a few weeks or in a few marathon days. Need some tips or motivation for this step? Check out my post from last week on organizing for spring cleaning time.
#2 Plan it out
Planning is required in business, but we sometimes forego planning when we’re talking about the home side of things. Planning how I approach spring cleaning has really helped me.
I go into each room before starting the cleaning process. I take a bit of time to write down what I need to do and then I break that down into smaller chunks. (Hint: You can always plan before you organize and declutter.)
I take it to the next step by estimating how much time I think I need. That way I know what I can do in whatever time I have available on a specific day or during a week as I plan out my week on Sunday.
I can’t do hours upon hours of spring cleaning. I simply don’t have the time. I need to strategically approach spring cleaning so that I complete whatever is needed in each room or area (and area might be physical or it might be all of one type of thing (e.g., clean all blinds)). The planning step saves me a lot of time and helps me figure out the best way to tackle the overall process.
#3 Go room by room
When you’re a working mom, you don’t necessarily have large chunks of time. You have your usual work and household duties, so deep cleaning is another thing to fit into your already busy week. Instead of trying to spring clean the whole house in a weekend, go room by room. You could probably deep clean the whole house over a week or two if you dedicated an hour each day. This approach makes it much more doable and probably less stressful in the process.
Update, upgrade, or remove as you go. Replace batteries in things like your smoke detectors. Check your fire extinguisher to see if it works. See a broken item? Fix it or throw it away and replace it. Consider not replacing an item and simply having one less item in your house.
And that brings up something I’ve started doing in our house. Just because we have had something, doesn’t mean we need a replacement, if it breaks or wears out. It could be a kitchen gadget or a pair of shoes. I think long and hard before I decide if I want a replacement at all now. I’m trying to purge a lot, because I think, in general, we have too much stuff in our house (I’ll talk more about toy-related stuff below). We don’t need more stuff. I need less stuff and an extra benefit is it will take even less time and effort to keep it organized. I’ve even stopped my magazine subscriptions to keep those from piling up.
Bonus tip
Let’s talk spring cleaning and toys. Like anything else, toys need to have a deep cleaning, especially the toys that your kids love.
What about decluttering toys, though? I don’t know about how it works in your house, but the minute I suggest we remove an item from the pile, our boys say it’s their favorite toy – EVER! We are working through that. And we try to do a policy of nothing new unless we get rid of something.
That said, one of the key ways we’re trying not to add stuff is to get experiences from those we love. For example, my parents gave our older son a visit to the Houston Zoo for the whole family on a recent trip as his birthday present. He LOVED it. My in-laws have paid for our annual membership to the local children’s museum, which our boys love, instead of giving toys, at Christmas. So, get your family to help you avoid the clutter altogether and try a new experience or get a membership to a place your family loves.
And the other is to ask friends to not give gifts during birthday parties. We’ve done book exchanges with wrapped new, age-appropriate books. Everyone gets a gift (you can do this instead of a goodie bag too). I’ve had friends collect stuff to give to programs for foster kids. You can be creative with how you handle it. It definitely makes a difference, though.
Save time and money
Remember, organizing can save you time and money and spring cleaning puts you in a good place for the usual tidying up. It’s getting all your cleaning ducks in a row and making it easier in the long run. And, when the stuff you had to do takes less time, you get more time doing the stuff you want, like spending time with your kids or even having a moment of self-care.
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Do you have tips for your spring cleaning that saves time or even money? I’d love to hear them in the comments.
Looking for more practical tips related to work-life balance, grab your copy of The Mompowerment Guide to Work-life Balance today. (affiliate link)
