The Family That Cleans Together: Tips from a Professional Organizer

 e Family  at Cleans Together: Tips from a Professional Organizer

BY LYNDSEY TYM

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has settled and we are into February, this time of the year is when we may start to forget our New Year’s Resolutions. Some of us may have resolved to eat better, work out more, or spend more time with family. Others may have resolved to keep the house clean or purge unwanted items from our homes. While it can be easy to forget our resolutions and go back to our old routines, I have a tip that may help keep our homes clean while also spending time with family. Give this simple tip a try and make it a part of your new routine to make an impact all year long.

It can be common in families for cleaning the home and keeping it that way to fall to one person, or to fall to the adults. What works for one family may not work for another. If you are looking for a way to keep the house clean and organized by getting the whole family involved, look no further. At the end of each day, before bedtime, gather the whole family in one room and set a timer for 10 minutes. During the 10 minutes have each family member help with as many clean up chores as possible. Get the whole family involved so everyone is pitching in. You’ll be surprised how much can be accomplished in 10 minutes when multiple people are working together.

Assign chores based on what people enjoy doing (or by what they don’t mind doing as much). Maybe one of the adults is cleaning up the kitchen, one of the kids is putting away toys in the living room, one of the kids is putting dirty laundry in the laundry hamper, another adult is packing lunches and gathering needed items for the next day (homework, permission slips, etc).

However you divvy up the chores, make sure to involve the whole family and use the whole 10 minutes. Making this activity a part of your daily routine helps keep the house clean, balances out the responsibilities of doing so, makes for smoother mornings, and can be a fun way to work together as a family.

By getting the whole family involved and using a team approach to keeping the house tidied up, we can free up some time to relax and enjoy family with no chore list in mind. Getting the kids involved can help them learn good habits for keeping a clean house. Give it a try, and see how it can make a di erence this year!

Lyndsey Tym, owner of Simple Spaces, desires to help others declutter and simplify in their homes to free up time for the things they love. Learn more at facebook.com/ simplespaceslyndseytym.