Sometimes it may feel like living with your family comes with plenty of challenges. One of the major ones that any family has undoubtedly encountered is getting everyone to agree on how to clean at home. Whether it be getting children to get to declutter their messes, or perhaps spouses only one of which likes to pay attention to house cleaning, there is always something to discuss cleaning at home.
To reduce the friction that such discussions create, you can follow a few strategies that we will outline in this article. Their goal is to prepare you for some of the hard conversations you are to have, in order to achieve the maximum.
Establish common goals
Different family members have different definitions of what clean is. But it is important to use this as a starting point. To achieve the most, you should get everyone on the same page. It will give you a shared goal/vision to work towards. For instance, if you are overly clean and your partner is not, it is important to establish a middle ground you are both happy with. Coming together with your family is essential for future collaborations.
Work on the concept of ‘most important areas’
The concept of MIAs is simple, yet very important to work on. In essence, a most important area is one part of your home that you wish always to keep clean, or perhaps a chore you have to address at all costs. After you have a list, you will discuss this with your spouse and other family members. Learning to be respectful of others’ MIAs will bring you one step closer to mutual agreement.
Discuss what everyone’s likes and dislikes are
Everyone has a least favourite chore that they would gladly leave to someone else. Assigning a task to someone that hates it is hardly going to lead to anything productive. Instead, talk with people about what they are willing to address and even what they like. That is right, some people are perfectly happy doing certain household chores, and they would love to take on them.
Create routines
If people don’t have an easy time following through their chores, make sure to create routines for them. It is always easier to follow certain routines when it comes to house cleaning. Of course, you have to be ready to tweak those routines so that they serve people’s needs. There is no single correct way to do this, so you have to be more mindful of how you establish these routines and how you want people to maintain them. Persistence and flexibility are key.
Consider the time of everyone
Everyone is busy, and so it is essential to be very realistic about who can clean what. For example, if you are busy five days a week, you don’t necessarily need to dedicate two hours every day. Even 10 minutes of your time will feel like an improvement. Consider what works for you – cleaning in the morning, or cleaning in the night. Maybe you like to clean on weekends only. Setting realistic expectations is essential for the success of your quest for a clean house.
Create a schedule for big house cleaning tasks
Everyone knows just how tiring spring cleaning can be. You can be a bit more creative about it with your family and discuss your strategy together. Not only will you be able to book the perfect time for addressing it, but also make the process of cleaning more effective with some forward planning.
Obviously, all of these tips work very well to get your family together on establishing an effective house cleaning strategy for your home.
