How to Maintain a Tidy Home: 18 Simple Daily Habits

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Keeping your house consistently tidy and clean can often seem like an uphill battle, especially with the lurking anxiety and embarrassment of unexpected house guests. However, all of this can be improved with a few daily micro-habits.

These small, manageable actions help maintain a clean and welcoming home environment and ensure you’re always prepared for surprise visits. With just a few effortless habits, you can go from cleaning chaos to a consistently guest-ready home. Here are 18 practical micro-habits that can help maintain a clean home.

Follow a Cleaning Routine

Establishing a daily, weekly, or quarterly cleaning routine makes sure that your house stays consistently clean and organized. Setting specific tasks for each time frame ensures that nothing is overlooked or forgotten.

This structured approach helps you maintain a clean home and distributes the workload evenly, preventing any task from becoming too overwhelming.

Make Your Bed Daily

In the book “Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World,” Admiral William H. McRaven encourages everyone to make their bed daily. He says this quick, easy task sets the tone for a productive day and provides a sense of accomplishment and order right from the start.

It keeps your bedroom looking neat and encourages you to maintain cleanliness throughout your house, reinforcing a disciplined and organized mindset with minimal time investment.

Adopt a “No Shoes Indoors” Policy

Simply removing shoes at the door significantly reduces the amount of dirt and debris tracked into your home. This keeps your floors cleaner and minimizes the time you spend vacuuming and sweeping.

Pro tip: Consider setting up a stylish and functional shoe storage area at your entryway.

Handle Paper Once

When you receive mail or bring paperwork into the home, deal with it immediately—recycle, file, or action it as needed. This prevents piles of paper from accumulating on surfaces around your home, keeping spaces neater and more organized.

Mini-Baskets in High-Traffic Areas

Having a designated basket or bin in common areas of your home for collecting out-of-place items can be incredibly effective in maintaining order. This strategy works as a temporary holding spot for toys, books, clothes, and other miscellaneous items that need to be returned to their rightful places and allows you to quickly clear clutter from surfaces and floors. Just be sure to set a time each day or week to empty the basket and put everything away.

Clean Top to Bottom, Left to Right

By starting high and working your way down from left to right, you avoid knocking dust or debris onto already-cleaned surfaces, saving time and effort. This systematic approach helps establish a consistent routine that you can do regularly.

Clean as You Go

Don’t leave stuff on bathroom counters. And don’t leave dishes in the sink—wash them immediately after use or place them in the dishwasher. Apply the same principle after cooking—wipe down counters and clean spills to prevent them from hardening and becoming more difficult to clean later.

Have a Nightly 10-minute Tidy-up

Before going to bed, spend ten minutes tidying up common areas. Put away toys, fold throw blankets, or organize magazines. This habit prevents small messes from accumulating into bigger cleaning tasks.

Follow the One-Minute Rule

If a task can be done in one minute or less, do it immediately. This includes hanging up coats, putting away shoes, or sorting mail. These small efforts keep clutter at bay.

Declutter for 5 Minutes Every Day

Dedicate as little as five minutes each day to go through one small area or category of items in your home. Regularly sorting through and organizing your belongings helps keep everything in its place and makes cleaning easier.

This could involve sorting mail, organizing a drawer, or clearing a countertop. Over time, these small increments can significantly reduce clutter.

Sweep or Vacuum High Traffic Areas Daily

Quickly sweep or vacuum high-traffic areas daily. This prevents dirt from being tracked around the house and accumulating.

Wash Dishes Before Going to Bed

By clearing and cleaning your sink each night, you prevent the buildup of bacteria and odors. This also prevents dishes from piling up and becoming overwhelming with items that are harder to clean. You’ll start each morning with a clean slate and improve your mood and productivity.

Wipe Surfaces After Use

After using any surface, give it a quick wipe. This includes bathroom sinks, kitchen counters, and dining tables. It keeps surfaces clean and reduces the need for more intensive cleaning later.

Set Cleaning Supplies in Accessible Locations

Keep basic cleaning supplies in strategic locations around the house (e.g., bathroom, kitchen). This makes grabbing them for quick cleaning sessions easier instead of avoiding the task because supplies are out of reach.

Empty the Trash Every Day

Empty trash cans regularly to prevent them from overflowing. This helps control odors and prevents the accumulation of waste that can make a space look and feel unclean.

Do One Load of Laundry Every Day

Handle laundry daily if possible because one load daily is much more manageable than five loads on a weekend when you could enjoy yourself.

Fold clothes immediately after drying to prevent piles from building up, and put clothes away promptly.

Use Shower Time to Clean the Bathroom

While waiting for the shower water to warm up or while conditioning your hair, quickly wipe down surfaces like the counter, sink, and mirrors. This utilizes otherwise idle time and keeps your bathroom consistently clean.

Plan for Tomorrow The Night Before

Planning for tomorrow before bed is key to a smoother start to your day and keeps your house tidier. Select your clothes and pack your lunch in advance to avoid the morning scramble of taking things out and searching through clutter.

This foresight saves you time and stress. Gone are the days of running out of time to put everything back in its place or clean up.

Featured Image Credit: AllaSerebrina and Depositphotos.