Housekeeping Habits We Practice Every Day

We’re sharing the super simple housekeeping habits we practice every day! 

“I’m at the gate”…

Several years ago, we were completely blindsided when our pest control guy called to say he was at the gate and ready for our scheduled appointment.

We live a good ways from town. And since our entire property is gated, no one shows up unannounced or uninvited – ever.

Truthfully, we’ve had this same pest company for many years (termite bonds are a must in Florida). So, we’ve gotten to the know the technicians well.

On this particular morning though, we were SCRAMBLING to straighten up the house having completely forgotten our appointment.

When I say it was bad, it was B-A-D.

Let me just set the scene…

Let me just set the scene for you…my hair was soak and wet wrapped up in a towel… there pillows on the floor, glasses on the coffee table and blankets strewn about in the living room…the conversation bar was littered with mail, catalogs, an air freshener that needed to be replaced, an empty lunch box and a drill battery that was being charged…on the breakfast table was a half-finished craft project I had been working on the night before…there were breakfast dishes in the sink…crumbs and napkins and juice glasses on the dining room table (obviously no place to eat with my craft project on the breakfast table)…and none of our beds had been made.

Worse, I had no idea if our toilets had even been cleaned that week.

While Virgil was sitting in his truck at the gate outside, I was inside screaming “MAYDAY” and “Code Blue” literally every 2 minutes!

Exhausted, I slowly walked to the gate praying the whole way it would be an outside only inspection.

But to my total horror, it was our annual indoor inspection which meant every room, closet, nook and cranny would have to be checked.

I could have died.

The embarrassment sets in…

For the next few hours, I apologized to Virgil about a million times.

Finally, he said, “Don’t sweat this, seriously, You have no idea the kinds of things I see. This mess is nothing.”

I appreciated him trying to be sweet and reassuring.

But, I was really disappointed in myself.

I couldn’t believe I had let things get so bad.

AND let our schedules get so out of control, I had completely forgotten the appointment.

Truthfully, I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl in a cave.

Embracing a teachable moment…

The teachable moment of this situation is that we committed *right then* to adopting a “15-minutes away from company coming” mentality which we’ve held onto ever since.

I’m not saying we don’t have client stuff piled in the entry waiting to be delivered sometimes.

Or that our beds are made if we have the flu.

We’re far from perfect.

But we made up our minds *that day* we would never feel so embarrassed over our home ever again.

In order to make it stick though, we knew we were going to have to put some daily practices in place.

Here is a list of the housekeeping habits we practice every day…

• Review paper planner, personal and business calendar each morning.
• Make the bed every day, even on the weekends.
• Unload the dishwasher every morning.
• Load the dishwasher every night.
• Wipe out the sinks after each use.
• Wipe down the kitchen countertops after every snack and meal.
• Put things away throughout the day. We try our very best to practice the OHIO rule (Only Handle It Once)
• A 15-minute clutter catcher each night.
• Complete one chore per day, even on Saturdays.
• Dirty clothes go directly into the laundry basket.
• A load of laundry entails (wash, dry, fold, put away)
• Sweep and/or vacuum floors daily. Especially, because Piper sheds.
• Review the following days to do list/priorities list each night.

Here’s the thing…there is not a single item on the housekeeping habits we practice every day list that takes us over 15 minutes to complete…not one.

In fact, most of the tasks take around 5 minutes or less.

What makes the biggest difference in how we keep our home tidy is that we’re *consistent* with these tasks, every single day.

Even on the days we don’t really feel like it.

Is it hard sometimes?

Heck yes!

I would love to hang out on Insta, read a magazine from cover to cover, take a long hot bath or shop for treasures.

What I’ve come to realize though, is that it takes us almost *twice* as long to get everything back in order than it does to simply maintain it every day.

Are we perfect at it?

Of course not! But we are so much better now than we’ve ever been.

Housekeeping Habits We Practice Every Day Things to Keep in Mind…

If the items on our housekeeping habits we practice every day list seem like too much to commit to each day, consider trying at least one new task to see how it works for you.

Most of the people I talk to about forming daily housekeeping habits find simply loading and running the dishwasher each night and emptying the dishwasher each morning makes a big difference!

They’ve also found success with the 15-minute clutter catcher each night.

We completely understand how overwhelming it can be to keep a tidy home.

Especially, if you have a busy family life.

That said, now is a great time to settle into helpful routines to keep your home neat and tidy on a consistent basis.

While it might seem like there are a lot of tasks on the list, It feels so good to be welcomed home by clean and clutter free spaces.

Let me know what housekeeping habits you practice daily! Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Many blessings,

CoCo