Inside: Looking for habits that will keep your home neat and tidy with minimal effort? Here are 8 easy ways to keep your home in tip-top shape.
Keeping your home neat and tidy can feel like a perpetual struggle.
As quickly as you clean everything up, it seems to fall apart again and end up just as messy as it was before.
There has to be a better way – and there is.
The best part?
It doesn’t have to be hard.
By incorporating super small habits, also called micro habits, into your day, you can make the process of keeping your home orderly easy – and virtually automatic. Low effort, no stress, no anxiety. Just a neat and tidy home to enjoy.
Not sure what micro habits are, or how you can build them into your day? Keep reading and I’ll tell you what you need to know.
What are micro habits?
Micro habits are essentially super small, simple actions that you can incorporate into your regular routine that can help you achieve big results.
The key word there?
Small.
Micro habits don’t take a ton of time, energy, or effort out of your day. Instead, they’re little things you can do to enhance virtually every aspect of your life.
Micro habits can help you improve your physical health, the relationships in your life, and more – including your home.
By focusing on smaller actions instead of sweeping changes, you make it easy to change your ways and, ultimately, get the results you’re looking for.
Micro Habits That Will Keep Your Home Neat and Tidy
Ready to learn a few easy ways to keep your space organized and clutter-free? Try incorporating these super small habits that will keep your home neat and tidy into your routine!
With minimal effort, you’ll see a big difference in how it impacts your space remains throughout the day.
1. Make your bed every morning.
Do you currently make your bed every morning?
If not, it’s a great place to start when it comes to developing micro habits to keep your space organized. Making your bed will give your whole bedroom a sense of cleanliness and order, and it will give you a sense of accomplishment that can motivate you throughout your day.
If the thought of tucking in your sheets and making your bed military-style is off-putting, don’t worry – you don’t have to take it that far. Just organize your pillows and spread your duvet or comforter so it’s flat across the bed instead of a crumpled heap in the middle, and you’ll be off to a great start.
You may heard that it’s best not to make your bed immediately due to dust mites. And there is some science to support that. Let your bed air out for 30 minutes before pulling up your bedding to have a neat and clean bed.
2. Put dishes away as soon as you’re done using them.
Are there empty water glasses scattered around your house or resting on your kitchen counter? Dirty dishes in your sink?
Get into the habit of quickly rinsing your dishes and putting them into the dishwasher as soon as you’ve used them, and you might just be surprised to see how big of a difference it can make.
While it can take ages to tidy up dirty dishes once they’ve accumulated, tackling them one by one takes virtually no time at all.
3. Put away your clothes as soon as you take them off.
Do you…
- Leave your shoes next to the front door instead of putting them on the shoe rack or in the closet?
- Throw your coat on the back of a kitchen chair or sofa when you get home instead of hanging it up where it belongs?
- Leave dirty clothes on the floor of your bedroom or bathroom?
- Try on multiple pieces of clothing before you decide on your outfit for the day – and instead of hanging or folding them back up, leave them in a pile to deal with later?
Having clothes strewn all over the place is an easy way to make your space look cluttered and disorganized – but there’s an easy fix!
By making it a micro habit to put things away immediately after you’ve taken them off – whether that’s back on the hanger, into a drawer, or into your laundry hamper – you eliminate a ton of visual clutter from your space.
4. Wipe down surfaces after you’ve used them.
It’s happened to all of us.
You grab a snack in the kitchen – and leave a few crumbs on the counter.
Or maybe you poured yourself a cup of coffee and spilled a little on the counter – and instead of taking care of it right away, left it to clean up later.
By making it a habit to wipe down countertops, tables, and other surfaces after you’ve used them, you can keep your space neat and clean.
Simply keep your favorite type of wipes nearby and get into the habit of grabbing one for a quick wipe-down after each use. It might feel like it takes some extra effort at first, but before long, the action will feel automatic.
5. Open your windows.
The importance of fresh air can’t be understated when it comes to keeping your home feeling – and smelling – clean.
By getting into the habit of quickly opening a window or two for a little while each day, you’ll brighten up your space in a big way and eliminate any stale odors that might remain from cooking last night’s dinner.
Not only will you benefit from the fresh air, but you’ll likely benefit from the natural light, too!
6. Go through your mail as soon as you bring it inside.
One of the most common types of clutter many of us struggle to manage is paper clutter – specifically, the mail.
We bring it inside, put it down on the counter or table, and promptly forget about it.
Or we sift through some of it, open up the things we need to read, and forget to actually get rid of the rest.
And it can very quickly get out of control.
Instead of letting your mail accumulate on your countertops for days, make it a micro habit to immediately deal with the mail when you bring it inside. Don’t even let yourself put it down on the table.
Sort through your mail at once and recycle anything you don’t actually need to read or keep. As for the stuff that you do need to act upon, either deal with it right away and take care of the papers after you’re finished, or put it in a designated spot to take care of it as soon as you’re able to.
7. Empty your wastebaskets daily.
If you keep a small wastebasket in your bathroom, home office, or elsewhere in your home, you know how easily those baskets seem to fill up.
Instead of waiting until they’ve become a problem, get ahead of the mess by making it part of your daily routine to quickly empty those baskets into your primary trash bin.
8. Do a daily reset.
Shortly after dinner, schedule a brief daily reset of your home. You can get the whole family in on this task. Create a checklist with the top tasks you want to make sure to include in your routine.
Take just a few minutes to scan every room in the home and put away any items that were left on countertops or other flat surfaces.
Have clean laundry ready to put away? Now is the time to do it.
Make sure your sink is clean and all the dishes have been done. Your tomorrow self will thank you.
Waking up to a home that is neat and tidy is a gift to you and your family. You’ll feel better prepared to tackle the day ahead when your home feels calm.
You can have each family member focus on different areas. By setting aside a short time to do a reset daily you’ll prevent your home from getting cluttered and messy so you can simply enjoy your space and focus on the things you care about.
Want more inspiration on habits?
Check out these posts:
- Creating decluttering habits in your life
- Micro habits that will transform your life
- Daily cleaning habits to keep your home clean
Which one of the super small habits that will keep your home neat and tidy will you add to your routine first? Leave a comment and let me know!
Sign up on the form below to get weekly decluttering tips sent straight to your inbox. You’ll also get the free Your Home Decluttered Jumpstart which includes 100 easy items to declutter and 12 high-impact areas to declutter in 10 minutes.
Thank you for another excellent article full of great tips! These guidelines really do work and
help make housekeeping a breeze rather than an ordeal. I find dealing with things on the spot
is a huge timesaver! Now it is an automatic habit to pick up after ourselves as we go through
the day.
i so appreciate the help but at the same i am already over the cliff…7 cats yes not a typo…SMALL home…two bad so bad shoulders…clutter and the overwhelming feeling of uselessness and a full time job…and o yeah. i the only one to do it all….
Have 3 cats, 1 dog, and my right shoulder, wrist, and thumb have been injured multiple times/useless more than 2 of the last 4 years. So much advice is for able bodied people with plenty of energy. Hang in there and ask yourself if you really have to do a task? Also what is the least amount of effort to get the minimum level of done? Managing the mess will look like not doing so to others, but you’re caring for what is important: kitties and you. We need efficiency and lower expectations, not more tasks on the list.
Do you have any friends or family you could ask for help? Even if it’s not on the regular, if you have someone that could visit you maybe monthly to give you a hand, it would make a big difference.
That aside, if most advice is for the able-bodied and doesn’t help you, maybe you should avoid websites like this? It seems you just make yourself miserable reading useless information that just reminds you of all the things you can’t do.
I myself have a hard time because even if I do stuff like this, if my husband doesn’t, it doesn’t make much of a difference, and he’s partially physically disabled and has autism. He does. Not. Put. Things. Away. Add in my ADHD, and yeah, things are tough, even though I’m not technically “disabled.”
But you do what you can, and if you need to find an alternative resource, look for it. I guarantee there is something out there. Like how I found one website intended to help people with ADHD and other neurodevelopmental issues, as well as depression and anxiety, maintain their homes. I’m sure there must be one out there for the physically disabled, too.
What websites specifically are for people with neurodivergent or mental health issues, please?
1-6 are daily habits for me. I’ll incorporate 7, daily empty of trash baskets. Thanks for the tip about dust mites!
Thank you for sharing it’s very helpful. Apreciated.
Just put away the books I’ve left out to read later….they’ve been there unread for over a week, put back into bookcase. Great advice, little things make a big difference.
Put things away in their proper place as soon as I take them off. I usually put them on back of the chair. Thank you.
I am going to try the daily reset.
I often leave my weights out after a workout & tend to leave piles of things around the house that ultimately never get dealt with.
This will hopefully help me through some current chaos I have going on just now.
Thank you fir all the tips.
Whilst I am doing a digital dejunk, your email is one I do read before deleting.
Thank you for having these accountability reminders.
Yay! I do almost all these (except empty trash daily). Have been on a deep clean & purge and all these are GREAT tips. Once you start, there’s no going back! I’m
I agree, I empty mine faithfully, once a week, not daily. 😬
Every day when I wash the dishes, I clean the sinks, wipe down the counters, table and sweep the floors. Every couple of days, I wipe down the bathroom before I get in the shower. Coming home to a clean kitchen and bathroom is the best!
Very good tips thanks a lot keep up the good work
I love that you added open your windows! That changes the whole vibe of the house and one of my favorite things to be able to do!!
Thanks for these tips that appear doable because each one is short, concise and is not overwhelming! I feel encouraged!
My daughter was a little girl when in a family meeting she said pick up ten things each day. And with the five of us we picked up 50 items a day! It worked and still works today.
I started this just this year, I’m not always successful but…if I buy a new top or pair of pants or shoes I make space for it buy donating one of the same item. Donate or throw out a pair of shoes so the new ones have a spot, ditto with shirts/tops, this also helps me to stop and think about if I really need that new top or new pair of shoes. I also check my book cases and get rid of books that know I will not read again….bit by bit it helps.
Yes, this is true! I always try to make time to make donation bags for Goodwill if good enough condition… otherwise throw out. My parents are both terrible hoarders and their house is a mess, but I do my part. My mom buys clothes not even in her own size just bc she likes the print or look, but then it goes into a storage bin or bag and then we have so much stuff she refuses to get rid of. Oh and she “collects” shoes. Terrible habits! I think the idea of freeing up space and donating good items to charity is always good for us and food for others who benefit from what we no longer need/wear.
When old injuries slow you down, or other life complications interfere with plans, sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with disorder. Thank you for small ways to find peace with order.
j
Thank you! Everything you post here is helpful and encouraging, sometimes simple always insitefull. I look forward to your e-mails.
So excited to continue this journey with your great advice. Can’t wait until it’s all done. I look forward to always being ready to have anyone come over anytime 😁🙏🦋🏡❤️
Really like the idea of daily reset. My clutter is all due to me and there’s no time before work. Also will do better on mail-not even setting it on the kitchen table!
Its funny, bc I live with my parents with my young children since my divorce. I have taken control of the house work basically and do every single thing on this list!
My mother, however, is a hoarder and clutters up every room. She is always exhausted and overwhelmed and complaining! She does hardly a thing on this list. She does make her bed.
It is like night and day how stressed she and I are! I completely feel more relaxed and in control doing these simple tasks every day, something I never did when I first moved there, depressed and pregnant after leaving my spouse in another state!
Over time I took over these chores to be helpful and pay my parents back for their kindness taking me in. But now I wonder if I am causing them any harm by doing most of the house work myself? haha
When it comes to getting rid of “junk” mail, I would love it if you could just throw it away, but I found out the hard way, that you can’t just throw it away. I used to do that, but I found out some junk mail asks you to respond by a certain time and if not, they will send you whatever they are selling. I started getting hard cover books (pricey) and spent I don’t know how many months getting myself off their list. Since then, I open them all up, shred anything with my name on it and respond with large NO’s written on their response cards !!! Lesson learned.
Right now I’m deep cleaning my house one room at a time after months of decluttering, then tidying and organizing, and I’ve noticed that I actually *want* to reset the newly very clean spaces after I use them to keep them looking really good! while I do it, I put some essential oils in the diffuser or light a yummy smelling candle so that it’ll smell just as good as it looks when I walk back in and it brings a huge smile to my face when I do!
I need to implement 2, 3, 5 & 6. I’m good with the others 🙂