8 Super Small Habits That Will Keep Your Home Neat & Tidy

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 morning habit 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 have 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 much of a difference it can make.

And if you don’t have a dishwasher? Washing them by hand right away will make the task feel less daunting.

While it can take ages to tidy up dirty dishes once they’ve accumulated, tackling them one by one takes very little 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 any paperwork you don’t need to keep. As for the stuff that you do need to act upon, either deal with it right away, 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 for your home?

Check out these posts:

• Creating decluttering habits in your life
• Daily cleaning habits to keep your home clean
• 4 helpful habits of people who have a clutter-free home

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!

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