3 secrets that'll speed up your housecleaning

If you're looking to cut down housekeeping chores, these are things you can do to reduce the mess without wasting too much of your time.

• You may be the only one who cares about a messy house, but you're not the only one who contributed to the mess.
• Even young children can be involved in quick clean-up routines that lighten the workload.
• From picking up toys to vacuuming and dusting, you should assign chores to each member of your family according to their skill level and age.
• Teaching children to do dishes and laundry helps them become responsible adults. You can even ask your kids to change the sheets and clean out the litter tray.
• Tying an allowance or pocket money to chores can keep kids motivated and instill a proper work ethic.

• A lot of household tasks can be outsourced. You may decide to hire a cleaning service to come in every other week instead of spending the money on eating out, for example.
• It also helps to come to terms with the fact that your house does not need to look perfect.
• Your kitchen floors probably don't need to be swept every day, and a bit of dust here and there is okay.
• Additionally, picking up every single toy your kids drop around the house will make you feel worn out rather than accomplished.
• If you can learn to live with a house that looks lived-in, you can cut your chores in half.

• Finding five minutes to clean up a part of your home is easy.
• Most people don't usually attempt to clean up unless they have more time available to do so.
• However, allocating more time to cleaning your home may be one of the reasons why you spend as much time on housekeeping as you do.
• You might try the opposite instead and set a timer for five minutes to clean a single room as quickly as you can.
• Focus on non-intensive tasks that will make the room appear neater, like removing clutter from horizontal spaces, picking up laundry and toys from the floor, and tidying up tables and other surfaces.

Picking up your belongings from the floor, the table, or your counter may not seem like real cleaning, but it will actually make your house feel cleaner than many more intensive routines.