Mopping floors, dusting shelves, scrubbing countertops, and disinfecting bathrooms aren’t activities you’d put on the top of your fun list. Still, if you’re going to live in a clean home, you must do some chores. If there’s one thing you’ve probably learned — no one is going to do them for you (at least not for free).
Thankfully, breaking out the Lysol and setting up the ironing board doesn’t have to be as boring as it sounds. There are many ways to spice up your “honey-do” list. It’s as easy as paying attention to your senses. Give these tricks a try, and your housework will be over before you know it!
1. Follow Your Nose
Let’s be real. There are few things better than the smell of freshly washed laundry. It doesn’t matter if it’s citrus, lavender, or vanilla. Pick your favourite smell to sniff, and laundry day will feel like a dream.
Look for a laundry pod or detergent that turns your washing machine into a teleporter. Want to spend your day at the beach? Find something coconut-scented. Looking to transport yourself to the mountains? Try one that smells like rain. Or if a tropical tiki bar is more your style, go for the zesty smell of citrus.
2. Kick Up Your Heels
Remember the days when you could dance the night away at the club? OK, maybe you were doing the Sprinkler or the Running Man at the time rather than the Mop. That’s fine. That doesn’t mean you can’t turn your real-life mopping into your main dance-floor chore event.
Nothing makes housework fly by faster than bopping to a good beat. Remember, it’s your cleaning party, and you’ll dance if you want to. Put on your favourite tunes, crank up the volume, and attack the dirt. Who knows, you may even find yourself belting out your favourite lyrics at the same time.
3. Make It Your Workout
Do you have so much cleaning to do at home that you don’t have time for the gym? You might be surprised that you can kill two birds with one stone here. Yes, sweeping and mopping do give you an upper-body workout. But you can do even more to burn those pesky calories.
If you have a big cleaning day ahead of you, consider weighing yourself down a little bit. Strap on some ankle weights. Those added pounds will work your muscles with every step you take around the house or up the stairs.
Is vacuuming in your future? Lunge forward with every push. If you’re putting clothes away on shelves, do a squat each time you put something away. You’ll be sore tomorrow, but it’s worth it!
4. Engage Your Imagination
Nobody says you must think about scrubbing the toilet when you’re cleaning the bowl. How un-fun is that? There’s nothing wrong with setting up your smartphone in the corner and watching your favourite murder mystery. Prefer to laugh? Bring up your favourite streaming service and binge-watch the sitcom you love the most.
If you can’t look at a screen while you clean, audiobooks might be your best friend. Maybe you’re into nonfiction, real-crime dramas. Perhaps you’d rather escape into a science fiction or fairytale land. Either way, download a book to carry you away from Scrubbing Bubbles and Ajax. Your brain will thank you.
5. Get Competitive
Cleaning for the sake of cleaning can be boring. What if you tried cleaning for the sake of winning? Chances are, there’s not someone cleaning right along beside you. That doesn’t mean you can’t compete with yourself to see just how fast you can disinfect the kitchen sink.
On your next cleaning day, decide you’re going to put yourself to the test. How fast can you clean out the fridge or fold the laundry? Put on some mop sliders and turn your living room hardwood floors into a skating rink. It could be a great opportunity to perfect some Figure 8 moves.
Whatever you do, set a time goal, and use a stopwatch to see how quickly you complete your task. Most importantly — choose a prize for yourself if you beat your time. Iced coffee or a nap could hit the spot.
6. Turn It Into Play
When you think about cleaning, images of dingy washcloths, dusty brooms, and grey sponges may come to mind. You can do better than that! Housework might be a boring chore, but it doesn’t have to look that way. There are lots of things you can do to almost turn your cleaning tools into toys.
Wrap your mop handle in colourful twine or spray paint your vacuum a funky colour. Brighten up your dust cloths by tie-dying them or knitting a few with crazy patterns. If you like stickers, decorate your broom and dustpan with silly faces. Get creative with some googly eyes that roll around every time you use your trashcan. Whatever you choose, make sure it gives you the giggles.
Living in a clean space is great, but housework isn’t always fun for everyone. That doesn’t mean you must suffer through it. If you’re looking to jazz up your cleaning routine, try these tactics. They’ll make your housekeeping duties a lot more fun. Plus, you’ll feel like you’re done with your chore list in no time.