Simple Tasks You Can Do Every Day

The weekend has arrived. After a long, grueling week at work, you are ready to settle down on your couch to relax and unwind. But wait, you have a mountain of dishes. Your bathroom countertop is full of scum and the mirror has stains on it. And good god, what’s that smell?. You notice you haven’t taken the trash out and oh my god, are those ants carrying a crumb? You sigh and unhappily prepare to forget those weekend plans and get to cleaning.

Now did you know; all of these things could have been avoided. Here’s a list of things you can do every day to lessen your domestic workload:

• 1. Wash your dishes/load dishwater
• 2. Make your bed
• 3. Wipe your counters
• 4. Sweep up your floor
• 5. Pick up any loose items
• 6. Prepare your clothes for the next day

Why is this Important?

Trust me, it is much more annoying and time consuming to do all of these things in one day than it is to do it periodically throughout the week, preferably every day. These tasks take little to no time to do. Ask yourself, would you rather spend 4 hours of a weekend day doing all of these things, or 10-20 minutes a day getting it over with?

The latter, right? Right. So, let’s get started.

Wash your Dishes/Load the Dishwasher

If you live in a space that has a dishwasher, take advantage of it. You can rinse your dishes off, and place them in the washer, and run them once a week, like on a Saturday night, and unload them on a Sunday. If not, that’s okay! Invest in a dish dryer countertop. These things will save your life. Find a place in the kitchen and dry any used dishes there. You can also grab the clean ones on the go too.

To wash your dishes, you need:

• Dish Soap
• Dish Scrubber
• Dish Rag
• Dish Gloves
• Dish Rack
• Apron (optional)

How to wash your dishes (if you do not have a dishwasher):

• PICK A STRATEGY - Pick a strategy, for example, wash your cups first, then plates, then utensils.
• ADD DISH SOAP - You do not need that much soap, so put a dollop of dish soap (the size of a quarter or nickel) on your dish scrubber and get it wet.
• WASH DISHES - For practice, wash each dish for about 5 seconds, using the tougher side of the scrubber to get rid of tough stains and the softer side to smooth it out.
• PRESERVE WATER - Make sure you do not keep the water running, so, as mentioned earlier, pick where you want to start. You can do one of two things:
• 1. Wash your cups, then rinse. Wash your plates, then rinse, or wash your utensils then rinse. (This method frees up space, so your dishes aren’t cluttering up in one spot)
• 2. Wash everything all at once, and rinse everything all at once.
• RINSE YOUR DISHES - When rinsing your dishes, make sure you are not doing it with sudsy hands. Rinse off your hands and then rinse off your dishes.
• DRY DISHES - When you are done rinsing, place your dishes on the dish rack face down. For glasses, dry with a microfiber rug and place them back in the cupboard.

Make Your Bed

It takes roughly 5 minutes to place your bed together. When you wake up, remove your pillows, fluff your bed to get rid of dead skin and neatly tuck your sheets. Fluff your pillows (this is my favorite part of cleaning the bed as I take any frustrations out on my pillow) and place them back on top of your bed.

Optional – spray some Febreze furniture spray on your bed, so when you are going to sleep, you are getting into a neat, nice smelling bed. Also helps when you have special company over, if you know what I mean.

Check out this video!

Wipe Your Countertop

When you use the bathroom, whether to wash your face or your hands, you can easily overlook the water that drips all over the countertops. If you don’t intervene at that time, the water droplets will dry on your countertops and make it look unclean and gross.

If you designate a rag that is just for cleaning your countertops, it can save you a lot of headache. Have one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom, so there is no overlap. When you finish washing your hands, dishes, or face, pick up the rag and wipe the countertops clean. For actual stains, get some all purpose cleaner, spray your rag, and wipe up the stain.

Sweep Up your Floor

There is something so annoying about having loose items scattered across your home, be it pieces of paper, clothes, hats, trash, it’s annoying!

Let me tell you a horror story. When I was 9, I would not care one bit about loose items, so I always had clothes on my bedroom floor. One night, when I was watching tv, I saw, out the corner of my eye, something moving across my floor. When I would look in its direction, there wouldn’t be anything. It happened again, and well, I focused all of my attention on the floor. Lo and behold, it was a freaking roach using my mountain of clothes as a hideout spot.

That moment changed my life forever, and since then, you will never catch random things on my floor. Don’t be like young, naïve, 9-year-old me, pick up your stuff.

Pick Up Any Loose Items

For this, a simple broom will do the trick. Some people might think a broom is archaic, but it’s literally my favorite thing in the world. It’s quick and simple to use. After you are done cleaning your countertops, bust out the broom, set aside the dustpan, and sweep for about 5 minutes to rid your floor of dust and crumbs.

Don’t let the ants win! It’s your home, take control and get rid of the crumbs and dust bunnies.

Prepare Your Clothes for the Next Day

Remember those days when we had field trips, and we were so excited that we laid out our outfit for the day? No? just me? Well, whatever, nothing can beat that feeling of excitement. Treat every night like you are going to go to a special event the next day. Check the weather and plan accordingly. Try the outfit on before you fold it.

Doing this has always brought me a sense of relief. I get so relaxed and excited knowing I am going to look my best tomorrow. I recommend doing the same, it helps you get out of bed easier!

Conclusion

It’s all worth it in the end. These tasks are for you to feel accomplished and relaxed. If you don’t feel like it, remember that it won’t take forever and it will, without a doubt, help jumpstart your relaxing weekend date with the couch.

Try it out and see!

Written by Doreen Chirwa · My Growing Pains