Four weeks ago today, I began my "Shelter-In-Place"/ Quarantine due to COVID19. In the last 4 weeks, I have noticed many changes to habits that I did not necessarily anticipate. One major habit area is how clean my house looks (there are still some areas that I ignore until it is Deep Clean Day). Here are 5 quick tips I try to do during the day and/or my "10-Minute Tidy" (literally 10 minutes of my day dedicated to knocking out as many cleaning tasks as possible).
Make (all) beds. Just do it. Aside from making the bedroom(s) look cleaner, it also encourages you to not lay in bed scrolling aimlessly for hours. I try to make the bed as soon as I first get up in the morning. I also open the window while I am making the bed(s) to let some fresh air circulate
Dishes. I cannot sleep while there are dirty dishes in the sink. It literally irks me. Throughout the day, I load the dishwasher as I go; you know, the weird appliance where all the extra pots and pans are stored (lol). NOTE: this also sanitizes our most used dishes. I run the dishwasher at night when its full and the next morning, when I come downstairs while I'm making coffee/tea, I unload the dishwasher. The hand washed dishes will sit and dry usually overnight as well; while I am putting the dishwasher dishes away I also put the hand washed ones away because might as well. NOTE#2: there are primarily no dishes upstairs because (1) I don't like the idea of food/drinks upstairs (aside from water) and (2) the thought of ants/bugs in then house (especially in the bedrooms) gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Tops (think counters, tables, etc). Clear it off and wipe it down. Counters get messy when you cook, dinning room tables get messy when you eat, coffee tables get messy throughout the day. It literally takes about 1 minutes to clean it off and wipe it down. One other "top" that gets cleaned frequently is the floors, mainly thanks to Ruby the Roomba - she is either on a schedule to clean or gets activated when I wake her up via our Smart Home Device.
Home Space. When I was in college, I worked at The Habit (hands down the only "fast food" place I will ever consider working at again). One thing that I learned and carried with me throughout my life is the idea of home spaces. Every item has a home and when I am done using it, it goes back to its home space. Pretty easy right? One thing I add is I disinfect the item before putting it in its home.
Spray, Spray Spray. Perfect segue. Before I head upstairs for the night, I spray disinfectant on all heavy touch areas and I let it sit (be careful with drips). Most disinfectants have a time span as to how long it needs to sit in order to properly disinfect a surface. Before I head upstairs, the very last thing I do is spray my disinfectant on all door knobs and door pulls (doors, cabinets, drawers, refrigerator/freezer, etc), carefully clean the remote control(s) and phones/tablets, stove knobs, faucets and toilet (specifically the flush button/handle).
By doing these simple 5 steps almost daily, my house looks so much more put together for little effort. A clean-ish physical space gives me a clean-ish mental space (which we can all use, especially while in Quarantine or essential work scheduling).
And remember, if you are not an essential worker, stay your a** at your home!