How do you normally tidy your home?

For many mums, it’s something that we just keep putting off because there isn’t enough time in the day. The first couple of days, you can usually get away with this pretty easily – it might be a few pieces of mail on the counter and an errant stuffed animal or two in the living room. But before you know it, the day will come when you look around and are horrified by how out of control it’s become.

I have the perfect solution to this problem, and the best part is it’s actually fun! I know what you’re thinking, but I promise I’m not exaggerating! Check out my exciting method to tidy your home to perfection in just 15 minutes a day.

The Cleanup Dash

Tell your family you’re going to start playing a new game every day called the Cleanup Dash. The rules are simple: you set a timer for 15 minutes, and everyone runs through the house and tidies up everything they can find before the timer goes off. In our house, we have four people: 15 minutes x 4 people = 1 hour of work! But it doesn’t feel like work – and that’s the beauty of it.

We put music on, which makes it go a lot faster. You can let everyone take turns choosing the tunes you’ll listen to. I like songs that make you feel like dancing as it helps you keep moving. It’s also fun to choose songs that everyone can sing along to, like Disney songs. You know your family best – just be sure to choose something uplifting!

We typically do this on the weekend when everyone is home as it lets us get tidying out of the way, so we have more time for the fun stuff. But if you can find a time every day when everyone’s available, such as after dinner, you’ll really get the full effect of this magical approach!

Dividing the work

There are a few ways you can divide the work when you do this. One is having the entire family go together from room to room, tidying up everything in sight in one room before everyone heads to the next room to tackle it. This adds to that frenzied feeling that makes it more fun for kids.

Dividing the rooms and assigning one or two to each person is a perfectly good approach as well. However, this only works if your kids are mature enough to stay on task and continue tidying even if they’re out of your sight!

You could also just let everyone loose, running around haphazardly and picking up whatever they find. Sometimes a lack of structure makes it feel less like a task.

What works for us is that first and foremost, each family member tackles his or her own mess. Then, once that is dealt with, we all run crazily from room to room trying not to bump into each other and doing whatever we can.

Make it a habit

It really is amazing how much tidying you can get done in 15 minutes when everyone pitches in, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t notice a huge difference after the first time you try it. The results will add up pretty quickly, and you’ll be amazed at how much cleaner the house looks once you’ve done it a few days in a row.

Stick to tidying

Just remember that the idea here is to tidy your home, not give it a deep cleaning. During the Cleanup Dash, everyone should be picking up toys, books, papers and anything else that is out of place and putting it away. You’ll hang up clothes, coats and backpacks and maybe give surfaces a quick wipe-down. You shouldn’t be doing anything that requires gloves or a bucket – but you’ll have way more time for those deep cleaning tasks during your weekly cleaning because you won’t have to lose any time on tidying!

Start small

Finally, I want to add that you shouldn’t feel obligated to spend 15 minutes on this from the start. I think it’s the right amount of time to work up to, but if you are worried your family will be reluctant, you might start with 5-minute sessions before moving up to 10 minutes and eventually reaching 15 minutes. 

Add a closing ritual

It might also be fun to establish a little ritual for when the timer goes off to congratulate yourselves on a job well done, like a special family handshake or a group hug. Maybe you’ll roll a dice to see who gets to choose the music for the next Cleanup Dash session, or perhaps you’ll have everyone say what they’re grateful for today. As soon as the the timer starts counting down to the last 10 seconds we all RUN and plop ourselves onto the sofa, and enjoy some minutes of well-deserved relaxing and bonding time. Working these small moments into your routine can help you tidy your home and strengthen your family bond at the same time! 

I hope this works out for your family as it has for mine. 15 minutes is such a short time span and we’re always so pleased of ourselves when the timer goes off!