Keeping a tidy living space can be challenging, especially if you find it hard to stay on task. Rather than push your household chores to the bottom of your to-do list, attempt some of these tried and true tactics that can help even the most distractible individuals maintain a clean and organized home. "Neurodivergence includes a variety of conditions, all of which can impact the ability to organize, start, and complete tasks, including home cleaning," notes Courtney Walsh, a cleaning expert at Homeaglow. "Because of this, cleaning can be more challenging for neurodivergent people than it is for neurotypical people."
To break it down, Homeaglow outlined 10 cleaning tips that can help anyone reframe the daunting task of housekeeping and succeed at their cleaning routine.
1. Reconsider your standards and perception of how you “should” clean
"Becoming overwhelmed by how a messy home and rooms are organized is a leading cause of burnout among neurodivergents when they look to clean their homes/rooms. They often want to emulate how others clean or make their homes look," notes Walsh. "Changing your perception of what cleaning looks like could be something like designating a corner of the room that you want to clean, or creating areas in the room that you use to help focus cleaning them in. This takes the form of reframing your intention to clean the kitchen to only cleaning countertops, emptying the fridge of out-of-date foods, or wiping the floors. The intention is to set a smaller task rather than the whole room."
She adds, "The alternative could be to accept that there is a mess in the room but designate certain parts of the room to the mess. The intention is that you can focus on the mess and areas you need to clean. This could take the form of using a corner of the room to place dirty laundry or placing a large trash bag in a corner so you build the habit of putting rubbish in the trash bag."
TAKEAWAY: You don’t have to clean everything in one go, and containing messes in certain areas can help make house cleaning and organizing easier.
2. Focus on the gross
Keep an eye out for anything gross or that could turn gross in the home, such as used plates with food on, bottles, used cups, and things like cat litter. "If you spot anything lying around that might be ready to go off, take it out into the kitchen so it’s closer to where I can be cleaned. You don’t need to wash them right away but moving them into the correct area to clean them makes it easier to do the eventual deep cleaning in one go, and prevents clutter from building up around the home or in part of the home where items don’t belong."
TAKEAWAY: Pay attention to things that are truly contributing to your messy house.
3. Write down small tasks — and do one at a time
"Taking on too much all at once is the leading reason many neurodivergents become overwhelmed while cleaning," shares Welsh. "To get around this, list small household tasks that let you clean up a little at a time. Using a list system such as the '5 Things' method, by KC Davis, can help to avoid feeling burnt out and motivate you to focus on completing them." Think of it like a chore chart, but tell yourself there are only five things to focus on, one after another, in any room:
- Trash: Pick up any trash in a room and throw it away.
- Laundry: Collect clothing items that are lying around and put them in your laundry basket.
- Dishes: If you find dirty dishes in a room, put them in the sink - though you don't need to worry about washing them just yet.
- Put away things that have a place: Many people have a doom pile of stuff that never seems to get put away. If things are out of place but have a place, make a plan to put them back where they belong. For example, invest in a shoe rack if you need a place to store your shoes.
- Organize things that don't have a place: Collecting stuff is natural but it often turns into needless clutter, pile up things that don’t have a place and decide where they should go…getting rid of them is also a sure way to master clearing clutter.
TAKEAWAY: Ticking through a list of broken-down tasks in each room can keep you on top of your cleaning checklist without creating an overwhelming feeling.
4. Make your bed
You spend more than a third of your life in bed, so it can be very therapeutic to have a clean space before you leave the room to start your day.
"You don’t need to make your bed fully, you can simply just flatten the blanket or duvet out and put pillows back on the bed," shares Walsh. "The intention is to make the room feel less disorganized by having the room looking neater."
TAKEAWAY: Simply pulling the comforter back into place can be thought of as a cleaning session.
5. Designate a list of where things go
If you have a busy schedule, enacting even simple strategies can feel like an impossible task. "Creating a list of designated areas where things belong fosters good habits and makes it easier to keep a clean, functional space. This can be done by clearly labeling where to put things and using a posted master sheet to locate and find where things need to be stored," reminds Walsh.
A master designated list could be something like:
TAKEAWAY: Use a list to focus on where things need to be and help reduce the anxiety of needing to remember where things go as you complete house chores.
6. Do a little often
"You don’t need to spend hours on cleaning schedules. Create lists, and the eventual habits will form. After some time, you'll find that time blindness lifts and you'll have a more organized, less burdensome clean house," shares Walsh.
TAKEAWAY: Create lists that help to break tasks down in individual rooms. Use the lists to focus your mind when you find things in the wrong place.
7. Set a timer
"Setting a timer can be motivation for some neurodivergent people, especially those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)," acknowledges Walsh. "Creating a game out of cleaning can help some people to focus their minds by looking to 'beat the clock'. It doesn't take a lot of time to create a new daily routine."
TAKEAWAY: Set a timer on your phone that goes off after 5, 10, or 15 minutes. The countdown can serve as a visual reminder, and five minutes is often enough time to get stuff done without disrupting other aspects of your daily life.
8. Organize your cleaning products and utensils
"After you’ve used something to clean a room or complete a cleaning task, give yourself time to put everything you used back where it belongs, and in a neat and tidy manner," recommends Walsh. "This saves running around the home trying to find a vacuum cleaner attachment, duster, or trash bags."
She adds, "It can also be helpful to keep cleaning products close to the room you use them in. For instance, storing kitchen cleaners in the safe but accessible kitchen cupboard saves having to go into another room, or even keeping bathroom bleach near or close to the bathroom reduces the chances you might spot something else that needs cleaning or doing."
TAKEAWAY: Keep your cleaning supplies organized and in an easy-to-access location. Their presence can become a physical reminder that cleaning can easily become a part of your everyday life.
9. It doesn’t need to be perfect
"If you're cleaning your home yourself and ticking off the lists of things to do, you’re doing amazingly well," notes Walsh; "however, it’s important not to compare how your home looks to others or those on social media."
TAKEAWAY: At the end of the day, getting a small amount done is it better than it being perfect.
10. Give yourself a reward
"Treating yourself after completing a cleaning task is a great method of helping to motivate your cleaning habits," notes Walsh. "This could be as small as a few M&Ms for completing a few small tasks to a bike ride to the park for completing a full set." It's important to set a goal and reward yourself for meeting your own expectations, so long as you have the willpower to set reasonable expectations and resist rewards if you haven't met your mission.
TAKEAWAY: Go easy on yourself. Consistent actions to meet your goal deserve consistent rewards.
