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Ya’ll, I am not an early bird. Never have been. I used to be a night owl, but since I had my baby I’m not even that anymore.
Instead I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon!
Since tired has become my default state lately, I’m all about simplifying my cleaning and tidying routine. My super quick and easy nightly tidying routine has been a total game changer lately! It makes my mornings so much less stressful!
I know, it sounds like one just more thing that you have to add to the end of an already long day. The last thing anyone wants to do when they’re already tired is to tidy.
I get it. Exhausted pigeon here remember!
But trust me when I tell you that it’s worth it. It seriously only takes ten minutes to have a stress free morning!
Living Room
The first place I start is in the living room. It usually only takes me a couple seconds to tidy up.
I’ve always had a rule that the older kids stuff belongs in their rooms. If it gets left out I confiscate it and they have to earn it back. This majorly cuts down on the amount of stuff that gets left out. Usually the only things for me to pick up are the baby’s toys and an occasional blanket that didn’t get put away.
On the rare occasion I have more stuff than that in the living room, my super quick pick up trick (try saying that five times fast!) is to gather everything into a laundry basket and then, as I go through the rest of my nightly tidying, I take the basket with me and put stuff where it belongs. It takes me so much less time to put everything away when I’m not running back and forth from room to room.
I also insist on everybody coming and getting their stuff from the living room. If everybody comes and gets their own things put away, there isn’t usually much left that I need to put away.
Kitchen
Next is the kitchen. My kitchen is my most non-negotiable part of my nightly cleaning routine.
If I do nothing else before I go to bed I get my kitchen tidied up. It improves my morning routine more than anything else.
My nightly kitchen tasks are wiping my counters and sink down, starting the dishwasher, and putting away any stray stuff that got left on the counter. Not time consuming at all, but it makes a huge difference in how smoothly my mornings go.
It is so much easier to want to get up and cook breakfast in a clean, tidy kitchen. Plus, since the dishwasher got started the night before, all of the dishes I need for breakfast are clean and ready to use.
Bathroom
Once I get to the bathrooms I hang up any towels that got left on the floor, clear off the counters, and quickly wipe down the bathroom sink with a Clorox wipe. If there are any dirty clothes left on the bathroom floor I tell kids (or my husband!) to come get their clothes.
I’m a big believer in everybody learning to clean up their own stuff. I will remind them, but I’m not picking up everybody’s stuff for them. I think kids, and people in general, value their things more when they take care of them. Obviously, this varies with the age of your children. I have different expectations for teenagers than I do for very small children.
A quick pick up of the bathroom is enough to make it simple for everybody to quickly get ready in the morning.
Hot Spots
Everybody has what I call ‘Hot Spots’. These are the places where stuff just gets dropped, but it doesn’t actually belong there.
One of my biggest hot spots is at the end of my kitchen counter. It’s right inside the door from the mud room and the mail, the keys, random tools or bolts and screws always seem to end up there. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves and without daily clearing, hot spots can easily spiral out of control and take over.
Take just a minute and clear them off. Throw away the junk mail, put the keys where they belong, and put the random tools away. It will only take a couple minutes if you do it regularly.
Kids' Room
The last place I usually check is my kids’ rooms. They are expected to tidy their rooms before dinner, so they usually don’t get too bad before bedtime. Usually, all that needs to be done is to make sure clothes actually made it to the dirty clothes hamper and things are straightened up.
Because I have a blended family and my step kids stay with their mom for the school year, we aren’t usually dealing with making sure backpacks are ready for the next day. When the custody situation was different and we did have them during parts of the school year, I had them get their backpacks organized the night before as well. Then right before bed we would check and make sure it was ready to grab and go in the morning.
It only took a few minutes but it saved tons of time and hassle in the mornings.
That’s it! Living room, kitchen, bathroom, hot spots, and kids rooms. Four rooms and ten minutes equals a much less stressful morning and a much happier momma! Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do.
Leave me a comment letting me know how it went and don’t forget to share and pin!
