Motivation to Clean

I haven't been getting very much done around the house these past couple days due to my back but now that it's doing okay, I need to catch up on my housework. You think this would be motivation enough, seeing dishes piling up, clutter taking over the couch, garbages overflowing. But somehow, no.  I still find myself thinking "Do I HAVE to?" like a little kid. So I have come up with a few ways to combat this.

1. Set a timer. Even if it's just for 2 minutes (although the higher you can go, the better), it'll still help you get stuff done. Maybe if those 2 minutes go okay, you could manage 2 more. You can get a surprising amount of stuff done in 2 minutes.

2. Think about the finished product. Won't it be nice when  your counter is free of dirty dishes? Or when you can actually find the couch? It can't take that much work. You can do it.

3. Start small. Sometimes, we have it in our minds that we have to clean the entire house and it seems overwhelming. Just pick one small thing like the kitchen table or your dresser or something. When you finish that, you can move on to the next thing but look! You already accomplished something!

4. Put on some music. Most people wouldn't go exercising without music so why should you do chores without it? Hook up your mp3 player or turn on the radio and find something that makes you want to get up and move. Not only will dancing while working burn more calories, it'll make it more fun.

5. Think about why you're cleaning. Is company coming over? Can you, like me, just not take the mess anymore? Are you tripping over things? Can you not ever find what you're looking for? Cleaning can solve all these problems (and probably whatever else you're thinking too). When you're done with the job, you know that these things won't happen and you can relax.

6. Buy some new cleaning supplies. Of course you want to test these things out, don't you? It's always fun to have new stuff.

7. Check out my cleaning tab for more help cleaning!

Happy cleaning everyone! Spring cleaning is just around the corner...