Overwhelmed by Housework? Here’s How to Get Back on Track!

Are you feeling overwhelmed by housework? Maybe you are thinking, what is wrong with me? Why can’t I stay on top of housework?

First, take a deep breath. It’s going to be OK. It’s just housework. 🙂 There are far more important things in life, and sometimes, we are in a season that doesn’t let us stay on top of housework and cleaning.

If you are feeling behind on housework and want to start making progress in the right direction, then check out these simple steps you can start taking today.

Acknowledge the overwhelm with housework

At some point in time, we’ve all experienced overwhelm when it comes to keeping up with our housework. It piles and piles up, and before you know it, you can’t even see your kitchen counter and table, and everyone is eating dinner on the couch with plates in their laps.

Whether life got in the way because of whatever season you are in or you just got caught up in the latest social media scroll or Netflix binge, you can catch up…even if it feels like an impossible task right now.

Give your season a name, even if is a “lazy season”. Sometimes we need a reset for our health, so don’t beat yourself up for taking some time to yourself, and acknowledge you are entering a new season where you no longer feel overwhelmed by your messy home.

Acknowledge where you are. Know that it can’t be fixed overnight. And finally, know that it CAN be fixed.

Here are the steps you can take to stop feeling overwhelmed by housework:

Step 1: Take advantage of the small cracks of time

You don’t have to dedicate an entire weekend to clean. You can. However, if you have struggled and felt overwhelmed by cleaning up to this point, then easing into it may set you up for longer-term success (and sanity).

The key to no longer feeling overwhelmed by housework is to work in small batches of time and effort all while being consistent with those efforts.

When I first transformed our home, I only had ten minutes to give every day. Yes, many days I gave more, but ten minutes was all I could promise I could give.

Can you give yourself just ten minutes every single day? Even better, find the same consistent time every day, so it becomes an easy habit.

How do you make more time for cleaning?

Set aside at least 10 minutes per day. Ten minutes isn’t a lot. Most people can find that much time.

Here are areas of your day where you may be losing 10 minutes and can give up for cleaning:

• Scrolling social media
• Watching TV
• When dinner is simmering or baking
• When you are checking your email in the morning
• While you are waiting for the kids to shower and brush their teeth
• That sweet spot of time right after the kids go to sleep

We often do a quick ten-minute clean-up right before dinner. The whole family gets in on it, and before you know it, the house looks five times better with very little effort. Bonus, all the effort doesn’t fall on mom!

Step 2: Know that clutter may be the culprit

Clutter can make cleaning 100 times harder than it should be when you already don’t have enough time and feel overwhelmed by the housework.

It’s tough to vacuum when you have to first pick up toys. It’s impossible to dust and wipe down counters when your kitchen island is buried under a pile of mail and random items that you have to move and put away first.

So what do you do?

Clear the clutter BEFORE you organize or clean.

Enact the flat surface rule for your counters, tables, and floors.

Look for quick 10-minute decluttering or even 5-minute decluttering tasks. Yes, you can declutter with just 5 spare minutes!

Even spending ten minutes clearing clutter before cleaning will make a huge difference. You’ll be able to vacuum, dust, or wipe surfaces without moving 15 things first.

Step 3: Establish tiny, tidy habits to stay on track

If you are overwhelmed by housework, you can easily stop feeling so overwhelmed by establishing tidy habits, rather than sweeping, big changes.

Here are some easy tidy habits you can enact right now:

Take one item with you

A simple trick to stay ahead of the mess is to always take one thing out of place with you when you leave a room. Heading to the kitchen? Grab that cup from the coffee table on your way. It seems small, but this tiny, tidy habit adds up quickly.

Make your bed every morning

You bed likely takes up the largest portion of your room. Just by making your bed every single day, half you room now appears clean. It’s like magic.

Plus, starting your day with a tiny win like this give you a sense of accomplishment right from the beginning!

I used to think making my bed was pointless, but it turns out a made-up bed is like a superpower. It somehow makes the entire home feel cleaner, even if there is laundry lurking just out of sight.

Step 4: Do one load of laundry every single day – from start to finish

Avoid the laundry mountain.

Instead of waiting for “laundry day,” try doing one load a day from start to finish: wash, dry, fold, and put away. This keeps the laundry from turning into an overwhelming mountain of wrinkled clothes.

I know, laundry is sneaky—it’s one of those chores that never seems to end. But by handling just one load daily, you stay ahead of the game. And bonus: you’ll always have clean socks!

Step 5: Use a cleaning schedule (and loop it if you need to)

Sometimes, when you are overwhelmed by housework, you just need a plan. A daily cleaning schedule you can print out and post to the fridge can be the perfect plan!

I go through phases. Some weeks, I do daily cleaning based on tasks. For example, on Mondays, I like to dust and on Thursdays, I vacuum the bedrooms.

Other weeks, Tuesdays and Thursdays are scheduled from morning to bedtime, and I can’t give any time those days. So what do I do? I loop schedule my cleaning tasks.

What’s a cleaning loop schedule?

A loop schedule is your new best friend when it comes to housework. Instead of feeling like a failure for not cleaning the bathroom on its assigned day, you just pick up where you left off. It’s a rotating list, so if Monday’s dusting didn’t happen, no biggie—you’ll get to it on Tuesday.

A cleaning loop schedule may look like this:

Every day, you do the basics: Dishes, a load of laundry, and make the beds.

Then, you simply rotate through the weekly cleaning tasks, doing at least one cleaning task each day you have available:

• Dusting
• Bathrooms
• Kitchen reset
• Bedroom pick-ups
• Vacuum floors
• Mop hard floors
• Wash the sheets and remake the beds
• Declutter a small space

By rotating your tasks, you never get behind, even if you have a crazy day.

A loop schedule also gives you the freedom to work consistently without beating yourself up for missing a day (or two… or five). Housework doesn’t judge, and neither should you!

Step 6: Bring in reinforcements – Your family is not off the hook!

Cleaning shouldn’t be a one-person job. Get the family involved!

You didn’t create the mess alone, so you shouldn’t clean it alone either. Assign simple tasks like putting away toys or helping load the dishwasher.

Oftentimes, our family is willing to help, but they are at a loss on how to do it. The key to success is often delegation. It’s always OK to ask people who live in the home to participate in maintaining it. Many hands make for light work!

One of my favorite tricks is setting a 10-minute family cleanup timer, while dinner finishes up cooking. Everyone races to finish their task, and by the end, the house looks way better.

Bonus: It works wonders if you turn it into a game for the kids.

Step 7: Progress over perfection – Be kind to yourself

It’s tempting to feel like you need to get everything done ‘now”. But as long as you’re making progress, you’re doing great.

Focus on the small wins—a cleaned counter, a folded load of laundry. It all adds up with time.

Then, celebrate your wins. When you’re behind on housework, even the smallest victories matter.

Got the dishwasher emptied? That’s worth a high-five, or at least a hot cup of tea you can savor, all without the guilt of feeling like you need to do it all at once.

Consistent efforts will catch you up on your housework

By working in small batches, starting new tiny and tidy habits, enlisting help, and loosening the reins on perfection, you’ll find that the house slowly catches up to where you want it to be.

Remember: the house didn’t get messy in one day, and you don’t need to clean it all in one day either.

Even if you’re overwhelmed by housework, just take five minutes and start. Progress is progress, and you’ll feel better with every little bit of effort.”

You’ve got this!