"I can't stand the thought of cleaning," said no one ever. But if you're like me, you might find yourself with a dirty house and no motivation to do it. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to trick yourself into getting your chores done faster, without actually doing any work at all!
Start with the hardest stuff first
One of the best ways to get out of doing housework is starting with the hardest stuff first. When you get that stuff done, you'll feel better about yourself and it will be easier to keep going with the rest of your chores. However, if you start with easy things first and then try to tackle mowing the lawn or scrubbing a toilet, it can feel overwhelming. Starting with something more challenging will motivate you to work harder and finish faster!
Clean as you go
Clean as you go. This is one of the most effective ways to get out of doing chores, because it's so simple. It doesn't take much more effort than what you would already do—and it makes a huge difference in how often you have to clean.
If there's something that needs to be done, just do it. If there isn't anything that needs to be done right now, put it away where it belongs and move on with your life.
When someone comes into your home and sees that everything is clean and neat (even if only for an hour), they'll think twice about asking if they can stay over tonight or leaving their dirty dishes in the sink. Even though no one will likely say those things explicitly (at least not openly), we all know what our homes say about us when they're messy or unkempt: "I don't care enough." The same goes for other people who come over unexpectedly—they'll see your house as being messy or unkempt, even if only temporarily soiled by visitors' presence! And nobody wants that kind of label on them or their home!
Invent a made-up holiday and make it a tradition
If you can't get out of doing housework, it's time to get creative. Invent a made-up holiday and make it a tradition for your family. Make it something that other people will want to celebrate with you—it doesn't have to be complicated!
You could also invent new traditions as they come up. If there's something that makes your household feel like home, make it part of the routine of daily life—and maybe even make it into an annual celebration!
Create a spotless room to make yourself feel better about the rest of the mess
When you have a lot of work to do, it can be tempting to try and clean your entire house at once. But if you have a lot on your plate, this will only make things worse than they already are! Instead, pick one room in the house that needs cleaning—the one where you spend most of your time. For example: if my bedroom is messy but my kitchen is spotless, I'll start with the kitchen because I spend more time there than anywhere else. After that's done, I'll move on to another room that needs work until everything has been cleaned up (and even then I might still leave some rooms untouched). Once one room is spotless and ready for company or guests (or just for yourself), start working on another section of your home until everything looks shipshape again! You've got nothing left but smiles after all those hard days' work :)
Recruit some help!
- Get a friend to help you. There’s nothing like having another set of hands around to make the work go faster and more efficiently, especially if you enjoy spending time with them. Your friends will likely be happy to help out, especially if they’re looking for ways to earn some money or have a few hours on their hands.
- Make it fun by playing music or chatting. If your friend is willing and able, pair up with them and play music while you work together—it can really make the time fly by! If not, keep things casual by chatting about anything from what’s happening in your life right now to what happened last night on Game of Thrones (or whatever else has been keeping you busy).
- Do something else while they do the work. If no one is available for help but there are still chores that need doing around your house on Saturday afternoon, consider taking care of other tasks while someone else tackles those dirty dishes or piles up laundry; it's an easy way to kill two birds with one stone!
Just do it - but only for three minutes.
If you're like me, doing housework is not your favorite thing to do. I can't stand to clean for more than five minutes at a time because it's so tedious and boring that my brain goes into a deep state of procrastination. The only way to get out of this cycle is by setting myself up for success with a timer.
But how much time should the timer be set on? Well, according to research done by psychologists Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006), if you want to kick-start your motivation into action mode and really motivate yourself through housework: 3 minutes should be enough!
DO NOT check Facebook. Do not.
Facebook is a time sink. It's a time waster. A time vampire! And it sucks the life out of you, draining your days and nights in an endless cycle of scrolling through friends' photos and reading their status updates.
Facebook has become such an integral part of our lives that we can't imagine how we ever got along without it—and yet if we were honest with ourselves, most of us would admit that Facebook doesn't bring us any real joy. In fact, there's plenty about Facebook that's downright annoying: all those notifications popping up on your phone or laptop; having to update your profile picture every few months; being bombarded with ads for products you don't want but feel compelled to look at anyway; having no idea how many people are watching your live broadcasts because they're not counted unless someone actually comments during the broadcast itself.... The list goes on and on!
So why do so many people spend hours each day scrolling through their feeds? Why are they willing to tolerate all these annoyances just so they can post some photos or videos once in a while?
Use your logical brain to convince yourself you are being lazy
If you can use your logical brain to convince yourself that putting off housework is not lazy, but rather an efficient and productive way of spending your time, then you are well on your way to getting out of doing chores.
Think about it this way: being smart means making the best decisions for yourself. If you do not clean up after yourself because it's easier for someone else to do it later, then aren't you just taking advantage of other people? In fact, if you allow yourself to get away with not cleaning up after yourself (by finding ways around doing so), won't that make you a bad citizen?
Well... maybe not quite in those terms, but hopefully we're getting closer here! It's important to remember that even though we like to think we know what is best for ourselves sometimes—and most likely always—we cannot possibly know how all things will affect us at some point in our lives. So when faced with household chores, remember that every chore could be more than just another task on your list; it could be an opportunity for growth as well as self-improvement!
Give yourself more time than you need to complete tasks
The first thing you can do to get out of doing housework is give yourself more time than you need to complete tasks. When you're in a rush, your body is stressed and tense, and the only way it knows how to deal with this stress is by producing adrenaline so that your muscles can perform better—but this will only make things worse. By giving yourself more time than necessary, you'll be able to relax before starting each chore. The result? You'll complete each task efficiently while feeling energized, refreshed and rested!
This technique works for just about any chore: folding clothes or putting dishes away doesn't have to be stressful if done properly and at the right pace; scrubbing the bathtub or washing dishes doesn't have to be backbreaking if done with care; dusting doesn't have to take all afternoon if it's broken down into small sections that can each be tackled quickly; vacuuming doesn't have to take forever if it's done section by section instead of room by room; sweeping floors can even be fun when enjoyed as part of an enjoyable activity like cleaning up after dinner every night!
Make the chore social. Invite friends.
- Invite friends over to help. One of the best ways to get chores done is by inviting friends over and getting them involved! Whether you're cleaning out your garage, organizing your closet or prepping meals for the week, having other people around can make everything seem easier and more fun.
- Make a chore party! Chore parties are a great way for groups of people with similar interests to come together and enjoy themselves while helping out their community at the same time. If you're interested in hosting one yourself, check out websites like Helporgeddon which provide tips on how to host successful events like these (and even throw parties where all proceeds benefit local charities).
It is possible to have fun while cleaning.
If you are tired of mopping the floor, scrubbing the toilet, and making your bed every day, it is possible to have fun while cleaning.
You can be the master of your home instead of a slave to it.
The important thing is that you make the choice about whether or not you do housework. It's not like anybody's going to come take over your life if you don't clean today; nobody will even notice if there's an inch of dust on that bookcase for another week! But if this does bother you and if it stresses you out when things aren't tidy enough for your liking, then by all means get up off that sofa and start scrubbing away at those stains now!
There are many ways in which people get out of doing housework: they hire someone else (e.g., a maid), they buy new things (e.g., new furniture), they change their habits (e.g., sleeping in more often) or they modify their living environment so that it requires less upkeep (e.g., installing marble floors).
I hope these tips have inspired you to try something new when it comes to cleaning your house. If there is anything I learned from my research, it's that the key to making chores easier is to find the right combination of motivations that work for you. For example, if you are not a fan of cleaning because it takes too long and requires too much effort, maybe one way out would be finding an activity that will make the process fun (like baking cookies!). Another might be doing things like setting up rewards or incentives for yourself as motivation--like watching Netflix while doing household chores!