How to Get Motivated to Clean

Struggling to keep the house clean because you aren’t motivated? These tips will help you get motivated to clean in no time!

I blog about homemaking and cleaning so surely I enjoy cleaning and I’m a naturally neat person, right? Actually, I’m naturally pretty messy and cleaning isn’t my favorite thing to do. It’s not that I don’t prefer a clean home, I’m just great at procrastinating and easily distracted, thanks ADHD!

Staying motivated to clean can be a struggle, especially when you are really busy. I keep thinking I will be less busy someday but that doesn’t seem to happen. Though I am managing my time better these days.

We will all have times when we need extra motivation to clean. Over my years of having to overcome my procrastination and lack of self-motivation when it comes to cleaning, I’ve come up with some tricks to keep motivated.

How to Get Motivated to Clean

Turn on Some Music

Upbeat music can really help energize you. Find something you like to sing or dance to and let yourself get really into it. Focusing on the music makes the cleaning go faster.

Qobuz is a great streaming service that is more ethical than a lot of the common ones. Or use some physical media and listen to a CD or record. I love to put on a vintage record while cleaning.

Listen to an Audiobook or Podcast

If you get bored while cleaning this can really help. Lately, I’ve been listening to vintage radio shows while cleaning. Right now I’m listening to My Favorite Husband, it’s from the late 40’s and features Lucille Ball.

You can also listen to my friend’s podcast Clotheshorse. I’ve been a guest on three episodes so I have to recommend checking those out first.

Audiobooks are also great for making cleaning less boring and go by faster. I usually get my audiobooks from Libby which is free through your library but another good option if they don’t have what you are looking for is Libro.fm.

Invite Someone Over

This is the trick that will motivate me the most. No one wants guests over when their home is a disaster. When I know someone is coming over I want to clean everything. It’s amazing how much faster I work when I have this deadline.

Use Scent

Using products that smell good, having a diffuser going, or lighting some candles can help my your nose think your home is clean and can actually be really motivating to get the job done. Citrus scents are what smell clean to me so I like to diffuse them while cleaning and add some citrus essential oils to my DIY cleaners.

Use a Timer

I like to set a timer for around 30 minutes and clean as much as I can in that amount of time. Then I will let myself do something I enjoy for about 10 minutes. Often it’s watching a YouTube video, play around on Pinterest, or I’ll work on a puzzle or other craft.

Reward Yourself

I like to have a cup of tea and a little treat after cleaning. Find something that you enjoy and helps motivate you to get the job done. Knowing I have that cup of tea and treat waiting for me makes me want to hurry and get it all done.

Bonus Tip – Use a Cleaning Planner

Having a plan can help and my cleaning planner has different checklists and pages to help you create your schedule and stay on task.

The best part is it’s printable so you can get it now and start using it right away. You can also print off more sheets as you need them.

Get the Retro Cleaning Planner today!

Motivation is wonderful but also work on finding a schedule that works for you. Some people work better cleaning all in one day, I do better having different tasks each day. Find what works best for you, it may take trial and error. There is no one right way to clean! You will find a huge list of different cleaning schedules to try here on the site, including some vintage cleaning schedules.

And don’t do it alone. Unless you live alone you aren’t the only one making the mess. Make sure your family pitches in. How much depends on the family member and what works for you. I’m a full-time homemaker and my husband works full time so I do most of the housework. He does, however, help with tasks around the home. If you need help dividing the chores check out my post on how to divide household chores.

What helps motivate you? How do you divide the workload between your family members? Share in the comments, I love hearing from you!