Do you feel glued to the chair and wondering how to get yourself motivated to clean?

It can be difficult to motivate yourself to clean, particularly when you feel tired, stressed, or even depressed.

However, studies indicate that a clean and tidy environment will help with physical and mental health.

According to a study published in Mindfulness, washing the dishes can reduce nervousness by 27% if you are focused on the task.

Cleaning and tidying help you to feel in control of your environment, therefore calming anxiety.

Here are more tips on How to be Happy Practicing Mindfulness.

With that in mind, I will share how I motivate myself to clean when I don’t feel like doing it.

How to Get Motivated to Clean

Here are 10 tips on what you can do when you feel like you have no energy to do anything but your home needs some cleaning.

1- Listen to an Audiobook,  Podcast, or TedTalk

My favorite way to get me in the mood to clean is to listen to something interesting.

I don’t mind putting things away and cleaning when I am learning new and interesting information. The more I enjoy an audiobook the easier it is to clean.

The opposite is also true. Some books can be dull, repetitive, or boring. In that case I try to finish quickly so I can stop listening to it. 

When I have an audiobook that I enjoy I even look forward to cleaning or doing the dishes so I can listen to it.

You will find inspiration not only to clean and organize your home but also to change your life and mood to happy.

2 – Create a Habit

If we have a system for keeping our home clean, we don’t have to figure out how to get motivated to clean every time.

Find out what is the best time of the day to clean.

You may think that there isn’t any specific time when you feel like cleaning.

However, I did experiment with different times, and found out that the afternoon or night is a time when I don’t mind doing some cleaning.

I had time throughout the day to do more important tasks, usually on the computer, so it feels good to stretch a little bit and get things done around the house in the evening.

Having a regular time of the day to do some cleaning, especially if it comes after a regular activity you do every day, will make it easier to get motivated to clean.

You may like: 10 Good Habits to Have for a Happy Life

3 – Write a To Do List

Once you identified the tasks that you want to do, the next step is to write them down in a to-do-list.

Knowing in advance what you are trying to accomplish and making sure it will not take you more than 20 minutes will motivate you to get started.

You can also plan your month in advance by splitting your cleaning responsibilities into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. This gives you a clear idea of what needs to be completed and by when.

4 – Break Your Chores into Small Tasks

Remember you do not have to get everything done, particularly when you are feeling tired.

That said, dividing your cleaning responsibilities into smaller chores is a great way of fighting procrastination and getting important tasks done.

Breaking chores into manageable portions prevents everything from getting out of control, which can leave you feeling frustrated.

Another benefit of breaking down a task is that it keeps you motivated because completing a task is psychologically rewarding.

5 – Focus on One Task

It is easy to come up with a long to do list of everything that needs to be done to clean a home.

However, feeling overwhelmed is not a good place to start.

When I don’t feel like cleaning, I just focus on one little task. Surprisingly, after completing that small task I feel motivated to keep going.

6 – Take a Break

Do not be too hard on yourself.

It is important to take a break from cleaning and do something that you enjoy.

Looking forward to a break can inspire you to complete the task quickly and move on.

Plan ahead what you will do during your break. You may want to take a nap, get some coffee, or check emails.

To ensure that you get back to work, you can set an alarm to exactly 20 minutes or 10 minutes.

7 – Listen to Your Favorite Music

Playing your favorite music can boost your mood, and motivate you to complete several tasks on your to do list.

Additionally, listening to music while cleaning can make cleaning more enjoyable.

That said, you can create a playlist you can use when doing laundry or washing the dishes. A playlist with upbeat music such as pop, hip hop, rap blues, gospel and rock-n-roll should keep you jamming until you finish your chores.

The secret is to create a play list with your favorite music.

8 – Exercise

When you’re fatigued, depressed, sad, bored, stressed, or anxious, you might not enjoy doing day to day tasks. Low mood can make you lose motivation and interest in what you once enjoyed doing.

However, not all is lost because through exercise, you can boost your mood and re-motivate yourself to clean up. Exercising allows you to release feel good hormones, thus making you happy.

You can unwind your mind by dancing, taking a walk, going to the gym, or whatever exercise works for you. If you make it a habit to exercise regularly, you will have the fresh energy you require to clean up.

Here may be interested in How Exercise Makes You Happy

9 – Reward Yourself

Think in advance what reward you will get once you finished your cleaning tasks.

Even though looking and enjoying the clean space is a reward in itself, it is also nice to get an extra reward such as cuddling with your dog, enjoying your favorite drink, or playing your favorite game.

10 – Ask for Help

It is very difficult to keep a house clean especially if there are pets and little kids.

I found out that kids are especially motivated to help around the house when there is something that they want. My kids have to do chores to earn computer time.

Two or three times per day, they have to pick up items from the floor, clean counters, or doors.

It seems that it is easier to keep the rest of the house tidy without toys everywhere.

I hope that these 10 tips on how to get motivated to clean were helpful.

Let me know in the comments below, how do you get motivated to clean?