Daily Home Reset: 4 Easy Tasks That Will Make a Huge Difference
Inside: Learn how doing a daily reset for your home can make a big difference in how your space feels and functions.
Do you wake up each day and feel overwhelmed by the state of your space?
Do you feel like you’re constantly behind – facing a sink full of dishes, a basket full of laundry, and a counter covered with clutter before you’ve even had a chance to enjoy your morning coffee?
It can be overwhelming.
But it can definitely be fixed!
Resetting your space at the end of each day is a small but meaningful way to keep your home tidy, neat, and stress-free.
Don’t have a ton of time to spend cleaning up each evening? You don’t need it! By taking a few minutes to reset your space, you can ensure you’re starting each day without that automatic sense of overwhelm and frustration.
Waking up to a clean, clutter-free home can make a massive difference on your mindset, your motivation, and your ability to navigate your day.
And it isn’t even that hard to achieve.
Why should you do a daily reset for your home?
Let’s be honest.
Most people don’t want to live in a messy, cluttered space.
It’s overwhelming. It’s distracting. And it can be depressing. It doesn’t create the kind of environment where most of us can thrive as well as relax after a long day.
It’s easy for clutter and mess to get out of control, especially when we’re busy. Finding dedicated time to tidy up can be a challenge – especially when all you want to do at the end of the day is kick back and relax.
But the good news is, it isn’t impossible. By spending a short amount of time each day resetting your home, you can make a big difference in your space.
Weekend clean up vs daily clean up
Many people put off the task of cleaning up until the weekend. They feel like they’re too busy and too tired to do it during the week.
But that can create multiple problems. One is that you’re stuck living in the mess the majority of the week. Being surrounded with clutter is distracting and negatively impacts your mental state.
Not only that but putting the task off until the weekend means that you’re spending your valuable time off tidying up your space. And since you’re dealing with multiple days of mess – not just one – it’s probably going to take a little while to address.
By resetting your home every day, you minimize the amount of time and effort you spend cleaning up and getting organized. If you can make it a habit, you’ll only be dealing with stuff from a single day – instead of a week’s accumulation of dishes, junk mail, and laundry.
In fifteen minutes or less, you can make a massive impact on your well-being and set yourself up for success.
I think that’s fifteen minutes well spent – don’t you?
4 Things You Can Do for a Daily Home Reset
Not sure what you should be doing each day to reset your space?
While it truly depends on your lifestyle, living circumstances, and what areas are most susceptible to mess and clutter, there are a few common culprits in most homes.
Do these four tasks to reset your space each day. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.
1 – Wash the dishes.
Let’s be honest.
Very few people enjoy washing dishes.
That’s why so many of us default to leaving them by the sink, or sitting on the stovetop after we’ve prepared a meal. We tell ourselves we’ll deal with them later.
But unfortunately later often turns into a lot later with more work piling up when it comes to tasks we don’t enjoy.
By washing your dishes and loading up your dishwasher every day, you’ll keep those dishes at bay and maintain a much more manageable kitchen.
The first thing you can do to make a huge difference here is to get into the habit of cleaning up as you go. Look for small windows of time where you can clean while you wait for your meal to cook. Cutting boards, utensils, plates, pots, and pans can be washed off and put away while you wait.
And when you’re done eating? Put those leftovers away ASAP and tidy up any remaining dishes. It’ll only take a few minutes. And if you make it one of your daily cleaning habits, it’ll feel effortless.
Check to see if your dishwasher needs to be run to ensure you’ll have clean dishes the following day.
By tackling this task for resetting your home immediately, you won’t get to the end of the day and realize you have a sink full of dishes to tackle when you’re tired and just want to go to bed. You’ll be grateful you already took care of it.
2 – Clear off countertops and surfaces.
Waking up to a clean kitchen is a great feeling. In addition to doing the dishes, make sure to clear your countertops as well. This will not only make your kitchen feel like a calmer space, but it also helps it to function better.
Clear countertops make preparing breakfast and lunches much easier since you aren’t having to move things out of your way.
And don’t forget about other flat surfaces that tend to become clutter hot spots.
When you get home from work or running errands, where do you put your purse? Your keys? Your jacket? The mail you grabbed on your way in?
Most of us default to putting it down on the nearest flat surface. The kitchen counter, the dining table, or a chair can quickly become overwhelmed with stuff that you didn’t take the time to put away.
To reset your home for the next day, do a quick sweep of your counters and surfaces and clear off everything that doesn’t belong.
In most cases, you know where everything should go – you just didn’t put it there. For bonus points, quickly wipe those surfaces down with your favorite cleaner.
3 – Put away your clothes.
Did you kick off your shoes in the hallway when you got home? Did you leave your jacket draped across the back of a chair? What about the clothes you tried on this morning but decided not to wear?
Instead of letting those clothes stay there, put them up where they belong. Put your shoes up. Fold or hang up anything that isn’t dirty.
As for those dirty clothes? Get ‘em into your laundry hamper, or better yet, find time to wash a load of laundry as you navigate your evening routine.
Creating simple systems for your home, including the laundy, will keep clothes from piling up and systematizes putting clean clothes away.
By keeping the laundry under control you can help prevent last minute stresses over not having clean necessary items.
And if you’re overwhelmed by overflowing closets and crammed drawers, consider ruthlessly purging those clothes to get them to a more manageable amount.
4 – Straighten up.
By being mindful of the little things that make our homes look unkempt, you can make a massive difference on your space – without a ton of effort.
Simply walk through your house and do a quick visual scan of each room in your home.
Are the chairs pushed in around your kitchen table? Is the coffee table where it’s supposed to be? Are your rugs straight? Are your countertop appliances where they should be? What about the remote for the TV? And how do your throw pillows and blankets look?
Find any items that need to be straighted, adjusted, or moved and fix them. Close all drawers and cabinet doors.
These might sound like little things, but they all add up to make a big difference to the aesthetic and feel of your home.
By developing quick tidy habits you will keep your space neat and clutter-free.
Reset for Your Space for a Fresh Start Each Day
Doing a daily reset for your home will help keep your house in good shape and will allow you to wake up to a refreshed space.
Just a little bit of effort each day can make a world of difference.
What are some of the things you can do for a daily reset for your home? Leave a comment and let me know!
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Thanks for the perfect advice on maintaining a neat and clean home. As you say, fifteen minutes can reset, bringing back a peaceful environment. Clutter and messes are like a weight on the emotions. Eventually you have to deal with things, and far better using your suggestions.
Jan B.
Not difficult to practice “reset” habits daily! Basic rule….always put back in its place whatever is taken out to be used….toss….when necessary…..scale down when needs or situations demand. Use the 15 minute rule to focus on a specific area, or task, start/finish/congratulation yourself…rest a bit…then tackle another specific area using the “spy glass method!” I found this really works….try it…may work for you!
I like this, but it would take me a lot longer than 15 minutes!
It will be a bit different for each home depending on the size of the home, number of family members helping etc. Hopefully it’s at least a helpful starting point 🙂
This is a good habit to teach your children, too. They can put their school things and coat in a designated place, so they can pick them up on their way out the door in the morning. They can put away their shoes and clothes also. They can tidy their toys, games, etc.
They can help with the dishes, too. The rule at my house, once my kids were 10 or 11ish was “The cook never cleans.” And when they turned 13, they each got to fix dinner one night each week. They put what they would need on the grocery list, so I could make sure they had what they needed. (My daughter’s favorite thing to fix was pot pies, until she finally decided to be more adventurous.) When they cooked, of course, then I cleaned the kitchen, because “The cook never cleans.”
Another recommendation is to involve your kids in this end-of-day ritual. Give each of your children a clothes basket or other container in which to place every item (toy, clothes, soda cans, candy wrappers, crayons, etc.) of theirs that is out of place. If you can encourage them to put them away in their proper places, you don’t have to and you’re helping them to take responsibility for their things and the living spaces you all share. It’s a good habit for all family members to adopt.
Last one up always makes the bed. If one cooks, the other tidies the kitchen. We both work together to fold clean clothes and put our own away. Gifts of service are our love language so it’s easy for us to keep a tidy home.
We live in a two-bedroom downsized senior condo so it’s important to keep it picked up, otherwise it quickly looks like a dump.
One fun thing I did early December was to pull out holiday looks for all the upcoming fun events this month. It’s very pleasant to shop a small rack on my door. Everything is clean and fits and all my special party clothes get worn.
I think all your advice is great. Every home and schedule have to be considered. And only those living there can figure that out. I work 8-4 Mon through Fri so for me I deep clean most every Saturday morning unless I have other obligations then I do it Sunday evening. And then every evening after work at least 1 load of laundry gets done. The load from the previous night gets folded. Supper made and cleaned up after. Then right before bed I take time to do a quick pick up and sorting, start the dishwasher then do my personal hygiene nighttime routine. My husband says he waits on me for an hour before I finally get into bed, but I don’t want the pressure of feeling overwhelmed day in and day out. So, I just tackle it as needed. Once or twice a year if I can, I’ll take off work for 3 or 4 days consecutively and also use the weekend to go through closets and organize, clean ceiling fans, wash windows, ya know, those things we don’t do every single week. I think those who struggle with it must build a tolerance until it is no longer something that bothers them. It really just comes down to a matter of just simply doing it. If you’re not sure where to begin make a list room by room of those things you want to cover and begin by tackling one room at a time, then maintain the finished rooms by keeping up daily with general pickup and one deep cleaning day a week. It will take time but can be done. Once you accomplish that, from there it WILL bother you if you let it get out of control again so that alone can keep you motivated. I love the feeling of calm when I’ve finished deep cleaning and can just sit and enjoy the finished product… even if it is brief… I just feel less stress when my environment is in order.
“Touch it once”. When you pick something up, take care to not to move it somewhere else for later. “Touch it once.” Put it away the first time you touch it. It may seem like it takes more time, but how much time is added when you have to touch it again?
Don’t put it down, put it away is a good rule!
See to that everything has it’s place and put it back there at once and you’ll find it when you need it. So good for your peace of mind!
I’ve had 5 consecutive days of unusual activity (most of it fun) and my apartment has suffered. Deep cleaning over the next few days so I can lounge after Thanksgiving with friends.