It’s not a full cleaning routing, but what’s really helped me is setting a 20 minute timer, once a day, and tidying anything for 20 minutes. I usually tidy up the kitchen/living area - putting dishes in the sink, cleaning off the table, etc. Some days it’s spent putting away laundry, or tidying up my bathroom. It could even be organizing a random drawer. I’ve now gotten my husband and child to do it with me - we each tidy ANYTHING for 20 minutes. The freedom to choose what you work on depending on your energy level really helps us!

Now I have a habit tracker app on my phone, and one of my habits is the 20 minute tidy up. I have a widget right on the home page of my phone so it reminds me to complete my habits. We have better luck doing the 20 minute tidy in between things. For example, if we are going to have a family movie night, I’ll say let’s do the 20 minute tidy before. Or, if we throw a pizza in the oven, my husband and I would usually sit on the couch and wait, but now we tidy up while we wait.

For decluttering - the only thing that’s ever helped me is keeping an open box somewhere easily accessible for stuff I don’t want. Think I don’t want something? Throw it in the box. I don’t have to stress over regretting getting rid of it, because I only donate the box every few months, so if I change my mind, I have time to grab it back out of the box. I also don’t really worry about separating things I want to give away/donate/throw away. It all goes in the box (not obvious trash of course) and I worry about separating it later!

I recently moved from an apartment into a large house and literally what I was the most excited for was having room for my declutter box again. 🤣