Let’s be honest, nobody really enjoys cleaning. Often, it feels like a pointless exercise—especially when you’ve got hundreds of other things on your to-do list. We wash our plates only to eat off them again, we fold away our clothes only to wear them again tomorrow and we make our bed only to sleep in it that night. It’s relentless and sometimes it feels easier to neglect our mess than to get on top of it.
And yet, we can’t help but strive for picture-perfect homes. You’ve probably read a range of tidying manuals and overhauled your possessions a few times each year in the hope of achieving one. But chances are, you’re no closer than before. You’re still surrounded by way too much stuff, living in a perpetual yo-yo between messy and almost clean.
Rachel Hoffman, the author of Unf*ck Your Habitat, knows this all too well and she thinks she has the answer. “There’s a reason that all of your past attempts haven’t been successful: you can’t change everything all at once and you shouldn’t try to.”
Unlike other aspirational tidying methods that suggest a marathon cleaning session, Hoffman believes it’s the tiny changes that make the biggest difference. Her book is more realistic; it’s a pragmatic, practical guide to getting your sh*t together once and for all. She recognises that we’re all human beings and that life is messy, and encourages us to put down the interior magazines because “they are impossible if you own enough possessions to function in modern life.”
If you just want to get your home to a point where a drop-in guest doesn’t send you into a tailspin of panic and where you can live your everyday life without being depressed and disgusted by your own surroundings, the book is for you. Below, she shares her ten commandments of tidying. Read them and you’ll worship her forever.
10 Daily Habits That Will Transform Your Space…And Life
Do a little bit every day
Think you don’t have the time? Hoffman says to ask yourself if you find time to watch Netflix or catch up on Facebook. “So it’s not that we don’t have time; it’s just that we’re choosing to prioritise the little bits of time we do have differently.”
Use your leisure time wisely
“You don’t have to stop your life in order to clean; you can integrate a little bit of housework into what you’re already doing,” she says. All that time you lose to technology? Use it. “Do something while you’re catching up on your series. Fold your clothes and pair your socks. Bring the laptop into the kitchen and clear off a counter. Find a twenty-minute podcast and use it as a soundtrack while you catch up on your dishes.”
She recommends knocking out a 20-minute session as soon as you get home before you switch into I’m-going-to-lie-on-the-couch-in-my-underwear mode.
Put it away, not down
Once you start becoming aware of where you’re putting things, you’ll notice that it’s really not as much work as you think to put things away instead of setting them down wherever.”
Use your waiting time efficiently
“We all have short spans of time during our day when we’re stuck waiting for something else to finish before we can move onto the next thing,” says Hoffman. She suggests we learn how to use them efficiently by completing easy, low-investment, low-commitment tasks.
“While your coffee is brewing in the morning, unload the dishwasher from last night. Once you put dinner on to simmer or bake, wash all of your prep dishes so there’s less to do later. Does your shower take a while to heat up? Use that dead time (and a sponge soaked with the not-hot-enough water) to wipe down the bathroom counters.”
Make your bed
“Unmade beds are agents of entropy; they’re only going to get worse. First, the bedding is in disarray. Then laundry starts to pile up on it. Then there’s so much other stuff on it that there’s no room to sleep unless you toss everything on the floor.”
Keep your surfaces clear
“This is as much psychological as anything else. Flat surfaces like counters, tables, dressers, nightstands, etc., tend to accumulate a lot of crap. When they’re all piled up with stuff, visually, they’re messy, they’re overwhelming, they make everything look bad, and the whole thing makes you feel like conquering your mess is hopeless. By keeping the most visible flat surfaces clear on a daily basis, you’ll have tangible proof that your cleaning and organising efforts do, in fact, make a difference.” And, if you apply habit #4 daily, chances are your clear surfaces shouldn’t pile up anyway.
Tidying tip: pick a surface that you see every day that tends to accumulate clutter. Take five minutes or so daily to clear it.
Unf*ck tomorrow morning
Unless you’re one of those rare people who have your sh*t together every day, chances are, mornings are a constant battle.
Instead, Hoffman suggests taking 20-minutes before bed to prepare yourself for tomorrow.
“Think realistically about what trips you up in the morning. Do you lose time trying to find matching shoes or your keys? Is trying to throw together a last-minute lunch costing you time (or money in takeout, because let’s face it, that’s way easier)? Do you forget to take your vitamins only to realise it when you’re on the road and they’re at home, forgotten? Get all that shit together the night before and make your morning that much easier.”
Rubbish goes in the bin
“While this is certainly an extension of “put it away, not down,” it also requires a little bit of self-awareness. What rubbish are you creating, and what do you do with it once you create it?”
Hoffman says to look around, is your house filled with receipts, napkins, shopping bags, or packaging? Be aware of putting rubbish in the bin before using the products it was created for. Also, make a habit of taking the rubbish and recycling out on a regular basis.
Tidying Tip: If you don’t have some kind of rubbish receptacle in every room, get one. Throwing your rubbish away is a lot easier when it doesn’t require a special trip. Better yet, try the #ZeroWaste Movement…our editor did.
Do the washing up every day
Wash, dry and put it away, goddamit
“Laundry and washing up have three steps, everyone. It’s not done until it’s put away.”
Once this is done, it’s important to get into a habit of putting things away immediately before your clothes end up on the floordrobe and your dishes wait on the drying rack until they’re reused.
Unf*ck Your Habitat by Rachel Hoffman is published by Bluebird, RRP $19.99
