Housekeeping is more than just sweeping the floor and doing the dishes: keeping a house in order can be a full-time job, and in a world where we don’t count with said time, it’s important to be smart when approaching this.
For this reason, we want to share with you some Japanese principles. Japan is known not only for their rich culture, gastronomy and tourism, but also for their methodical approach to housekeeping (and order in general).
Even if we’re not sharing every principle, we have extrapolated some basic lessons we can (and should) apply to our daily life.
Japanese principles of housekeeping
1.Organize, classify and sort everything
One of the main enemies of cleaning is disorder: therefore, you need to truly know what things do you use on daily basis, and which others are just around even when you don’t need them.
It’s not only about organizing: you need to sort things depending on whether you use them regularly or not. Objects for your daily life should be easily reachable, while other things (such as seasonal clothes) should be saved further in your closet (or garage, or attic).
Once you start having less objects around and have a classification system for organizing, it will be easier to keep everything in order. It doesn’t need to be too complex: even some baskets to leave specific things can do wonders in your table and desk.
Another great idea is learning from minimalism. If you have clothes you don’t use anymore, or your kids don’t play with their old toys, feel free to donate, sell or throw away everything that no longer has a place in your house.
2.Clean daily
Perhaps you think your day is already full. However, even just a few minutes of daily organizing and cleaning can help you a lot and make everything easier for when the weekend comes around.
Make it simple: you don’t need to clean the entire house. Removing things from the table after using them, throwing clothes around the house in the corresponding basket, or asking your kids to save their toys once they’re done playing is enough.
Additionally, remember to always clean immediately if something gets stained. This will help you to avoid hard-to-remove stains, so just take care as soon as possible from any disaster you may have during the week. If you don’t have free time, you could hire house cleaning services.
3.Get help from your family
Working as a team is important, and Japanese are well aware of this. Schools, for example, make their students clean their classroom daily, while companies can establish committees of safety and visual management to inspect the office and propose improvements.
Talk with your family and make sure you’re working as a team: knowing which tasks need to be done, and when and how often, allows the distribution of responsibility and makes the task more bearable.
Even the smallest ones can help with housekeeping– something as simple as sorting toys in the right place can be a great help from little kids, while older kids and teens can help with sweeping, getting the trash out, dusting surfaces, etc.
4.Discipline is key!
All these changes are fine. However, they won’t mean anything if you don’t make sure to keep doing all these things every day from every week. We’re accustomed to starting a new habit, only to drop it one or two weeks later after starting.
However, consistency is extremely important and something worth achieving. Instead of doing deep-cleanings every weekend, you can opt for doing a little everyday: this is not only more doable and less tiring, but also helps you to keep everything cleaner without losing too much time. And do you where you can find the best maid service in Los Angeles? At Marianna’s Cleaning!
Even if these tips seem simple (because they are), it can be hard to follow them exactly. The reward, however, is a great clean house that will not disappear in dirt and disorder the second you turn away. Also, remember that if you have a busy life, consider hiring residential cleaning services.