8 Time Saving Tips for Cleaning ...

Naturally, the easiest way to save time in your cleaning is to prevent it from getting dirty in the first place. Yeah, I was a little skeptical about this one too – but I understand it, really. You can do light maintenance cleaning throughout the week so that you don't have to scrub the ever loving heck out of everything when you are ready to start cleaning.

You can time yourself with certain things, or rather, trick yourself into thinking that you only have to clean for five minutes, or ten. If you clean for ten minute increments throughout the day, you'll be done in no time, and it won't take a lot of time away from the rest of your work. There's no rule saying you have to do everything all at once, though.

You can also make a cleaning schedule, so you know what needs done. Have a designated laundry day, or a time when you know you can wash the dishes, and so on. That way, you can use time management to work in your household responsibilities as well – and if you live with someone, you can set up a schedule for them as well!

Rotate the rooms you need to clean. For example, you can clean the master bedroom one week, and the guest room or office the next week. Some rooms don't need cleaned routinely and some things don't need done all the time, so you can save time by not sweating about whether or not the second bedroom you only use for guests is spic and span all the time.

So, there is no dishwasher in our apartment. I hate that. And let me tell you, if you skip the dishes for too many days in a row, you end up with a huge mess. The best way to take care of this is to wash your dishes as you go, as you use them, as you cook. It will take way less time than, say, waiting until you can't find any clean spoons. Actually this works with a dishwasher as well, because you can load it up as you go.

If you have recycling everywhere in your kitchen, dirty clothes in the bathroom floor, and soda cans cluttering the desks or counters, cut it out! Make it easy to get to the receptacles for each thing. Put a hamper in the bathroom – or the bedroom or the living room, wherever you tend to have a build up of dirty clothes.

On the subject of the hamper, you can actually make several. Whites and lights can go into one, darks can go into another, and you can even have one for towels and linens. That will save a lot of time at the washing machine; all of your laundry will already be sorted into different categories.

You can also throw things away as you go. This applies more to cooking. As you open cans, peel vegetables, and so on, throw away your mess. This will save time and you won't have to clean up anything later.

I know there are other ways you can save time while you clean. I just can't imagine what they are. Does anyone have any tips?

Top Photo Credit: riot jane