The Value Of The Clean-As-You-Go Principle

If you often find yourself stressed about your home because it’s so messy, know that there’s something you can do about it. You’ve already probably heard or seen signs that say “clean as you go.” Maybe you can try applying this practice in your own life so that you can minimize the stress you experience whenever you’re confronted with so much clutter. 

The principles of cleaning are simple, and you can apply this system not just in organizing the clutter in your home, but also to have a clutter-free and clean mind. Once you understand the clean-as-you-go principle, you can use it at work, school, managing finances, and other vital areas that need decluttering and organization. 

What Is The Clean-As-You-Go Principle?

The clean-as-you-go principle is very easy to understand and practice. In your home, for example, you don’t wait for the whole house to be a mess before cleaning it. You may think that you don’t have time to clean your home every day, and you can only do so on the weekends. Well, what’s great about this practice is that you don’t have to do a total clean up every day. What you can focus on instead is cleaning a small area of your house daily. Soon, you’ll realize that you’ve cleaned and organized the whole house without you noticing it. 

For many of us, we usually wait for things to become unbearable before cleaning up our spaces. This strategy may work for some, but most of us typically feel overwhelmed and stressed about how much work we need to do. We may even end up procrastinating because we can’t face the massive task we have on our hands. By using the clean-as-you-go principle, you can avoid becoming overwhelmed. The point is not to clean everything all at once. Instead, you only have to commit to working on a couple of things each day. 

How To Practice This System

There are many opportunities for you to apply the clean-as-you-go principle. Here are some of the most common ones:

• Upon waking up, immediately make your bed so that your bedroom looks tidy. And when you go back to bed in the evening, you will feel great and ready to relax. After a long day at work, we all want to come home to a comfy bed that’s been made and is ready for us to sleep in. 
• When you make your coffee or wait for your toast, you can look at your kitchen and see what needs to be organized. Maybe you can gather the spices and place them neatly in the spice rack. You don’t have to clean up everything. Just choose one area to focus on and work on it during your idle times. 
• After finishing your breakfast, make it a point to wash the dishes so that they don’t pile up in the sink. You may think that you barely have enough time in the morning because you need to get to work quickly. If this is the case, then you may need to make some adjustments to your schedule. Try to wake up half an hour earlier than usual, so you’ll have the time to clean up a bit before you leave for the day. 
• At the office, it’s expected that you’re going to have tons of paperwork at your desk throughout the day. Before leaving for home at the end of the day, try to spend about ten minutes tidying up your work desk. Organize any loose papers and put your pens, stapler, and other office supplies in their respective places, like your drawer. Use a life organizer, also called a planner, to organize your meetings and important events. The next day, you’ll arrive at a clean desk, and you can start your workday without being disrupted by a mess. 

These are some of the common instances where you can use the clean-as-you-go principle. As you can see, it’s not that hard to do. You just need to commit to a few minutes each day to clean up. When you have enough time during the weekends, you can do general cleaning in your home. But at that point, you won’t be so overwhelmed. 

Using The Clean-As-You-Go Principle In Other Areas of Your Life

You can also use this principle in other things. For example, if you want to be healthier and more fit, it will be much easier for you if you can start slowly like taking a walk for ten minutes every morning. When you’ve built up enough endurance and strength, then you can try running. You can also incorporate other workout routines throughout the day, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Try taking the longer route when you’re walking to go somewhere. All these little efforts that you don’t notice can help you become much healthier in the long run. 

For your finances, you can also use the clean-as-you-go principle. Take note of the due dates of your bills so that you’ll never be late in paying them, and you get to avoid surcharges. A better way is also to automate your payments, so you don’t have to think about them. You just have to set it up once, and then you can check your accounts occasionally to make sure that things are going smoothly. You can do the same for your savings. Automate your finances, so you have fewer things to worry about. 

Final Thoughts

We’ve all been taught since we were young to put things back where we found them and clean as you go. Now that we’re grown up, this rule is even more useful because we can apply it in many aspects of our lives. Try it and see how it can make your everyday life more efficient.