There are not many people who enjoy cleaning and organizing their homes, because first of all, it’s a lot of work that’s never-ending.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. A few rare individuals actually find it very therapeutic to spend hours making sure every item has a home and that there’s not a speck of dirt anywhere to be found.
Regardless of whether you jump for joy or dread every moment of the process, keeping your house clean can provide you with a piece of mind and your escape from the outside world where you can get away from all the madness.
When you live alone, keeping a clean and organized home tends to be easier to maintain as opposed to cohabitating with other people, whether that be with family, friends, or even strangers.
When multiple people share living quarters, one of the biggest challenges is trying to strike a balance between keeping everyone happy in areas where they differ in their philosophy of what they consider to be neat and organized.
If you have some members of your household who happens to be neat freaks, and others that are so messy, they could go on a hoarding TV show, it’s not an easy task for everyone to live together in harmony.
You’re going to discover four tips on how the members of your household can cohabitate peacefully together while keeping the home neat and organized.
Let’s do this…
1)) Have a Group Meeting
The best way to tackle a problem is head-on through communication. You have to first admit something’s wrong before you can work on a solution to resolve it.
Most people hate having meetings, especially those involving the household, but it’s important to open and keep the lines of communication open to reduce conflicts that could potentially escalate.
Instead of holding a boring meeting where everyone points fingers and attacks each other, why not make it fun by ordering delicious food and drinks?
Then have everyone provide their input in a light-hearted way.
You could even write each person’s concerns on a portable whiteboard and as a group comes up with potential solutions.
For example; let’s say that the cupboard ends up being so disorganized, it becomes difficult to find items. Everyone could make suggestions on how to prevent this from happening. Such as; putting items back in their proper place after use or straightening out the cupboard when you see that it’s getting disorganized in order to maintain order.
You could also hold follow-up meetings to gauge progress.
If you make the meetings fun, most of the household members will look forward to having them, especially if some food is involved.
Now isn’t that a better way to get everyone on the house onboard to work as a team instead of getting into shouting matches, which will accomplish nothing but create division and tension?
I recommend holding these meetings once per month to increase the effectiveness.
2)) Decide on Common Goals
Although some family members or roommates may be drastically more or less comfortable with disorganization than others, there are sure to be some common goals you can all agree on.
That’s why holding meetings regularly is recommended in order to make those discoveries.
For example; you could establish a regular group clean-up time, or to keep the living room clean since this is where your guest spend most of their time when they are over.
It’s very important to choose deadlines and establish a minimum level of cleanliness that everyone can agree on.
You have to set expectations as soon as possible and hold everyone accountable.
Most people are reasonable and when approached respectfully will usually cooperate.
3)) Decide on a Reasonable Compromise
Perhaps the messiest individual in the house simply may not be able to stay consistently organized, nor leave things spotless all the time.
Maybe as a group, you could choose certain rooms that need to be tidy and others that are not so important.
For instance, there should be no compromises when it comes to rooms such as the kitchen, family room, or bathrooms. Those are common areas that pretty much everyone in the household uses and must be kept clean and organized because it would be inconsiderate to allow them to get filthy.
Bedrooms are generally an area where the organization can be left to one’s personal choice, unless they begin having a negative impact on others in the house, like attracting pests such as roaches or rats.
This way, if someone has items that need to be put away but they don’t have time to do so, immediately when they return home, they know that they can put items in their own room or another appointed "messy zone" until they have the time to sort them out.
Make other compromises such as letting family members or roommates switch their cleaning duties with someone else if they are running late from work or have an especially busy day ahead of them.
It’s all about teamwork!
4)) Let Each Person’s Strength Be Highlighted
No two people are alike, even in the same family. Everyone has different strengths, and this can be capitalized on when you are creating your cleaning schedules during the fun meetings.
Perhaps one of the household members loves cleaning the kitchen after supper, while another prefers more time-consuming, but less frequent tasks such as vacuuming.
Create the schedule to cater to everyone’s likes, dislikes, and natural abilities.
Earlier, I mentioned using a portable whiteboard to brainstorm, but you can also put the task on a shared mobile calendar that everyone in the house can access.
These calendar Apps even allow you to set reminder alerts so that no one can say they forgot to complete a task.
You’ve got to love the technology.
Conclusion
It can be extremely challenging to live with others who are at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to household organization, but there is no need to let it destroy your relationships or living arrangements.
Stay focused on what you love about each of your roommates, whether it is family or friends.
Appreciation for each other and a commitment to working together will help you to live in harmony while taking responsibility together for the home you live in.
In order for your home to be a safe haven away from all the madness and chaos of this world, everyone must work together to keep it clean and organized to foster that type of environment.
During your regularly held meetings, ask everyone to express the difference in how they feel when the house is organized as opposed to when it’s messy. I can almost guarantee that everyone will prefer it to be neat and orderly every time, even if it takes a little elbow grease to keep it maintained.
Truth be told, if everyone in your household operate as a team, the workload wouldn’t be bad at all.
One person shouldn’t have to do all of the work around the house, because it’s not fair, and will cause him or her to feel a lot of resentment.
If you live with others, don’t hesitate to rally up your team and get it done!
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