'Complete the Cycle' to Keep a Cleaner Home

There are a lot of different cleaning and organizing methods out there. You have to try a few before you figure out what works best for you, but they all have some things in common. Typically, committing to a cleaning schedule and working in small bursts is recommended, but what if you tried something entirely different? But if sticking to a cleaning schedule doesn't work for you, try "completing the cycle," which asks you to think of cleaning as part of the process of the task that created the mess in the first place.

What is completing the cycle?

This cleaning framework has been around the housekeeping blogosphere for a few years and stands in stark contrast to the way we usually think of cleaning. Normally, I say you should dedicate a small chunk of each day to tidying up, keeping a consistent schedule. When you do that, you pick up and organize whatever is out of place at that time during the day. With completing the cycle, nothing will be out of place because you reframe how you see your daily tasks. Think of everything you do as a cycle, with cleaning up afterward being the final step.

How to start completing the cycle

As an example of how this works, think about your morning commute or the time you spend getting ready for work. Maybe you brush your teeth and shower, then make breakfast or grab a coffee on the way to the office. Getting to the office or sitting down to start working might seem like the final step in that cycle, but you could start imagining the post-commute cleaning as the final step. In some ways, you probably already do this. If you swing by Starbucks on the way to work, you don't hold on to the cup when you're done. You throw it away. Finishing the coffee isn't completing the cycle of getting the coffee, but throwing away the cup is. So, the end of your work routine actually comes after work finishes up, when you put away your commuter bag, put your clothes in the hamper, and rinse out your lunch box before putting it in the cabinet.

With the standard method of cleaning, you'd do all of that during the cleaning time you blocked out in your schedule, but by completing each cycle with a clean-up of whatever you were doing, you make it so you don't have to do that. The cycle of eating dinner doesn't end when you've eaten, but when you put away the plates. The cycle of working out doesn't end when you're done lifting, but when you wipe down your equipment and put it all back. The cycle of game night with your family doesn't end when someone is declared a winner and the kids fall asleep, but when you put away the board and wash the popcorn bowl.

If designating a set time for cleaning hasn't worked for you or you just want to try something new, this could be the way. Cleaning everything in real time, as you finish with it, prevents messes from forming in the first place and negates the need for scheduled cleans altogether. Before you start, make sure that you're adhering to an organizational method already and, ideally, everything you own has a designated place for storage, so it's easy to put everything back where it belongs right away. Some things, like unloading the dishwasher or putting away laundry, may still require some scheduling, since you can't do those when you're done with your dishes or clothes, but overall, this technique will cut down on how much time you spend cleaning—and how much time you spend living in a cluttered space in between.