Do you ever feel that you are running around in circles trying to tidy, but it still remains a mess? The evening sweep is one routine that’ll help keep your house clean with minimal effort.
It’s 8 p.m. and all the kids are in bed.
You just want to fall down on the couch comatose.
Then eat ice cream, binge watch Netflix, and recover from your hyper-vigilant day.
You’re the typical tired mom. And that’s okay. That’s your season of life.
But there’s something else that compounds the tired weary feeling, and that’s an untidy home. Not because you “should” have a spotless home with no clutter anywhere. No “should’s” allowed.
But because clutter and untidiness actually has a negative affect on your mind. The Princeton University Neuroscience Institute puts it this way:
Multiple stimuli present in the visual field at the same time compete for neural representation by mutually suppressing their evoked activity throughout visual cortex, providing a neural correlate for the limited processing capacity of the visual system.
Then they paraphrased that for us mortals by saying this: when your environment is cluttered, your mind becomes distracted and unable to process information as well as you do in an organized environment.
It’s not rocket science people… it’s apparently neuroscience.
What’s an “evening sweep?”
An evening sweep is when you take 5-15 minutes going from room to room in your home tidying up, returning things to their place, and straightening.
I started this years ago and it’s one of my favorite and most effective ways to keep a relatively clutter free home.
I go through phases (late pregnancy, a massive de-cluttering phase, or a busy time with work) where I don’t do it every single night, and I feel those effects immediately.
1. Do it before you sit down
This is key for me. If I crash before I do the sweep, it often doesn’t get done. I use the rest time as incentive to push through and do it.
When I walk from the last child’s room or away from the kitchen sink, I’ll quickly walk around and start putting things back where they go, in the laundry, etc.
Then, as soon as I’m finished, I’ll relax. Sometimes with a good book, nice drink, or whatever else I feel like that evening. If you don’t do it before you enter relax mode, it probably won’t get done.
2. Do it quickly with purpose
The key here is to have the goal be the sweep and to do it quickly. If you are the type to get distracted by many things along the way, try your best to focus.
Otherwise, you’ll end up not having swept anything and have created a few new piles of things to captivate your attention.
In just 15 minutes a night (while you’re in your pajamas!) take your home (and heart and mind) from stressed out to organized.
3. Have the kids help before bed
I’ll often have the kids help me do a sweep of their things around the house before bed. At various points throughout the day we’ll tidy up so that the mess doesn’t get so big it takes an hour in the evening.
The goal is to do small sweeps – and have your kids do them as well – throughout the day so that one final evening sweep leaves you with a tidy home.
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Learn More4. Use a timer if need be
If you tend to get distracted or are worried it’ll be an endless tidy up leaving no time for relaxing, set your handy timer.
I’m going to write a post soon on all the ways you can use a timer, but suffice it to say, set it for 10 minutes and go hard and fast.
Then you know it’ll end. If your home is a big mess then you don’t have to try and climb Everest in one night. Baby steps will build better habits than big jumps you can’t maintain. This is the timer I use
Pssst… grab a 2 pack of timers here.
5. You’ll thank yourself tomorrow
There is honestly a lot to be said for waking up to a tidy home. Of course your little love bombs will blow it all up within an hour or two of waking, but that’s okay.
They’re kids.
Waking up to a tidy home is such a nice way to reset and start your day right. You probably already have a good mom morning routine, and if you’ve done your evening sweep you won’t even need tidying in that morning routine.
I may be in the minority, but I let my kids make a monster mess if they want to because they’ll be the ones picking it up. So don’t be fooled into thinking the house is always clean and tidy.
It isn’t.
However, I do make an effort to end the day that way and it really really really (and a few more really’s) helps my mental health.
Follow this checklist until your tidy routines become second nature.
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I’m the mom who picks up toys while my kids are still playing…lol. Since this is how my mom was I think I just mindlessly declutter throughout the day because it’s just ingrained in me. I also make my kids pick up their own messes when we are in a transition time such as lunch, nap or leaving the house. I’ve found that even at their young ages (1.5 and 3.5) they are used to things being put back where they go, so they do it by themselves a lot of the time. Great tips!!
I do that too sometimes girl. I can’t stand clutter. I prefer an empty looking house, I know that sounds horrible to some. Ha. And you are TOO RIGHT. When the kids are used to it they clean up easily.
Setting a timer so you don’t get overwhelmed is a good idea. When I give myself a time limit, I feel happy about how much I am actually able to accomplish in a very small amount of time, rather than mentally piling up everything I could possibly need to clean.
That’s exactly it. I can go fast and wide open knowing I have a goal and I feel good. A timer helps you stop too, and not feel bad about it :)
Yup, I wrote a post recently about getting kids to clean up because it can be such a headache when the house is a mess. I mean, my house will never be spotless or look like a magazine. But something as simple as making sure there are no things on the floor at the end of the day can be a huge help.
That’s exactly it. Nobody needs that headache of trying to create a showroom, but it won’t hurt them to clean up and it helps the mama relax!
But what are you actually doing during the sweep? If, like me, your house has layers of clutter: things with no home that will take hours to organize, things that have homes but aren’t really in the way, things that are urgently needed elsewhere, things that will be dangerous if not put away, things that are horribly in the way, etc., what do you focus on tidying? I can’t feasibly do it all. So what’s the main focus during the sweep?
Laurie, I thin the key is once you get rid of the layers, an evening sweep keeps it in near tidy condition most of the time! So I don’t have things around with no place. So things just get tidied up nicely. If you have the layers going on, then the frist thing to do is NOT the evening sweep but rather a sort of organization or decluttering. Hope that helps :)
Wow, Rachel, this post is really inspiring. I tried it, although I do the whole day sweep-not only in the evening-lol, but, it helps.
Now, I find a routine in doing laundry, the biggest mess maker at home. I do it right away early in the morning, repeat washing in the afternoon after my sons back home from school. It really, really works.
Thanks!
Rachel, I find your comments inspiring and o boy do we ever need some inspiration. I look forward to implementing some of your tips straight away. My bad organisational habits are coming on in DROVES to bite me and mine. Signed, Nan in a 3 generation household .
Debby, you are going to love doing a tiny thing or two and seeing a big change. You are doing a great job!
I’m curious as to how you prevent your kids from leaving their room in the mornings? How did you teach them this? My 2.5 yo comes into the bedroom every day and wakes me, and sometimes baby who is bedsharing with me too.
It’s hard to get them to stay in sometimes. You can use the ‘okay to wake’ clock which helps them see the green light means come out. They will get it eventually!
I love a nightly routine I but often fall asleep when putting my little one down. I use a similar approach that I implemented years ago- Always bring something with you into the next room to put away if you find that your home is a little out of control, making tidying a lifestyle, a part of your daily life. This helps gradually pick up the small clutter of things that aren’t in their home. Also, throw away the trash first! So much visual clutter is just trash.
Oh I love that idea! Similar to the one touch rule :)
I have found, too, that 15 min can go a long ways towards a tidy house! So hard to remember when it’s 10:30 and I spent the whole evening preparing a meal, washing dishes, bathing children, getting them to bed, etc. but I am so much more motivated to start my work in the morning if I don’t have to look at clutter. Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks so much for these great tips! It can feel overwhelming to tackle all the things all the time. I’ve been thinking I need to just give myself permission to do small spurts. Thanks for this push! If I could just do a little everyday, it would be far less overwhelming! Thank you.
Yes, a bit everyday is much easier :)
Definitely agree with the timer idea, and doing it before sitting down. Great post.