Despite writing a column that often shares cleaning tips, I don’t live in a sterile, germ-free environment. However, my home is clean enough for comfort — I don’t worry about putting my feet up and I don’t rush to put a coaster under every cup. Life is for living, after all.
The system I employ around my home is inspired by two trends on TikTok: the ‘closing shift’ and the ‘Sunday reset’. Do I stick to them religiously? No. But do they make life a little easier? Yes, and an easy life will always call to me.
This first technique is based on the usual tasks of the last person at a workplace. Before closing up in a restaurant, pub, or shop, their last task is to clean away any items that should not be out, wash the dishes, and wipe down the counters and tables.
This popped up on TikTok two years ago and it saw people doing one last sweep through their home before bedtime. Think picking up discarded clothes and hanging them properly, tidying away empty food packaging, placing a child’s toy back where it belongs, and generally clearing away visual clutter that accumulates over the course of a day.
The logic behind this is that by doing a quick five-minute tidy before you go to bed, you’re not waking to a home that already needs to be tidied. It eases the mental load for many of us.
I started implementing this idea a while ago, and it’s a nice way to close off the day and have everything ready to go for the morning. Cups and glasses are popped into the dishwasher, along with anything building up in the kitchen sink. I also use this time to prepare a lunch if I’m in the office the following day, so it’s ready to grab and go from the fridge — and of course, I’ll sweep away the crumbs and recycle empty packaging while I’m at it.
I don’t necessarily do a ‘closing shift’ every night, but it is a handy process to go through if visual clutter is hard to ignore or if the next day is going to be busy — it’s nice going to bed with one job on tomorrow’s to-do list already ticked off.
If the closing shift is your day-to-day maintenance, then the Sunday reset is when you tackle those bigger jobs. The logic behind the timing of this one is to spend a chunk of time on Sunday cleaning so your home is prepared for the week ahead.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be done on a Sunday. If you find that a Wednesday morning is when you have the house to yourself and no distractions, then make it a Wednesday reset.
There are some key time-consuming jobs to tackle in a reset: changing bedsheets, deep cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming the house, for example. With these out of the way, you enter into a more productive week with less stress and fewer distractions.
When I implement a Sunday reset I focus on four key areas: vacuuming the house upstairs and down (coinciding with the dog being brought out for a walk as the vacuum is her most-hated thing in the house), gathering clothes and doing some laundry so I have fresh outfits ready for the week, deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, and doing a house wide sweep to declutter areas, recycle waste, and donate items we don’t need.
On top of this, it’s a good time to do some meal prep and batch cook if that’s something you find useful for the week. This can save time midweek and help you to eat healthier, balanced meals rather than grabbing convenience food on busy days.
The most essential part of a Sunday reset is to ensure there is time factored in at the end of the day to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour. Light a candle, run a bath, watch a TV show — it’s just as important to reset your own stress levels before diving into another week.
News Source : Irish Examiner
