Keeping your room clean

By Cody

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As a teenager, I could never keep my room tidy. I had no motivation to organise and sort my belongings, and it became very tedious. But it is important to keep your room clean and tidy (and not just because it looks nice!). Our parents constantly ask us to tidy our rooms, which, for some, is the only ‘chore’ they’re required to do around the house. So, I’ve provided some ways to help you enjoy tidying ,how it will benefit you and will keep your parents happy.

I can’t stress enough the need to make cleaning a DAILY task - you don’t need to do it all at once! Cleaning it all at once can become overwhelming, especially when you have to tidy a big mess, which leaves you wondering‘Where do I even start?’. Do sections at a time, whether those are sections of your room or even ‘under the bed’ or another area being ‘drawers and wardrobe’ - whatever works best for you. 
To stay on top of which areas need to be done, assign one area 5 times a week (allow yourself light cleaning and tidying on the other two days, such as the weekend or whichever days you’d like to have some rest).
I suggest getting a whiteboard or a weekly planner to jot them down on, which you can refer to throughout the week.  Keep it somewhere visible, maybe, stick it to your wall or on top of your drawers, so you can refer to it daily without needing to search for it. If you’re like me, you will need reminders without the extra task of referring to a notepad for everyday tasks.

When tidying up your wardrobe or drawers, it is a good idea to empty them of all the clothes and start fresh. Fold the clothes neatly and assign specific drawers to different types of clothing. Such as the first one for underwear and socks, and the second for tops (and so on). This allows you to ensure they’re all neat and makes it easier to find what you need.

Tidying under your bed can be a big issue, too, so I suggest making sections under your bed based on how you need items throughout the week. Place items you don’t need often at the back, while things you use frequently should go at the front in storage boxes. That way, you can slide these out easily and place them back neatly, which in turn keeps your belongings organised without the need to sort them out regularly. 
Here are a few quick tips to help you tidy:

• Don’t let yourself get distracted by what you find in your room, as it can waste too much time if you don’t keep focused on the task of tidying. 
  
• Get yourself boxes to tidy away anything you don’t need to access every day, such as deodorants, body spray or moisturisers. If you wear make-up, put it into an easily accessible drawer so it is not spread out as this can make your sides cluttered.
  
• If you don’t already own a washing basket, get one! It makes all the difference in making your room look tidier. But if you can’t buy one, you can put them straight into the washing machine rather than on the floor. This also keeps your washing load to a minimum.
  

Making the bed is the one task that makes my room look tidier. It takes about 30 seconds to make your bed in the morning, and it’s also more comfortable to come back to when you’re ready for bed (for me, it makes it seem more comfy). If you go and make your bed right now, you’ll notice your room will look tidier. Another good reason to make your bed BEFORE tidying the rest of the room is motivation (stay with me on this one). Take everything from the floor and anything untidy on top of my drawers and place it on my bed. If you don’t organise everything you’ve put on your bed, you can’t go to bed later, and there is no opportunity to lounge on the bed while tidying. Don’t just throw it all back onto the floor when you want to sleep because you will be in the same situation as before attempting to tidy. I only say this because I have been guilty of doing so, and you’ll only have to do the tidying the next day.

Daily cleaning shouldn’t take any more than 5 minutes. Make sure you tidy before cleaning, this will make cleaning your desk, windowsill and other surfaces easier. Use a microfibre cloth and some multipurpose spray to wipe down the surfaces, but be sure to ask or do some research on which spray is best for different surfaces in your room (if you have wooden furniture, you shouldn’t use multipurpose spray as it can damage the wood and clean ineffectively). Hoovering your floor is good to do every few days, but doing it daily is preferable to keep your floor in  good condition. If you have a wood floor, you may also want to mop and disinfect to keep your room free of bacteria and germs.