Welcome to the new decade. It’s 2020 now, and the new calendar means you’ve made the New Year’s resolution to finally keep up with cleaning your home…or not. In either case, keep reading to learn how to establish a cleaning regimen that you can maintain throughout the next 12 months.

Have you written down a list of cleaning resolutions so far? If you haven’t, get a pen and piece of paper. Simply physically writing down a list of goals provides you clarity. It even boosts the odds that you’ll actually do them at some point.

In the best case scenario, your fresh approach to handling cleaning chores will wind up becoming a set of new habits that you stay consistent with, almost as if on autopilot. How long does it take to make any habit something automatic? Just stick to it as steadily as you can for three weeks at a minimum. Once you get through the first month, your new practice is a lot easier to keep up with. If the calendar turning over to 2020 has given you a fresh burst of energy, use it and get going now!

Daily Simplicity

Being consistent is essential if you are looking to make a habit something so instinctive that you don’t even think about. Just stay committed to doing a bit of cleaning every single day for each of the next 21 days. Do what you can to keep it simple. It’s okay to just declutter your den one day and then vacuum the same room the following day. No matter how much cleaning needs to be done, don’t bite off more than you can chew and then risk getting exhausted the first several days. The more you do simple, basic tasks one at a time, your comfort level with the new routine will grow. That’s when you can start slowly tackling more complex tasks or more work each day.

Set Reminders For Yourself

Even if you make up your mind to try a new cleaning regimen this year, you might quickly forget all about it. This is why you should create reminders for yourself, whether it’s smartphone alerts or sticky notes you put around your home. Accidentally missing an occasional day isn’t really a disaster, but it also won’t help you establish your new cleaning habits. Figure out what kind of reminders work for you, even if they’re automated emails that you get every morning.

Pick A Common Hour

If possible, do your cleaning the same hour each day. This really helps your cleaning habit more consistent, and that makes it even easier for your to keep doing. When you do your cleaning the very same time each day, you’ll develop your own mental alarm clock where your instincts remind you to handle some cleaning every day around that some time. Research has demonstrated that a daily habit can quickly become a crucial component of your regular routine in just three weeks if you don’t miss any days. Determine what schedule is going to work out well for you, and then keep up with it.

Find An Inspiration

Do you love coffee in the morning? Do you automatically refill your cup once the first one is gone? You can actually use something like this to set a time and inspiration for your cleaning. You’re not likely to have the energy to clean after you get home from work, so why not clean for 15 minutes before you sit down with that next cup of coffee?

Make It Competitive

Turn your daily routine into a game by timing yourself in how fast you get the cleaning done. Once you’re on a clock, you’ll work faster seeing if you can top your best record. Putting the speed into speed cleaning can be a lot of fun.

Pick Just One Room to Start

Choose one room where you are going to emphasize cleaning every day until you get it into pristine condition. Your kitchen is a great candidate, followed by bathrooms and perhaps your home office. Cooking meals while seeing dirty dishes piled up is no fun, and a home office is far more productive when it’s tidy. Just having one or two clean rooms helps you set a later standard the rest of the home will eventually catch up to.

Hopefully, these ideas pave the way to your new habits in home cleaning this year.