1.  Use a squeege on the shower walls and floor after each use.  It only takes a minute and prevents soap scum build up and mold from forming.  You may never have to clean more than this if you are consistent.

Before getting in your shower, squirt a dallop of cheap shampoo into your toilet.  When you are done with your shower, swish around a bit with the toilet brush and flush.  Your toilet will always be clean with very little effort.

2.  Change your bathroom hand towel every day, but before you do wipe down the counter and sink with it.  It’s best done after your morning routine.  Your sink will always be sparkling!

3.  Try to take care of something while it is in your hands, instead of just laying it around to deal with later.  Then set certain times throughout the day for a 5 minute pickup of the items that escaped.

4.  Clean up any spills or messes when they happen.  This includes a spill in the fridge, on the floor, or at the table.  This is not my normal way of proceeding and I’ve paid for it later with dried on sticky messes that are very time consuming to remove.

I remember one of my favorite babysitting jobs.  There were 4 children two older girls aged 6 and 8 and two toddlers.  We were watching a movie in the living room together when the 6 year old jumped up, threw the cushions off the sofa and grabbed the vacuum.  She vacuumed up the couch, put the cushions back, put the vacuum away and continued to watch the movie.  I was the only one surprised!

She had dropped her popcorn bowl on the couch and the piece were running between the cushions.  She did what she had been trained to do–clean up after yourself right away.  Their house was always company ready and it didn’t seem stressful for anyone living there.  A big part of that training was their mom’s example.

5.  Always keep your dishwasher dirty.  Huh?  I mean, empty it as soon as it is clean, so it is always ready to accept dirty dishes.  That way you can train your family to rinse and load their dishes as soon as they are done with them.  Also keep a clean dish tub under the sink to hold rinsed dishes when the dishwasher is running.