Spring cleaning: Getting your home ready for the season

(ARA) – A great clean looks as good as it feels, and with warmerweather right around the corner, there’s nothing better than thefeeling that your home is free of dirt, dust and grime. When you’rea busy mom, keeping your house clean can seem like a never-endingbattle. Arm yourself with the right mindset and a few simple tipsto conquer your cleaning challenges.

Jessica Denay, author of The Hot Mom Handbook series haspartnered with Swiffer to offer these tips to help keep your homeclean while also balancing work and family:

• Don’t try to do everything at once. Divide chores into daily,weekly, monthly and even seasonal tasks. Do the dishes daily, andtry to throw out old food in your fridge as part of your weeklytasks. With spring upon us, dust build-up will be your nemesis. Bydedicating certain days this spring to seasonal chores like dustingceiling fans or sweeping out the fireplace, you can help bettermanage the upkeep of your home and do deep cleans less often.

• Know when to call it a day. It’s easier to keep your homeclean and keep a positive mindset if you set aside a few minuteseach day to clean. If you have an overwhelming task list, attackeach task in order of importance and get to the last ones on yourlist as time allows. Don’t let cleaning consume a whole day orweekend.

• Don’t waste time. Efficiency makes a huge difference. Alwaysclean from the top and work your way down, otherwise you’ll becleaning in circles, says Denay. It helps to focus on one area ofthe house at a time. Keeping all your cleaning supplies in a caddycan also prevent extra trips to retrieve items you might haveforgotten or couldn’t carry. Find shortcuts. Use products that canwork on multiple messes.

• Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s completely possible tomaintain the appearance of a clean home even if the mostout-of-the-way places aren’t cleaned regularly. Perception isreality and even if that area behind your fridge is a little dusty,nobody will notice. Concentrate on the open areas of your home thatsee a lot of traffic. If these areas are clean, your home will feelspotless and comfortable.

Following these tips will allow you to balance chores amongstfree time. With just a little daily attention, you can makecleaning seem like less of a chore and more like a refreshingactivity. Having a sparkling clean home gives me peace of mind andthe actual cleaning process makes me feel like I’m doing somethinggood for myself and my family, says Denay.