How to Have Fun While Cleaning Your Room

Cleaning your room can be a real drag. Who wants to spend their afternoon picking up dirty socks, books, and toys? Luckily, cleaning your room can actually be pretty fun if you know how to do it right. Try making it a game! Have a cleaning race or shoot hoops with your dirty laundry. Get yourself psyched up to clean by giving yourself rewards, and distract yourself with music or a movie.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:
Playing a Game

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    Make it a race. Set a timer and see if you can get your room sparkly clean before it goes off. Try to beat your time from last week, or clean your room at the same time as your sibling. The two of you can race against each other to see who finishes first. Ready, set, clean![1]
    • Make sure you’re still cleaning your room well. Being speedy doesn’t mean doing a half-hearted job.
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    2
    Shoot hoops with laundry and trash. Pick up all those candy wrappers and papers, and see if you can throw them into your trash can from across the room. You can shoot hoops with laundry into your laundry basket, too![2]
    • Keep score of how many baskets you make. Try to beat your best score every time you clean. You’ll be a pro laundry baller in no time.
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    Make up a story to turn cleaning into an adventure. Get creative! Pretend you’re a maid cleaning a dirty mansion or a pirate searching for buried treasure in “islands” of dirty clothes.[3]
    • You can be poor Cinderella cleaning her wicked stepmother’s cobweb-filled chambers, or a spy on a mission to find a top secret document.
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    Roll the dice to pick a task. Make a checklist of the different tasks you need to do, like making your bed, throwing out trash, and putting away your clothes. Number the items and roll a die. Then, do the task that matches the number on the die. Who knows what task you’ll get next?[4]
    • For a checklist that has more than six items, roll a pair of die. If you get a number that you’ve already done or one that’s not on your list, roll again until you do.
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    Clean items one color at a time. For some color coded fun, focus on picking up items of one color at a time. For example, start by picking up blue things, then white things, and then black things.[5]
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    Skate over wooden floors to clean them. Imagine that your hardwood floor is an ice rink and your cleaning rag is a pair of skates. Take off your shoes, and skate around the room on your rag to wipe your floor clean.[6]
    • Make sure you pick up all your toys and clothes off the floor before you start skating!
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:
Motivating Yourself

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    Give yourself a reward when you finish cleaning your room. Pick something good. It could be eating your favorite snack, reading a good book, or watching an episode of your favorite show in the glory of your freshly cleaned room.[7]
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    Break up cleaning into smaller tasks and reward yourself for each one. Different tasks might include making your bed, folding your clothes, picking up toys, and vacuuming your floor. Focus on conquering one task at a time, and give yourself a mini reward after each one.
    • These mini rewards should be much smaller than your final reward. You might reward yourself with a short break, a few minutes on Instagram, or a cold glass of juice.
    • Make cleaning a weekly routine so it becomes a relaxing ritual for you to complete.
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    Check off tasks as you finish them. Using colorful markers, crayons, and stickers, make a list of the different things you need to do to get your room squeaky clean. When you finish an item, check it off! It’ll feel really good.[8]
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    Take before and after photos. Snap a photo before you clean your room, and then take another one after it’s nice and tidy. Compare them. The difference might be crazy![9]
    • You can even pretend you’re on a home makeover show.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:
Distracting Yourself

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    Call a friend while you clean. Put them on speaker and chat away while you fold clothes or sweep. The time will go by much faster.
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    Put on your favorite show or movie. Use your TV or computer, and let it play in the background while you clean. Make sure you don’t get too distracted, though.
    • If cleaning will only take about 30 minutes, pick a show episode. If it’s going be a longer clean, you might opt for a movie.
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    Turn on a playlist of your favorite music.[10] A little music can turning a boring room cleaning session into a fun dance party. Pick songs that you can sing along to as you clean.[11]
    • Listening to an audiobook or a podcast can be fun, too.
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    Make cleaning a workout. Sprint around your room, picking up items as fast as you can. Do jumping jacks, sit-ups, or push-ups between tasks. You’ll be so involved in your workout that you may not even notice you’re cleaning!
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What is the first thing you should do when cleaning your room?
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Professional Organizer
    Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Professional Organizer
    Expert Answer
    Try lighting a candle in your room while you clean so you feel more relaxed.
  • Question
    How do I stop being so messy and lazy?
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Professional Organizer
    Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Ashley Moon, MA
    Professional Organizer
    Expert Answer
    Make cleaning a weekly routine so it becomes a relaxing ritual for you to complete.
  • Question
    How do I figure out where to start if my room is very messy?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Which part of the room do you use the most? Start with it and continue in decreasing order until you clean the whole room. You could clean in categories, such as tackling clothes, books or stuffed animals.
  • Question
    Would it be fun to hang a basket on the wall and shoot my clothes into it?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Hilarious and therefore a lot of fun. Just be sure to take them to the laundry for a good cleaning afterward.
  • Question
    How can I clean my room without getting overwhelmed?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Break up the tasks needing to be done. That way you can focus on one thing at a time and not feel overwhelmed or defeated.
  • Question
    Is it possible for me to have fun even if I don't like cleaning?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Yes, you can still have fun cleaning your room even if you don't like it. Try pairing cleaning with something you do enjoy, like listening to music or talking on the phone with friends.
  • Question
    How can you get motivated to start with?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Think of something you really want or enjoy and make it your reward at the end of the cleaning session - you can't have what you want until you get done cleaning. That should motivate you.
  • Question
    What if you feel tired and you have already eaten?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Try making your reward some time to rest. If not that, clean your room another time.
  • Question
    Why do you need to clean?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    To remove dust and dirt, which are bad for you in large amounts (and look bad). To organize your belongings. To make the place look nice.
  • Question
    How should I organize my clothes?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You can really do it however you like. You have a lot of options. For example, you might want to organize by color or by complete outfit. You might also want to separate your clothes by season. Just play around with it and you'll eventually discover a system you like.

Warnings

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.care.com/c/stories/5920/8-ways-to-have-fun-cleaning/
  2. ↑ https://www.care.com/c/stories/5920/8-ways-to-have-fun-cleaning/
  3. ↑ http://innerchildfun.com/2012/03/10-awesome-ways-to-make-cleaning-fun-for-kids.html
  4. ↑ http://www.momtastic.com/life/621855-cleaning-games-for-kids/
  5. ↑ http://www.tipsfromatypicalmomblog.com/2015/07/10-tips-to-make-cleaning-fun-for-kids.html
  6. ↑ https://www.care.com/c/stories/5920/8-ways-to-have-fun-cleaning/
  7. ↑ http://www.tipsfromatypicalmomblog.com/2015/07/10-tips-to-make-cleaning-fun-for-kids.html
  8. ↑ http://www.tipsfromatypicalmomblog.com/2015/07/10-tips-to-make-cleaning-fun-for-kids.html
  9. ↑ http://www.momtastic.com/life/621855-cleaning-games-for-kids/
  1. ↑ Ashley Moon, MA. Professional Organizer. Expert Interview. 30 August 2019.
  2. ↑ https://www.care.com/c/stories/5920/8-ways-to-have-fun-cleaning/

About This Article

Ashley Moon, MA
Co-authored by:
Ashley Moon, MA
Professional Organizer
This article was co-authored by Ashley Moon, MA. Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College. This article has been viewed 174,568 times.
33 votes - 80%
Co-authors: 144
Updated: September 16, 2021
Views: 174,568
Categories: Cleaning
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