Last week, I shared one of the most game-changing habits we’ve started in our home: Power Hour Team Cleaning. When I first mentioned it in a note, so many moms said this was exactly the kind of habit their family needed too. If you haven’t read it yet, it might be just the thing to make your weekends feel more peaceful.
Today, I’m sharing part 2– how we reset our home every evening, not just once a week.
When summer ended and the school year kicked off, my husband and I noticed the house felt more cluttered. With five kids home for so many hours of the day, things can look pretty disheveled by bedtime!
For years, I’ve said that a clean house at night is one of the best gifts I can give myself in the morning. But a home with seven people in it doesn’t tidy itself. So we asked ourselves the Lazy Genius question: What can we do now to make life easier later?
Instead of waking up to toys all over the house, leftover art supplies on the school table, and dirty clothes scattered across the kids’ bedroom floors, we tackle those messes before bedtime and give ourselves a fresh start each morning.
It’s called our 10-Minute Evening Tidy. It’s short, but it packs a powerful punch in how we end one day and begin the next. In this post, I’m sharing all the details, including what’s on our list, how we divide up the tasks, and how we keep it going every night!
And honestly, I wish we would have started a habit like this sooner, but now that we’ve gotten the hang of it I don’t think we’ll ever go back!
How Our 10-Minute Evening Tidy Works
Start With a Pump-Up Song
Starting a new cleaning habit may not be the most exciting or enjoyable thing for kids, so for the first few weeks our goal was to make this a rhythm that didn’t seem boring or overwhelming. Before we began, my husband played our pump-up song– the good old theme from Rocky. They even had a dance to go with it and by the end of the song, everyone was laughing and in a good mood.
Even if the kids showed up less than thrilled, that song got them smiling every time. It’s a silly way to make this clean-up habit more fun (well, as fun as a cleaning habit can actually be). Once the habit was established, we didn’t regularly play the song, but play it occasionally if we feel that the energy is dwindling or we need to pump the kids up to do the job well.
Use a Good Old Checklist
Just like Friday Power Hour, we use a laminated checklist and a whiteboard marker. Everyone can see exactly what needs to be done, instead of us calling out vague instructions around the house. The list hangs on the fridge, and each task gets a check once it’s finished and inspected.
Since my kids are ages 4, 6, 9, and 11 there’s a big difference in their capabilities, so we make sure there’s jobs that are easy and sustainable for all of them. The rooms they tidy up are the living room, the playroom and school table, the garage and yard, and the kids’ bedrooms– the main spaces that are played in the most.
One Person Delegates
My husband hands out the jobs while I finish cleaning up from dinner. We tried letting the kids divide the tasks themselves, but because this routine is so quick, it works much better with one person in charge.
As soon as a child finishes a task, they check it off and come running back to ask, “What’s next, Daddy?” Then they get another job, and so on until the list is done.
Eventually we’d like the kids to do this by themselves, but until they’re older and this routine is seamless, having an adult oversee and keep them accountable works well.
Set a Clear Finish Line
We set a 10-minute timer, and usually that’s all it takes. It’s short and sweet, but after about a month of doing this, we’ve found it’s all we really need to reset the house and put everything back where it belongs if everyone contributes with good effort.
Our kids especially love the visual countdown timer, since they can see exactly how much time is left.
Keep It at the Same Time Every Night
We do the tidy right before our bedtime routine of “PJs, potty, teeth”. Tying it to something we already do every night is what keeps it going. When a habit has a clear time limit and happens at the same time each day, it becomes something you can actually stick with instead of trying to squeeze it in.
What’s On Our 10-Minute Tidy List
Living Room
Everything off the living room floor
Nothing on the couches, pillows nicely placed, blankets folded
Shoe bin straightened up
Bin of baby toys nicely by the fireplace
All library books in bins
Empty the clutter bin and put things away
Playroom
Everything off the playroom floor
Nothing on the playroom couch
School table empty except markers and lamp
School shelf tidied up
All books in book bins
Garage
Tidy the garage, put everything where it belongs
Run around the whole house and put all toys away
Close the garage door
Bedrooms
All laundry and clothes off the floor
All toys, books, and junk off the floor
Trash thrown away
Closets and drawers closed
Parents
Clean up the kitchen and clear the counters
Tidy up the bathroom
Vacuum the kitchen floor
A Small, Quick Habit Yields a Big Payoff
Ten minutes doesn’t sound like much, but it’s amazing what a whole family can do in that short window. Our kids go to bed in a tidy home, and I wake up to a fresh start instead of yesterday’s mess. It truly is one of the best gifts we give ourselves each morning.
If your evenings end in clutter and chaos, try it tonight! Make a simple list, pick a pump-up song, set a timer, and see what happens.
As always, thank you for being here and following along! I appreciate all the encouragement, comments, and likeminded ideas so if this post resonated with you make sure you hit the like button, subscribe, and keep following along for more ideas on how to live intentionally in this modern world.
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