Why You’re Cleaning More Than You Need To
If you feel like you’re constantly cleaning but your house never feels fully clean, you’re not alone. This is a common frustration we hear from our clients. As professional cleaners with more than 12 years serving the Bryan-College Station area, we’ve learned it’s not so much how much time you spend cleaning as it is how you’re cleaning. We propose you introduce the 80/20 Rule into your cleaning routine.
You may have heard the 80/20 rule before. It’s been applied to relationships, business, productivity, and health. Also known as the Pareto Principle, this is a simple concept –
In many areas of life, 20% of inputs create 80% of results.
We believe this principle holds true in cleaning as well. When you focus on the right 20% of cleaning tasks, you get the biggest visual and functional – and mental – impact.
What Is the 80/20 Rule?
In the 1800s, an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto observed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. He then began to notice a similar pattern in other areas of his life – a small percentage created the biggest impact. The concept was then expanded and applied into other areas by other people.
Over time, this principle has been applied to business, productivity health, and yes, home cleaning
The “20%” That Creates 80% of the Mess
After you read through this, take a look around your home and you’ll notice this – the majority of “mess” in your home is grouped into 20% of your space. We detail these common culprits below.
High-Traffic Floors
The floors that receive the most traffic in your home can contain a lot of mess. These areas include entryways, kitchen floor, and hallways. Shoes, backpacks, crumbs, spills, and more – the floors in these spaces are catch-alls for whatever goes on the floor. These areas instantly affect how clean your home feels.
- Entryways
- Kitchen floor
- Hallways
Kitchen Surfaces
The kitchen is considered the heart of the home. It’s where a lot of time is spent – cooking and preparing food, coordinating schedules, going through backpacks and bags. You love the family time shared in the kitchen, ,but the mess that quickly accumulated is less than desirable. Your countertops sinks, stove top, and appliance fronts catch a lot of clutter and spills.
The kitchen visually represents cleanliness for your entire home, so mess here sets the tone for your house.
- Countertops
- Sink
- Stove
- Appliance fronts
Bathrooms
Even when the bathroom is tucked away with the door closed, a messy bathroom makes your house feel unclean and causes you to feel unsettled. A spotted mirror, cluttered sink, smelly toilet, and visible grim makes your bathroom oasis feel like a major burden. Even if the rest of your home is spotless, a dirty bathroom makes your whole house feel dirty.
- Sink area
- Mirrors
- Toilet
- Visible grime
Clutter Hotspots
We all have them and we all can’t stand them – clutter hotspots! The spaces around our home that collect piles of random things – mail piles, laundry chairs, coffee table catch-alls, and nightstands. The visual clutter immediately makes a space feel messy. And it overwhelmed faster than dust.
- Mail piles
- Laundry chairs
- Coffee tables
- Nightstands
How to Apply the 80/20 Rule in Your Weekly Routine
Don’t fret, we have good news! We’ve outlined a simple routine following the 80/20 Principle to keep your home feeling clean on a consistent basis.
Family- and Time-Friendly 80/20 Rule Clean Framework:
Daily (10–15 Minutes)
Every day, set aside 10 – 15 minutes to clear counters, wipe down your sink, quickly sweep your main floor areas, and reset the clutter hotspots.
- Clear counters
- Wipe sink
- Quick sweep of main floors
- Reset clutter zones
Weekly
Once a week, reserve time to clean your kitchen and bathrooms. Do these first and then if you have time, you can get to your secondary rooms. You’ll find your home instantly feels much cleaner with just your kitchen and bathrooms tackled. Also, you’ll discover that the remainder of your home is much easier to clean.
- Focus on kitchen + bathrooms first
- Then secondary rooms
Monthly
Then once a month, clean your baseboards, ceiling fans, and the inside of your appliances. Then, take a deep breath and relax, the cleaning is done! With 20% of the biggest messes of your home taken care of on a regular, scheduled basis, you’ll find that getting to the deep-cleaning tasks in your home so much easier.
- Baseboards
- Ceiling fans
- Inside appliances
When the 80/20 Rule Isn’t Enough
What do you do when finding time to tackle the 20% of the mess in your home is impossible, or even after you’ve cleaned, it still feels messy?
This is where our recurring cleaning services truly shine. We are created for busy families like you that lack time, energy, or ability to tackle the mess in their home.
Also, even when you maintain the “20%,” buildup still happens on baseboards, behind furniture, vents and blinds, and more. You still notice these areas and it adds to the mental load you carry.
This is where professional cleaning makes a difference. Recurring house cleaning has shown to save homeowners time, boost mental and physical health, promote consistency in routine, and overall improves wellness and peace of mind.
Why This Works So Well for Busy Families in Bryan–College Station
Between work, school, activities, and the Texas dust (hello spring pollen), it’s easy to feel behind in your daily cleaning routine. The 80/20 Rule is a good option to help reduce overwhelm, create visible impact quickly, and keep your home feeling more manageable. Applying the 80/20 Rule can create an effective and positive change within your home!
Want the Full 100% Clean?
If you focus on the 20% daily and let a professional team handle the rest, you’ll be completely set with a 100% clean throughout your home! Better yet, let us do it all for you.
Here’s why more than 500 neighbors here in Bryan-College Station, TX choose our team to regularly clean their home –
Flexible Schedule – we work around your schedule and routine so you get a great clean when it works best for you
Set It and Forget It – you set a date and time, and then go on with life. We send out appointment reminders, our team comes to clean for you, and you come home to a fresh and clean space. It’s that easy.
You Don’t Have to Be Home – we can securely access your home and lock up when we’re done.
Quality Assurance & Guarantee – We have a QA Officer that frequently checks homes to ensure that our cleaning team is meeting the mark, every time. We also offer a 24-hour clean guarantee. Notice something we missed? We’ll get it done within 24 hours of your clean.
Certified Deep Clean Tech Leads – our tech leads have received advanced training and have been proven over an extended period. We assign a Deep Clean Certified cleaning tech to every first time clean to ensure the clean is done properly.
Beyond the Clean – we go beyond simply providing cleaning services, we take extra steps to build family and relationships with our clients and our amazing team!
FAQs for 80/20 Rule & Recurring Cleanings
What is the 80/20 rule in cleaning?
A productivity approach that focuses on the small number of tasks that create the biggest visual impact.
What rooms should you clean first?
Kitchen and bathrooms.
How often should high-traffic areas be cleaned?
Daily touch-ups, weekly deeper clean.
Is it better to clean daily or weekly?
Both – small daily resets prevent overwhelming weekly mess.
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