Cleaning and sanitation are at the forefront of most people’s minds these days. Many of us are taking extra measures to ensure our homes and workplaces are safe environments, and you may have found that you are spending more time than usual on your daily chores, like dusting, vacuuming, and doing laundry.

The reality is that many of us have struggled to fit time in for these daily chores even in the best of circumstances. With the added stress of the pandemic, having to stay on top of cleaning tasks can be extra headache that you simply don’t have the time or energy for. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can spend less time on daily chores by strategizing your cleaning plan and working more efficiently.

Determine Which Tasks Are Most Pressing

Areas with frequent use, such as the kitchen and bathroom, are likely to harbor more germs. Make sure to devote time to wiping down these areas rather than spending time on less commonly used spaces like spare bedrooms. Identify surfaces your family’s hands come into constant contact with, like refrigerator handles and faucet handles. These surfaces are ones you will want to spend your time focusing on, as they have more potential for spreading germs.

Start from the Top Up

Don’t bother to vacuum the carpet until you’ve dusted those shelves. If you work your way from the carpets up, you will find yourself spending more time re-vacuuming areas where dust and dirt have been knocked back to the ground. Instead, dust the highest areas first (like pictures frames and ceiling corners), and then move onto furniture like coffee tables and cabinets. Save the vacuuming and mopping for your last cleaning steps.

Share the Responsibility

If you are sharing your living space with one or multiple people, be sure that you are dividing the chores evenly. Take an honest look at the distribution of chores. Are you taking the trash out each day while your roommate is piling dishes into the sink? If so, have an open conversation about the division of cleaning tasks. Be prepared to pick up responsibilities yourself, as this conversation may reveal your roommate has been the one scrubbing the bathroom tub all this time, while that particular task had slipped your mind.

Don’t Compartmentalize Cleaning

Try not to think of cleaning as its own separate event, otherwise you may find yourself dreading that time so much that you subconsciously shy away from any task you associate with cleaning. Instead, find opportunities in your daily routine to lessen the over all cleaning load. For example, instead of dropping your dirty laundry onto the floor or hamper, go ahead and put it in the washer each day. When you have enough clothes for a load, turn on the washer while you’re preparing dinner. You will be multitasking without realizing you are “cleaning.”

Cleaning does not have to be a huge chore that you spend time dreading. With a few minor adjustments to your routine, you can spend less time scrubbing the floors and more time relaxing.