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Today's world has become busy. Most of us have jobs, families, and other commitments outside the home. The last thing you want to do at the end of the day is come home and clean your house. Over the years, I have learned five easy ways to keep my house ready for company. Though I've never experienced it myself, I'm sure there's nothing more embarrassing than to have visitors stop by, only to have a stilted chat on the front porch because your house is too messy to let them in.

1. Pick up as you go. I realize this isn't always possible, especially with young kids around. However, if you pick up behind yourself whenever possible, this will mean less rushing around to shove things in closets when your mother-in-law calls to say she's on her way over. Each time you use a dish, put it in the dishwasher, and turn the dishwasher on each night before bed. When you take off an item of clothing, throw it in the hamper, or put it away.

2. Enlist the help of your family or other housemates. I work full-time, have a part-time job, and go to college, in addition to the small amount of writing I do for websites. I can't do all the housework alone. However, with the help of my husband and children, our house looks great most of the time. As the kids have gotten older, they've been able to take on more responsibility, and my husband is great about pulling his share of the load.

3. Don't get up empty-handed. We have a three-story home, so when I leave one level to go to another, I make sure to take something with me. Instead of letting the kids' toys or books accumulate in the living room after they are finished with them, I take a few up every time I go upstairs. This is also good exercise.

4. Don't leave everything until Saturday. When I was growing up, my mom worked full-time. She came home every evening and got supper, cleaned up, and helped us kids with baths, homework, and bedtime stories. On Saturday morning, she was up bright and early, tossing us kids out of our beds, and starting the cleaning. She dusted, changed linens, and vacuumed; the whole nine yards. When I first got married, I tried that technique, only to find for various reasons that it didn't work for me. I do a little each evening. I keep spare linens for all the beds, so I can change one bed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I wash the used linens each of those nights, and then the beds are clean for the week. We have a three-story home with a basement, so I vacuum and dust one level of our home each night. This splits everything up, so I don't spend 4-6 hours on a Saturday cleaning. I usually only spend about 30 minutes a day on chores.

5. Make lists. As with everything, lists come in very handy. Make a schedule for yourself of what cleaning tasks need to be accomplished each day. You can make a list for each family member if you need to. This makes sure that everyone knows what needs to be done to keep the house-cleaning on track.

Good luck!

Learn more about this author, Maggie O'Leary.
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