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With today's hectic pace, a lot of us are looking for easy house-cleaning tips, to help us keep our houses presentable, but not take away from our time that we can spend with our families. I have found several great tips for keeping my house presentable. Now I never have to worry about unexpected guests dropping by - my house is always ready for company!

If you are a fan of FlyLady, this first tip will be on the top of your list. Keep you sink clean! Never leave dirty dishes in the sink. As you dirty up your dishes, stick them in the dishwasher. Once the dishwasher is full, start the load of dishes, and put them away as soon as they are done. This is more of a mental thing, I think, but it works. I feel a lot better about my home, knowing that my sink is clean. And, I hate having my kitchen around the sink showing signs of messiness, so a clean sink leads to a clean kitchen.

Next, here's a tip that many of us had drilled into our heads by our mothers or grandmothers. Make your bed as soon as you roll out of it in the morning. An unmade bed is depressing and uninviting, and once you make the bed up, your entire bedroom looks a lot cleaner, even if it isn't.

Take the trash out every day. This keeps pests from moving in with you, and allows for a clean look around the trash can. I take my trash out every evening before bed. My house just doesn't feel clean if I don't.

Break your housework up into small bits. Schedule chores for certain days, and stick to that schedule when possible. We'll all have days when we are feeling a bit under the weather, or something else comes up that we just can't get around. By breaking up housework into small bites, cleaning doesn't seem so overwhelming.

Clean as you go. This makes for less mess, and less heavy cleaning to do when company comes. You can simply run a vacuum and dust rag around the room when grandma calls to say she's on her way, and the house will be presentable.

When you bring purchases home from the store, get rid of the excess packaging that comes with them. Take the sodas out of the box, and put the cans in the refrigerator. Take the bottles of shampoo or boxes of soap out of the plastic wrap and store them in your cabinet. This makes items easier to put away, and gives your house a tidier look.

Sort the mail as soon as you take it out of your mailbox. Put junk mail in your recycling bin, and put bills on your desk. Put magazines on your end table, and throw away last month's issues. By not having huge stacks of unopened mail all over the house, you save yourself a lot of time by not having to de-clutter your house.

By doing these few things, you save yourself a lot of time on housework. You can spend this time doing other things, like spending time with family and friends, or treating yourself to a Spa Day.

Learn more about this author, Maggie O'Leary.
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