Can’t Keep Your Home Clean? Unraveling the Hidden Culprits!

Do you dream of having a clean and organized home but beat yourself up constantly because you just can’t live up to that unrealized ideal?

I know how you feel!

When I was about 8 years old, my sister gave me a book to help me learn how to clean up my room. I’ll never forget it.

I was both embarrassed because I had not idea why she would give me such a gift, and excited, because I really did want to have a clean room and honestly didn’t know why I wasn’t able to have one!

Fast forward to adulthood, and I still struggle with keeping my home clean.

And though I’ve become much better at keeping things tidy, I still have moments where I feel as if I could do better.

But why? How?

Here’s a list of things that I’ve found are the real culprits to a messy and cluttered and unorganized home.

10 Reasons Why You Can’t Keep Your Home Clean

1. Lack of a Clear Cleaning Routine

One of the primary reasons for a consistently messy home is the lack of a structured cleaning routine. Without a some sort of plan, it’s super easy to become overwhelmed. And what happens when you’re overwhelmed? When I’m overwhelmed I’m the queen of procrastination. And putting things off leads to piles of clutter and the cycle just repeats itself! When you have solid routines in place, you can regain some control of your home and your mental health will benefit from it!

Need some help with this? Check out my Printable Weekly Cleaning Checklists! They’ll give you the plan and structure to help get your home back into a better and healthier state!

2. Hoarding Tendencies

Ok. So I have a confession. I love watching Hoarders. Probably because it helps me feel better about my own home becuase it’s not anywhere near the state of these homes in the show!

If you really, really sentimental it can be really difficult to let go of things. And that can lead to piles of stuff that you don’t even use or actually need. And this can take a dark turn into stuff stacked up to the ceilings!

Hoarding tendencies can lead to excessive clutter and extreme disorganization. Not to mentions dangerous and unliveable conditions.

I love the idea of minimalism. I’m not sure I could ever go to the extreme like these guys but it’s a nice idea. I mean, stuff is just stuff. You can’t take it with you and you’ll always have the memories.

3. Poor Organization Systems

Do you have some organization systems in place? If not, maybe a trip to the Container Store would be helpful.

But be careful!

I think this is one area that can be a bit of a distraction. Yes, having good, efficient way to organize your things can really help your home look great, sometimes it’s easy to try and mask a clutter issue by buying bins and baskets and such. So be aware of what you are organizing first and that you’re not just rearranging the chaos!

4. Overlooking Regular Deep Cleaning

Dusting, vacuuming, and mopping may very well be part of your routine, but what about deep cleaning? Like getting in those nooks and crannies in the bathroom or making sure the baseboards are dusted and wiped down?

Over time, dirt and grime can accumulate in hidden corners. When you schedule some weekly deep cleaning sessions, it will feel as if your home cleans itself!

5. Neglecting the Kitchen

The kitchen is truly the heart of the home, but it’s also a hotspot for cluttered messes!

If you don’t stay on top of the spills and dishes, the kitchen can really be a pit of darkness. But when you have a plan and a good routine, like making sure your dishes are done before you go to bed, your kitchen will be a wonderfully inviting part of your home!

6. Ignoring Paperwork Piles

Do you have tons of paperwork and mail piled around? I know that we tend to have multiple places around the home that are magnets for paper clutter.I love how Flylady calls them hotspots. It helps to keep note of where the paper tends to land, and remember to check those areas once or twice a day.

If you keep up on checking those hotspots, you will be sure to reduce your piles of papers and mail and that will make your home feel so much cleaner!

7. Unfinished Projects

I am most definitely the queen of unfinished projects! I love starting things, but sometimes I have a hard time finishing them. Honestly, recently I’m taking a break from creativity to reassess this issue

I want to prioritize the projects that I undertake and make sure I am committed to finishing them. Recently I went through my craft closet and D cluttered it in that I truly valued and wanted to use in the near future., keeping only the things that I truly valued and wanted to use in the near future.

8. Lack of Family Involvement

Now this is something that you really can’t control. Fly ladies advice is that if something bothers you and you’re in charge of dealing with it.

I’ve tried to adopt this mindset, because you really can’t move mountains. If your family doesn’t want to help you, (and I’m talking about the adults living with you because you can certainly make your kids help. LOL) then you really can’t make them.

You can certainly ask, and have a good heart to heart, but you can only control your own actions.

9. Emotional Clutter

Are you super attached to heirlooms? Do you hold a lot of importance in your heart for the things that have been passed down from generation to generation? I know this is a big thing for some people. I have a few things from grandparents and great grandparents, so I do get it. I just don’t have the deep sentimentality that I see other people dealing with.

I definitely do have a lot of swim memorabilia from my boys swim careers, and some of those things I definitely don’t want to let go of. But I think one really amazing way to deal with this, is to take lots and lots of pictures so that you can go back and reminisce as much as you want to without having the items taking up a bunch of space.

Stuff is just stuff, and learning how to detach emotionally from your material possessions will help you achieve a cleaner, more peaceful environment.

10. Procrastination and Time Management

Putting off cleaning tasks and mismanaging your time can leave your home perpetually in CHAOS!!! I’ve found that incorporating small cleaning habits into my daily routine, I can avoid those crisis cleaning sessions.