Bring out your inner child and avoid house cleaning–it just might be good for you.

Housework will always be there. It’s like death and taxes; no one escapes. It’s easy to get caught up in the humdrum routine of everyday life, but life is so much more than going to work, food shopping, and house cleaning. While you can’t shirk off work or food shopping–you’ve got to eat!–housework can wait, though.

So let it go until next weekend and do something fun instead. Remember, all work and no play makes us all too stressed out! Instead, refresh, destress, and bring out your inner child by doing any one of these activities instead of house cleaning. Future you will thank past you!

Put Off House Cleaning with These Fun Ideas

1. Take an Art Class – Always wanted to learn how to paint or throw pots? Look into art classes at your local art center, or try online sites like Skillshare.
2. Make Water Kefir – Water kefir is a delicious lightly fermented sweet beverage. Get started with making your own by buying a starter set of the grains. Cultures for Health is an online resource.
3. Volunteer at a Local Animal Shelter – Did you know that many animal shelters are looking for volunteers to spend time with the kitties and puppies? Sounds way more awesome than house cleaning, right?
4. Enjoy Nature with a Peterson Field Guide – Get out into nature and learn about the big wide world around you with a Peterson Field Guide for your region.
5. Be a Big Sister or Brother – Give back to your community. Providing mentorship to girls and boys is way more important than cleaning your house.
6. Take up Bodyflow – Bodyflow is one part yoga, one part Pilates, and another part Tai Chi–and all set to music. You can find classes at many health centers, or look for videos online. Bodyflow will change your life.
7. Read a Good Book – This time of year is a great time to discover new books via best book lists. NPR just recently came out with the Best Books of 2015–that’s a good place to start.
8. Catch Up on Your Netflix (and Chill) – So many TV series and movies, so little time–unless you avoid cleaning the house. “Jessica Jones” and “Master of None” are two series that you could waste away an afternoon watching and cuddling up with someone special.

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Image: Toddler Doing Housework via Shutterstock

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Cleaning hacks to break out when unexpected guests are on their way.

This time of year is filled with surprise guests “popping by” or “stopping in” for “just ten minutes,” and if it’s been a while since you gave your place a thorough cleaning, hyperventilating into a paper bag is inevitable. The good news is there are plenty of ways to make sure your home looks clean for company – no matter how unexpected.

Here are 14 cleaning hacks that’ll transform your space into the fake cleanest home in history:

1. Toilets, tabletops and televisions

The condition of these surfaces are telltale signs that you’re living in a garbage heap. If you don’t get to anything else before your company shows up, make sure that these surfaces are spic and span. It will make it seem like the rest of your home is too.

2. Pet hair

As a pet owner, having 50 pounds of fur on everything you own is status quo – but not necessarily for your guests. Keep a rubber glove or go-to pet hair annihilator on hand to de-fuzz your furniture in no time flat.

3. Do the dishes

Even if you don’t have time to put them away, your kitchen will look much cleaner with dishes drying in a dish caddy than strewn about with a week’s worth of old food stuck to them. Ick.

4. Switch up the towels

Swap out kitchen, bath and hand towels for clean ones.

5. Straighten things up… literally

Straighten your welcome mat, pet beds, coffee table, and any other small pieces of furniture and accessories that have been moved around. Clean lines leave a clean impression.

6. Shine what’s supposed to be shiny

Wipe out your sinks, polish your faucets, and de-fingerprint any glass surfaces.

7. Check on your doorknobs and light switches

There’s usually a pile of grubby fingerprints around them. Wipe these areas clean, stat.

8. Close doors, drawers, and shower curtains

A simple move, yet surprisingly effective.

9. Stash clutter

But don’t just stuff it into a laundry hamper and hide it in your bedroom. Stash the clutter efficiently, hiding it in each room it belongs in so you’re not making hundreds of trips to put everything away afterward.

10. Freshen the air

Spritz your favorite air freshener, and open the doors and windows to get rid of any staleness in the air. A home that looks clean is irrelevant if it smells like feet.

11. Clear the seating

Make sure any blankets, pillows, magazines and so forth have been cleared off your seating areas.

12. Turn the lights on

Many people say one of the best speed cleaning hacks is to dim the lighting, but I believe the opposite to be true – especially this time of year, when it’s dark more often than not. Turn on your lights, open your curtains, and make your home as inviting and cheery as possible. Bonus: It’ll help detract from the fact that you can’t remember the last time you vacuumed.

13. Throw on some light music in the background

Atmosphere is everything.

14. Don’t forget to freshen yourself up

You don’t want to greet your guests and invite them into your (fake) spotless home looking like a “Girl, Interrupted” sequel. The whole point to speed cleaning hacks is to make it look like you have your shit together, after all.

What are your go-to cleaning hacks?

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Image: Kate Ter Haar

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