Rewards are a good motivator. But after awhile, even a reward starts to lose its luster. Consider getting your family motivated to clean. You could reward them with a pizza night but that only works if you never order pizza in between cleaning. And what if they don’t want pizza? Does that mean they don’t have to clean? There are some better ways to accomplish the task of getting your family to help with cleaning. Here’s what to consider:

Adjust Expectations

This is another way of saying, “pick your battles.” For keeping the house clean, what is really important? Case in point: Making a bed. You might tell your kid to make their bed every single day and every single day they balk. Is this really all that important in the grand scheme of things? Maybe not but doing dishes after dinner is. Make that the priority you focus on.

Negotiate

Once you have developed a list of cleaning priorities, you’ll want to sit down with the family and work out the schedule. You know what you want and when you’d like it done by. What do the kids have to say about this? Do they feel too much pressure to do homework during the week and would prefer cleaning up on a Saturday? Is there compromise? Of course. Once everything is on board with a mutually agreed upon plan, it will be a lot harder to back away from it.

Define Your Objectives

Asking your kid to “clean their room” is a bit subjective. What you accept as clean might be light years away from what they consider as clean. This is where you need to step in and define your objective. If cleaning means nothing on the floor, vacuuming, empty hamper, then let that be on your list.

Have Consequences

What if after all this effort they still drop the ball? Then you drop the “hammer.” There needs to be consequences to inaction and those consequences need to be spelled out up front. Withholding allowances, TV and car privileges are all very effective motivators but you can’t fold. Stick to the consequences.

Your family might also balk at cleaning what they consider to be “planted clutter.” If the basement has ratty furniture you want to get rid of, then why vacuum down there? Good point and that’s why you need to bring in Junk King Detroit. A total home junk clearing session with Junk King will allow further cleaning to be done without rubbish. That is going to create a positive living environment for everyone. Your family will be motivated to keep the house clean after Junk King Detroit is done taking out all the unwanted clutter.