You may have gotten out of the habit of doing the Friday Tidy. I know that I have! One of my resolutions (about building good habits) is to get back to doing t every week that I'm home.

For those who don't remember, here's how you do a Friday Tidy:

When you come home from work, I spend about an hour doing a quick once-over of the main part of the house.  Here's what I do:

• I run a cleaning wipe over the fixtures in the bathroom and clear away any used towels.
• I do any dishes that are in the kitchen sink.
• I empty the garbage cans and take the garbage and recycling outside.
• I sort the laundry if necessary.
• I go through any mail that's stacked up and separate things I need to handle from the huge amounts of junk I can toss.
• I put away clothes and gather any dry cleaning.
• I run the vacuum or sweep and damp mop the living room and kitchen.
• I run a dustcloth over furniture in the living room.

Basically, I just restore some semblance of order to the house. You don't need to tidy rooms that you rarely use (though you can). Everyone who lives in the house can (and should) participate.

By the time I've finished with these things, I can whip up a quick dinner, take a long hot bath, and relax my evening away,  — without worrying about who might stop by over the weekend.