I’m a pretty productive person, something that can be attributed to my Type A personality and boundless energy.

Well, that’s not true. I’m not always energetic. I just try to harness and leverage my most energetic of times to ensure maximum productivity and minimum procrastination. I find that I’m the most productive on Saturday mornings, so I try to tackle everything before I even think of sitting down an relaxing. This doesn’t always work, though.

Sometimes, I finish all of the tasks that I don’t mind doing – blogging, some homework, taking the dog for a walk – and I’m left with the tasks that I dread, such as washing dishes, vaccuming, and cleaning the bathroom, and I usually have little energy to complete them.

To cope with this, I’ve learned to make housework a little more fun to entice myself to do it.

Here’s how.

Make It Fun

Making housework fun is hands down my favorite way to get my chores done.

Last Friday night, I came home from wedding dress shopping with my friend exhausted and unwilling to go out. After slacking off a bit and relaxing, I realized that I could be productive on that Friday night, leaving my Saturday morning for more satisfying activities.

I poured myself a glass of wine, put on some music, and organized my closet.

I actually had a lot of fun! I was dancing around, looking at my clothes, finding things I wouldn’t wear anymore, trying on items I wasn’t sure about, and rediscovering outfits I forgot I had.

I didn’t put too much pressure on myself to get it done in a certain amount of time, and just sipped my wine and plugged away at it.

My closet is beautifully organized now, and it didn’t really feel like I did anything.

Another way I make housework fun is by pampering myself while I do it. Many Sunday nights, I put on a face mask and hair treatment and get to work while those things are setting in. I’ll wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, then wash my hair treatment out. This leaves me with awesome hair and a spotless kitchen.

Do It In Small Chunks

This doesn’t necessarily work for me, but it works for many other people: break the chores up into small pieces and do them.

Some people will clean the sink, then go do something else. Then, they’ll come back and vacuum a room, and then settle down and watch TV.

This makes it feel like you’re not really putting extra effort into housework, but it’s still getting done.

This works best if the chores in question are smaller chores with less time required to accomplish them.

Invite People Over

I can’t stand having a messy apartment when I have people over. My boyfriend and I laugh every single time, because our apartment will go from messy to spotless, shining, and organized in an hour if we know people are coming over.

If you have a ton of housework to do an no motivation to do it, invite people over!

That will give you the extra dose of motivation to get it done, and also add a time pressure to it. Some people work best under pressure and deadlines, so this can be an effective way to make sure the house gets clean.

Go Easy On Yourself

Sometimes, tackling mount laundry is not in the cards for you that day. If the sun is shining, and the birds are chirping, and you’d rather be out with friends than washing, drying, and folding, then procrastination is okay.

Chores are only chores when you’re dreading doing them.

If you really don’t want to do something one day, don’t do it. Push it off to the next day, when you may be feeling more ready to tackle the chore. Don’t think about it and don’t feel guilty for not doing it that day. This will only make the chore less desirable the next time you have to do it.

All of these suggestions have worked for me in the past to tackle housework. What works for you?