The jungle of toys, the inability to walk across the room without hurting your feet stepping on lego, the mix of clean and dirty clothes on the floor… the mess! If you have kids, chances are you’ve probably experienced by now the terror of a messy room and the nightmare that follows when you have to actually clean it. However, fear no more!

This guide will lead you step by step through everything you have to do to make this chore a more pleasant one, and more importantly, a very, very quick one. One that you’ll easily forget even happened in the first place!

Ready, set, go

1. Time yourself

It might sound a bit strict, but time is a precious thing, and you don’t want to waste it in room cleaning. Timing yourself will allow you to keep better track of how long it actually takes you to clean your kid’s room, and you can view it as a personal challenge. Plus, when you’re on the clock, you’ll push yourself harder. You can also make personal records and try to beat them. Generally, you’ll find that you’ll even work faster when you’re timing yourself, which is the main idea behind it.

2. Be prepared to sweat it out

Cleaning is totally a workout. So get that activewear going, maybe a sip of water or two, and let that sweat flow. OK, maybe it’s not cardio, but it counts as physical activity nonetheless! If you’re focused, moving fast, plus timing yourself, cleaning your kid’s room can be a perfect little workout. So dress the part, and don’t forget to wear shoes in case there is some sneaky toy waiting to hurt you.

Sorting through the chaos

3. Separate the clothes

Now the sorting phase of the cleaning process can begin. First, grab all the clothes, no matter if they are clean or dirty, place them in a tub or basket, and leave it outside the bedroom premises. Don’t freak out about mixing clean and dirty, the main issue here is to achieve some visibility while getting some stuff out of the way. We’ll come back to the clothes later.

4. Put away the toys

Now it’s time to put all the toys out of the way and store them properly where they belong. By now you probably know how they are all sorted and in which tub each one goes. Sorting can be a little slow, but it’s important you get the toys right so you don’t have to come back to this point again.

5. Chuck everything you don’t need

After all that sorting and placing stuff where it belongs, some rubbish, broken items or things your kid doesn’t use anymore are bound to appear. Grab a rubbish bag and throw everything in it that needs to be discarded. Remember, this is not a time to be sentimental; be practical and keep only what your child needs.

Clean like a boss

6. Make the bed

If things are going on track, you should be able to walk across the room now that the toys and clothes are out of the way. So, if you’re able to reach the bed, it means it's time to make it, or make it tidy if it’s already made. If the sheets need to be changed, it could be the optimum time to do so.

7. Dust

This is hard-cleaning time. Get that duster out and hope that this time that awful dust won’t get you sneezing for the next five minutes! You can always wear a disposable mask if you suffer from allergies. Make sure you cover everything, including corners, the area behind the bed frame and bedside tables, window and door frames, etc.

8. Vacuum

Get rid of all that dirt for good with a good old vacuuming session. Remember to vacuum underneath the bed and try to cover as much of the room’s floor as possible. If your floor is carpeted, consider doing a second round just in case too much dirt and dust has been absorbed by the carpet.

The finishing touches

9. Throw the clothes on the bed… and sort them out!

Yeah, sorry, but there is still some more sorting to do before you’re done. Remember all the clothes you put on a basket outside the room? Now it’s the time to separate them into clean and dirty piles and put away the clean ones back in the closet or hang them on a stand. You can throw the dirty ones back into the basket and take them to the laundry to be washed. For this step, your sense of smell will play a huge part where your eyes can’t do the trick. So be courageous, smell it out, and decide whether the item of clothing deserves a wash or could be used one more time.

10. Review

Take a last look, make sure everything is in order, fix what’s not, marvel at your amazing parent superpowers, stop that timer, and voila! You’re DONE! Now it’s probably time to brag to everyone in your household of what you just pulled off against the clock and let everyone feel bad about it and appreciate you.

Cleaning your kid’s room can be a pain - but with a little organisation, planning, activewear and a positive attitude, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Certainly, there are some tricks and furniture specially designed for kids which make life a lot easier when it comes to organising their rooms, but hopefully this guide will help you in your future cleaning endeavours, not only for your child’s room, but maybe even for your own.