Title Preference: Are you a single man worried about the mess? Here’s the secret to keeping your space clean

Let’s be honest, there are millions of benefits to the bachelor lifestyle, the best of which is living in a space without the ‘constant instructions’ to keep your stuff together. But let me tell you something, nothing puts a woman off more than a stinky toilet, pants strewn floor, or sink full of dishes.

Guys ‘ living quarters can get disgusting without the presence of a mother, girlfriend, or any woman figure around. I guess it is because most guys aren’t “nesters”. They couldn’t care less about messy surroundings. Boys just focus on what they are doing or want, and hell with the rest, including a tidy home. Pardon me for my language, but that’s how most of us are!

But do you know what changed my prescription about cleanliness? No, not my wife! The thought of finding things where they belong. One fine day before I got married, I planned to declutter my space, and suddenly, finding things became easier. Things don’t just “disappear” anymore.

Trust me; it isn’t hard. In fact, more manageable in the longer term.

Guys keep their cars cleaner than their room

Most man will keep their whips cleaner than where they sleep or take a shower! Some guys I know will make a half-day out of cleaning their car. They will play music and have protein shakes while meticulously getting every grain of dirt removed from their rides. And once done, they may go inside and sit around dog hair and old pizza boxes, enduring the sharp smell of dirty dishes and left-out mayonnaise.

But don’t feel bad yet; girls are almost the opposite of this. I have known some organised women with bathroom floors you can literally eat off of. But to ride with them in their cars, they have to first move a bunch of garbage off the passenger seat and floor. You seldom see a girl with a super clean car unless it has just been professionally cleaned or their man keeps it clean.

So at least here’s a win for us men!

Six Tips to Keep Your Space Cleaner

If you’re struggling and need guidance on decluttering and keeping up a clean house, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here’s a starter pack for all my fellows.

Note: There are not your everyday tips; even your mom will be impressed by them.

Fix a Day: Pick a day where you are mostly at home, then slowly build momentum for cleaning your house. Go room by room, and don’t miss your toilets. Make a checklist of where you want to start. It’s easier to declutter when you visualise where you need to get started.

Four-Box Method Never Fails: Okay, so this is my absolute favourite. Arrange four boxes and label them: trash, lose them, keep, or re-locate. Enter every room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a thing, no matter how useless you think it is. This may take some days, weeks, or even months, but it will help you see how many items you own, and you’ll know what to do with each item. You will love it; it’s nothing short of a game.

Don’t Shop Until You Donate Some: I know it gets difficult to decide which piece to donate. We all have around 5 tees that look exactly the same, but we still can’t decide to lose them. So here’s the deal don’t go shopping until you get rid of something from your closet. You can try one more trick to simplify things: hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction to identify them. After using an item, face the hanger in the correct order. This way, you would know which clothes you can discard as you never touched them. Easy peasy?

Make Your Bed Every Morning, Even on Sundays: This never gets old – Want to impress your visitors? Make your bed every morning and change your sheet at least once a week. Keep a hamper for your dirty laundry in your room, and put your clothes away each night. No more piles on your sofas or socks under your bed.

Wash Right After You Eat: Don’t wait for the pile of dishes. Make a habit of washing the dishes after every meal since the more they pile, the less you are likely to wash them. Do not postpone the task of washing to a later date. The earlier you do it, the cleaner your kitchen will be, and in return, the tidy your house stays.

Take Before and After Photos: Nothing motivates you more than a before and after scenario; it feels like an achievement. So choose one part of your home, like your kitchen counter or toilet, and take a picture of a small area. Quickly clean off the area in the photo and take an after photo. Once you see how your home could look, it becomes easier to start decluttering more of your home.

Not Convinced Yet? Cleaning Boosts Your Confidence

If you are not a very clean guy, you would never be able to reach anywhere on time as you would not find anything at the ‘right’ spot. Moreover, your looks speak volumes when you have a clean space; you smell good and feel more confident when you are out in the world. Having a clean place will eventually make you think better.

You may not realise how much all that dirty clutter around you affects your thinking ability. And if you keep your place clean, you start to appreciate it more and even buy a frame or a plant to make it look and feel better. So get started today!