There are many different cleaning and organizing methods. You may have to try a few before you find what works best for you, but they all have a few things in common. Typically, it’s best to stick to a cleaning schedule and work in small chunks, but what if you wanted to try something completely different? However, if sticking to a cleaning schedule doesn’t work for you, try “complete the cycle,” where you see cleaning as part of the process of the task that caused the mess in the first place.

This cleaning framework has been around in the home improvement blogosphere for a few years now, and it’s a stark contrast to the way we normally think about cleaning. I normally say that you should spend a small portion of each day cleaning, following a consistent schedule. As you do this, you’re cleaning up and organizing everything that’s out of place at that time of day. When you complete the cycle, nothing will be out of place because you’re reorganizing your daily tasks. Think of everything you do as a cycle, with cleaning up as the final step.

For example, think about your morning commute or the time you spend getting ready for work. Maybe you brush your teeth and shower, make breakfast, or grab a cup of coffee on your way to the office. Getting to the office or sitting down to start work might seem like the last step in that cycle, but you might think of cleaning up after work as the last step. In a sense, you probably already do this. When you stop at Starbucks on your way to work, you don’t hold the cup when you’re done. You throw it away. Drinking the coffee doesn’t complete the cycle of getting the coffee, but throwing the cup away does. So the end of your work routine really doesn’t come until after you’re done working, when you put away your travel bag, throw your clothes in the hamper, and rinse out your lunchbox before putting it away.

With the standard method of cleaning, you would do all of that during the cleaning time you have blocked out in your schedule, but by ending each cycle by cleaning up whatever you were doing, you ensure that you don’t have to. The cycle of eating dinner doesn’t end when you eat, it ends when you clear the plates. The cycle of working out doesn’t end when you’re done lifting, it ends when you wipe down your equipment and put everything back together. The cycle of family game night doesn’t end when someone is declared the winner and the kids fall asleep, it ends when you clear the plates and wash the popcorn bowl.