How to Get Teens to Organize and Clean Their Room

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These tips are in response to the many frustrated parents who have emailed me for help about how to get their kids to clean and organize their room. Often parents get tired of nagging and decide to wait it out, hoping their teen will get to cleaning before it becomes a hygienic necessity! Of course, simply keeping the door closed doesn’t help your teen to organize their clutter. So, don’t get mad, don’t do it yourself, and don’t ignore it; instead, coach them how to do it!

Plan ahead

Some parents make the mistake of thinking that teens ought to be able to organize their room, or clean a neglected room, without help. That’s an overwhelming task for any one. Even adults need help. Organization or cleaning isn’t everyone’s strength. I suggest you model the process by first partnering with your teen, chunking the task into manageable pieces; it’s faster and a lot more fun. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

1. Schedule a couple of hours with your teen in advance when you are both available to work together.
2. Have the following supplies ready: dust cloth, hamper, plastic storage containers, spray cleaner, garbage bags, trash can, and vacuum cleaner.
3. Label boxes: “Storage” for items to be kept elsewhere and “Donate” for items to go to your favorite charity.

Work the plan

Now that you have your supplies ready and you’ve scheduled the time, you can use this quick method to clean up. If you have preteens and you have never demonstrated how to quickly organize and clean a room or your teen is not organized by nature, I suggest you do everything together. If your teens are more experienced, you can let them choose what they will focus on from the list below (i.e. fold clothes or vacuum).

1. Grab all the dirty clothes from the bed and the floor and put them in the hamper (or laundry basket). Do the laundry when the hamper fills up and keep a hamper in the closet at all times.
2. Take a garbage bag and pick up all obvious trash and place the bag in the trash can. (If your kid’s room is in bad shape, then this is not the time to go through storage items and the closet; do it another time.)
3. Collect misplaced items from the floor, bed, and other surfaces and place into boxes or plastic containers. (Put items that belong to another part of the house aside for now.)
4. Make the bed. Don’t turn it into a storage area.
5. Gather all the clean clothes, fold or hang them now.
6. Clean all surfaces and neatly arrange decorative items.
7. Stack plastic containers, take the trash out, and return items to appropriate rooms in the house.
8. Vacuum the room; move furniture, if necessary. Dust furniture.
9. Put away your supplies and any other miscellaneous boxes.

Celebrate

After you have successfully completed this project together, take a moment to reflect on how much nicer the room looks and feels. Congratulate yourselves and celebrate. (Go out for ice cream or decide on a more meaningful reward).

If your teen did not show up for your clean up date, showed up late, or refused to participate, you need to coach her about cause-and-effect. For example, if your teen had plans to meet with friends afterwards, she can go out after the room is organized and clean. Depending upon the specific circumstances, he may end up having to do it without your assistance. (Remember, it’s your responsibility to teach your teen to become accountable!)

Know that by coaching your kids how to competently handle basic household responsibilities you are teaching them life skills. Each family member ought to have regular household responsibilities. This not only helps the household function smoothly, but builds community within your family. Start early and don’t make the mistake of linking fundamental chores with an allowance.

Best,
Barbara

Author, Coach, Parent/Teen Expert

2 Responses to “How to Get Teens to Organize and Clean Their Room”

1. Life Coaching Says:
   July 20th, 2009 at 2:47 am

   As you go through a rainbow of experiences, some darker than others, you’ll see yourself stumble along the way. But stumbling isn’t always a bad thing.

2. Whoopi J. Moses Says:
   November 17th, 2009 at 11:13 am

   Hi. Congratulations on your wonderful article. Thanks. Well that makes sense. Working as an on-line entrepreneur, I work with Outlook as my email client and with the help of Email Sorter Wizard, an Outlook add-on, I sort all my email. You made a good point.

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