I used to do this every weekend. Assuming clutter isn’t your issue and you just want to clean, I think one of the secrets is to act like the maid and have good tools and have everything you need in one spot. Get a bucket that holds spray bottles of cleaning solution, microfiber towels, dusters, brushes, mops (whatever you use) all together. You don’t lose time or get distracted going to look for the right tool or waste time trying to make do with something that’s less than optimal. Get a good spinner mop bucket and mop (really like O’Cedar). I also have a Bissell Crosswave & I love it.

If you’re going to do the whole house in four hours, have a set list of things to do and have a routine for your weekly clean. It’s not a deep clean & doesn’t have to be perfect — don’t get bogged down in deep cleaning the vent hood filters, or whatever (this is usually my downfall).

If you want to clean a messy house in 2-4 hours, you have to just move piles around.

In 2-4 hours you can do what they do - clean bathrooms, vacuum, mop, light dusting, wipe kitchen appliances, fluff pillows.

But it’s not enough time to tidy, organize, or deep clean anything.

In reality, it's a lot more than 4 hours. For example, I spend 5-6 hours every week on tidying, dishes, laundry, etc. I always put everything away before actually cleaning or before the cleaners come. All they need to do is scrub, vacuum, dust, etc.

I suggest focusing on *cleaning* and not organizing/reorganizing. Of course put things away neatly but I find one thing that derails me when I clean is I'll get distracted by, say, a closet or drawer and suddenly find myself knee-deep in all the clothes I've tossed onto the bed to reorder by color or whatever. Identify a cleaning task - toilet/tub/sink, baseboards, dusting, whatever, and stick with it til it's done!

Also, clean top to bottom. Sometimes I vacuum and then realize my countertops are crumby and want to kick myself, ha.

Part of how my cleaning service gets in and out so quickly is that I’ve tidied up before they come. They’re not put anything away, they’re not doing laundry, they’re not doing dishes. If you’re including tidying with actual cleaning, it’s going to take longer.

Op here, my backstory—

We used to have a cleaner every other week in our last home. With moving, I haven’t set this up yet.

We have priced out a potential home cleaner, but just for some other financial priorities going on in our life, we decided that we can clean the home by ourselves. Until some other things ease up in January.

I loved how they got the job done in 2-4 hours. I would *love* to put it 4 hours every other week. (Add nightly dishes etc., but that’s just maintenance we expect).

In fact, today I have a random free 4 hours, and a messy house I want to tackle. I’m a focused person, but I feel like I always get onto one room, and the stuff a maid would do doesn’t get done.

Tips from maids on unemotionally getting your house clean in 4 hours or so?
Just get the job done. Don’t get distracted.
Obviously a maid wouldn’t have an emotional tie or distraction, but I’m asking—
How does one keep to a limited time window, and get essentially all the most important cleaning jobs done?

Practical advice needed.