How To Create A Cleaning Schedule That Works For You

Create a house cleaning schedule will help you to be more productive in less time. By focusing on a few tasks, you will accomplish having a clean and tidy home with little effort. This is why you need a cleaning schedule. A cleaning schedule will ensure your home stays clean everyday.

You can establish your very own cleaning schedule suited to your needs with the following tips.

Lists Are Important

Lists are the basis of creating a cleaning schedule.

Lists are imperative to creating a cleaning schedule. To always have a clean and tidy home, you must make a list or two or three. Sounds exhausting doesn’t it?

Well, it doesn’t have to be. Lists are what will keep you on track. They will keep you from being sidetracked when you apply a little know how. A simple trick.

Why You Need A Cleaning Schedule

A cleaning schedule gives you structure. A blueprint (lists) of tasks to complete. They are the basis for creating your cleaning schedule. Having these cleaning lists has helped me create an effective cleaning schedule. Something I really needed. I am no longer trying to do all my cleaning tasks in one day. Which can make for a ton of frustration. Simplify your day by simplicity in your daily chores.

Simplicity is what we need to accomplish household chores. Maintaining a simple routine will keep your home sparkling with a minimal daily time investment.

Where Do I Start

So, let’s get down to it. Let’s get you started by learning how to create a cleaning schedule tailored to you and your families needs. Then, you too will stay on top of chores and have a home that is always clean and tidy.

Begin by getting a notepad and a pen. We are going old school on this. Write down every home cleaning area you feel should be cleaned. I mean everything. Don’t think any task is too small or large. Just write it down. You will organize it later.

To help get you started, I have jotted down what cleaning tasks are important to me and my family. Then I sorted the tasks into daily and weekly lists. I have also added in monthly tasks.

I took the daily tasks and divided them further into morning and evening. This is especially beneficial on busy weekday mornings. Splitting up the daily tasks ensures they will get done.

Your cleaning tasks will differ from mine. Depending on family needs, house size and more.

Include Long Term Cleaning Goals

I have some long term cleaning goals I want to accomplish as well. Mainly sorting and organizing every closet in our home. Closet junk seems to multiply when you close the door. Does this happen to you, too? Or maybe I have just become so used to stepping over stuff and cramming more items into my master closet.

Anyway, include in your list any long term organizing projects you want to complete. I have included my list that would be nice to complete but are not a top priority right now.

Creating Your Cleaning Schedule

Daily

• make beds (morning)
• take out trash if needed (morning)
• do one load of laundry (morning)
• unload dishwasher from night before (morning)
• reload dishwasher (evening)
• hand wash any dishes as necessary (evening)
• wipe down kitchen counters and stove (evening)
• open and sort mail (evening)
• do a quick pickup to keep flat surfaces clear (evening)

Weekly

• dusting
• vacuum downstairs
• vacuum upstairs
• mop floors
• vacuum stairs
• change sheets
• clean bathrooms/sinks, shower, tub and toilet
• wipe down refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and microwave
• polish mirrors

Monthly

• wipe down kitchen cabinets
• wipe down bathroom cabinets
• wash bathroom rugs
• change air filters for heating/cooling units
• dust light bulbs and fixtures
• dust ceiling fan blades
• wipe down blinds
• clean out refrigerator

Organizing Projects

• master closet (completed)
• bonus room closet
• sewing room closet
• linen closet
• coat closet

The Simple Trick To Getting More Done Every Day

The key to getting more done every day is by giving each task a time limit. I like to use the timer on my phone and set it for 15 minutes. Then I work as fast as I can to complete the task in the allotted time. Kinda like beat the clock. Make it a game. This would work great with the kids, too.

By knowing you only have so much time, you won’t look for distractions. Turn off any email notifications or social media alerts during this time. Stay focused. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short burst of time.

Breaking Down The Lists

Clean Mama advises breaking up your weekly cleaning routine into tasks. One day, she’ll clean bathrooms, another will be vacuuming then the next day will be mopping. I love her strategy and have incorporated her system into mine.

Daily- Break your daily cleaning schedule into morning and evening. It’s easier to break down the daily tasks that way. Especially if you work outside the home. To complete a task, take the fifteen minute principle we talked about earlier. Then move onto the next task for each time period. You will get more accomplished this way.

For example: I will make sure all my morning tasks are completed before I leave for work or to run errands. This way I can come home to a fairly tidy house.

• make beds

• take out trash if needed

• do one load of laundry (either put the load in before you go to bed or first thing when you wake up)

• unload dishwasher from night before

Weekly – Using the method of assigning one weekly task per day will take your weekly cleaning schedule into a more manageable form. Eliminating the feeling of being overwhelmed. For example, vacuuming upstairs one day and downstairs the next.

Break up large tasks into smaller, more doable tasks.

Monthly- Set aside an hour or more if needed, on the weekend to complete the tasks in your monthly cleaning schedule. Again, keep the tasks to a fifteen minute timer. Just remember once the tasks are completed, you won’t have to do them again for another month!

Use Your Planner To Organize Your Cleaning Schedule

Now where to put your cleaning schedule? You could simply write it all down on a piece of paper. Then copy that and keep it on a clipboard to hang up.

You could also download a cleaning schedule from Pinterest. There are lots of cute printable cleaning checklists created by some very talented bloggers.

But what I like to do is record the tasks in my daily planner. It has 3 spaces for each day. So I can delegate each space for morning and evening. I use the third space for my menu planning. I like writing the tasks every week. It reinforces the habit of cleaning. I can also make substitutions to the list if I don’t feel a particular task is needed that week.

I set aside time on the weekend to fill my planner with tasks and menu planning. This ensures my week runs smoothly. This works so much better than not planning at all.

To make your cleaning schedule work, you need cleaning to become second nature. Make cleaning a habit. Use your fifteen minute timer, put on some rockin’ music (preference is yours) and get to cleaning!

Check out my post on The Busy Mom’s Guide For A Clean Home for some quick tips!