Establishing a Cleaning Schedule for Your Home
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A cleaning schedule may sound like drudgery, but it can be a fantastic strategy to help you keep up on the housework and enjoy a clean house.
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While I’m not naturally someone to embrace schedules and spreadsheets, I’ve found that they come in really handy when managing a home. After all, there is no chef or maid at this here establishment. I am the main person to establish order here on the Ponderosa.
What I’ve found is that if I don’t give myself deadlines or “homework” as it were, I find all kinds of excuses NOT to do the work. Then it just hangs over my head, making me feel guilty about being a lousy housekeeper.
One of the things that can really help you and me manage ours home is to have a regular cleaning schedule. It’s not all fun and games, but you’ll soon see that if you put your household tasks on a schedule — and actually do them — you’ll be amazed at your productivity as well as how clean your house is.
While I sometimes fall off schedule and have to hit the reset button, I also know the bliss that comes from regular home maintenance.
As the school year gets into gear, now is an ideal time to do some deep cleaning and decluttering and get back on a cleaning schedule or start one if you never have before. The holidays are just a few months off, so what better time to get a good habit going?
Establishing a Cleaning Schedule for Your Home
There are at least two ways you can go about establishing a cleaning schedule.
1. Create your own cleaning schedule.
Print out this blank Weekly Cleaning Worksheet and then plot out the chores that you’ll do on the days that you plan to do them. The top row is for morning chores, the middle for afternoon, and the bottom row covers evening tasks.
This is just a sample. You’ll need to set up your cleaning schedule to suit the rhythm of your home.
(If you need inspiration for what jobs there are to do, consult this Cleaning Checklist to see what you want to do in your home.)
2. Use an app.
Using an app, like the Motivated Moms app, gives you structure without recreating the wheel. (You can also purchase the Motivated Moms planner which is a paper version of the app.)
I’ve been using the app off and on for a few years now and really appreciate that it sets up a cleaning schedule for me. I don’t have to think. I just have to clean. Plus, I can have the app sync to several devices so the kids can access the tasks and do them as part of their chores.
What fits at my house may not fit at yours. You’ll want to test and tweak until you find a rhythm that fits your family, your home, and you. Regardless, a cleaning schedule is essential to helping you feel good about the place you call home.
Do you have a cleaning schedule?
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Originally published September 25, 2010. Updated September 10, 2016.
I have a similar schedule as one of the above moms. I have a jtwo floor house and break it down by floor & wet/dry areas. I clean the upstairs bathroom & do towel laundry on Mondays. Tuesdays I thoroughly clean the bedrooms and launder the bedsheets. Wednesday I go downstairs and thoroughlt clean the kitchen & the downstairs bathroom & do a load (or 2) of laundry. I also do food shopping this day. Thursday I clean the dinning/front room & family room and a load of laundry. I also do meal planning. Friday I would LIKE to keep up with the financial but have a habit of letting my husband take care of that. Saturday & Sunday I do coupons- nothing else 😉
Love the chart- I always assign a day of the week to each room/area like this- Monday bathrooms, Tuesday kitchen, Wednesday bedrooms, Thursday dining room, Friday family room.
Thank you for this post! I really need to get more organized with cleaning the house. I am fortunate that I have two able bodied teenagers but they also need reminders to keep up with their own spaces. Thanks again.
I’vebeen doing something similar for the past few year. I have a “room of the day” plan and what ever needs to be done in that room that day is what I concentrate on. For example, Monday is bedrooms, so I’ll take a look-see and maybe it’s vacuuming, or changing sheets, or clearing out unused children’s toys and clothes on that particular day, or maybe not. It keeps me focused without making me adhere to a rigid schedule. (Oh, and I only work for about an hour. My little dollar store timer helps me know when I’m done.)
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve had a schedule in the past and it was great. Not sure why or how I got off of it. Time to get back on the wagon!
You are so right! I have really fallen off of the wagon in this area since my last busybody got here! Two years ago! Ahem. But, I am taking back control NOW! I am finding that if I add chores to my homeschooling planner then I get more done. While my older son is at the table doing seat work. I can sweep, dust, and clean windows. When my boys are in the bathtub then I use that time to clean the bathroom instead of just sitting there. I also have learned to stay on top of my kitchen duties by unloading the dishwasher first thing in the morning! Before I get on the computer. This was a tough one as I would much rather check blogs and comments first! But, by starting out the morning with an empty dishwasher I have really made serious progress in keeping on top of my kitchen through out the day!
I’ve been using a cleaning shedule for years (I learned from watching my mother-in-law), and I love it! I am not a huge fan of cleaning, but I love a clean, tidy home. Knowing that certain days have specific jobs is very freeing. Monday/Thursday are laundry days, Wednesdays are floors and dusting, Friday is bathroom day. On the off days, I can relax more, knowing that the work will get done!
Oh Fishmama–you sing words that make my housekeeping heart hum. Simply hum. And you used a fancy chart. I love charts. I was just thinking I need to put together a chart and set up some kind of schedule–thanks for the reminder. I also love how you say once you STICK TO IT, you might actually get something done. It’s amazing what will happen when you put the laptop down , the TV off, and put some good music ON. Suddenly, that bathroom gets cleaned. Great post.
Thanks so much for sharing this post! It was exactly the help that I needed 🙂
This is a great post! I was just thinking this week how I need to establish a cleaning schedule in my home! Thanks!!!