Cleaning Schedule

Inherently I am not a person who “loves” to clean. In fact, I fight envy am amazed by family and friends who take joy in housework. Nonetheless, I love everything about clean house… from the neat tidy look, to the sense of peace & tranquility, to being visitor ready at a moments notice!

So… how does one who is not fundamentally wired to just clean, go about this seemingly daunting tasks?

Well for me, I have found in my work and my personal life that I am a great “task master”. Give me a checklist, agenda, or row of checkboxes and I can move mountains! Somehow a list turns ordinary tasks into a challenge, a quest, something to be conquered…

Above is one view of the home office… to the left of the window is a silver magnet/ bulletin board from Crate & Barrel. I just love this recent addition to our office (repurposed from another space)! It keeps me organized from week to week and really helps me balance all the household work.

Located here is my cleaning calendar. I have used other versions in the past, but this seems to work best for our current home. I placed the calendar in a sheet protector in order to be able to use my dry erase markers to check items off as I go through the week.

This helps me see that I am accomplishing my “to-do’s” and also allows for adjustments to the schedule if I don’t feel like doing a particular item on a specified day. As long as it all gets done, who really cares which day a particular items is completed. The name of the game for me is consistency!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/132341958/Cleaning-Calendar

 

You can download this calendar for your personal use. Please leave me a comment if you would like a copy that can be edited to customize for your family.

 

You will notice the calendar is broken down in to 4 sections:

 

1. Daily- Morning

Make Bed

Empty Dishwasher

Put in Load of Wash

Bathroom Wipe Down

 

If you aren’t quite a morning person (like me!)… this is a way to get some of your house organized before you are even awake! All tasks should take less than 15 minutes combined & save on work later in the day!

Note: I just started to use the NEW Windex Touch-Up Cleaner. This works well to give surfaces a quick clean.

2. Daily- Evening

 

Vacuum Kitchen & Dining Room Floor	Load Dishwasher	Clean Dishes & Sink
Fold & Put Away Wash	Sort & Shred Mail	15 Minute House Tidy

 

These tasks should take about 30-60 minutes depending on your household size and number of people in your family. The key is to keep ahead, so you do not end up with a full day worth of cleaning at the end of a long week. I try to break up the tasks throughout the evening & get the hubby involved!

Note: We have wood floors throughout our current home- I use a small light-weight vacuum to clean up the floors after meals. Such a time saver, thanks to my amazing sister for this tip: Eureka! Vacuum

3. Chore of the Day

 

This one is pretty self explanatory- separated by day of the week and room of the house. I have seen other cleaning calendars on Pinterest here, here, or here that focus more on a certain task versus a particular room.

 

I specifically chose to do mine by room so I feel like I am accomplishing something. Mind over matter… like the feeling of the entire room being done!

 

4. Swing Day

 

These are tasks that I personally didn’t feel needed to be done weekly, but wanted to have in the rotation (as they may get lost in the daily shuffle).

 

By no means is this list ALL INCLUSIVE, but rather my humble attempt to try to be a better homemaker. I do not perfectly follow the list, but rather attempt to stick to it more days than not to help run a clean, organized house!

 

Do you have a cleaning schedule you follow or any time-saving cleaning tips? Would love any & all ideas!