A Realistic Cleaning Schedule to Keep Your Home Neat & Tidy
Daily, weekly, and monthly home cleaning checklists
I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t keep my home neat for the life of me before I created a cleaning schedule. I constantly had dishes stacked up, crumbs on my floors, and clutter everywhere.
Between being a single, work-from-home mom and dealing with mental or physical health setbacks, cleaning just wouldn’t be a priority. I would get overwhelmed, busy, or too tired to do all the things.
I tested out a few different cleaning schedules and methods before I finally settled on one that proved to be the most effective for me. It was simple but comprehensive, because it was tailored to my schedule and home.
Below, I’ll introduce you to the basic parts of my cleaning schedule. You can use it as-is, or you can take some of the tips at the end of this post to make it your own.
Benefits of Using a Cleaning Schedule for Home
Many of us have a lot on our plate, and it’s easy to let our homes take a backseat while we run errands, attend school functions, or focus on running a business. So, let’s take a look at how a cleaning schedule can help improve multiple areas of your life.
Consistency
If you’re only able to complete random cleaning tasks in between all of life’s other demands, you’ll never have a consistently clean home. While you might get the dishes done, laundry is stacking up.
A cleaning schedule helps you keep track of what’s been done already, and it reminds you of your “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” tasks.
Setting aside a specific time to do your cleaning also holds you accountable for actually getting it done. Prioritize your cleaning time, and you’ll finally get out from all the dirt and clutter.
Saves Time
When you’re learning a new skill, you’re likely to go slower than someone who’s been practicing for a while. And, sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting into a routine that helps you create flow.
Using a cleaning schedule will help you get into the cleaning flow. You’ll know where and when to start and exactly what you need to get done. No more time spent doing random little tasks that leave you feeling like you didn’t get anything done.
Improved Mental Health
There are two primary ways a cleaning schedule can help improve your mental health.
First, you’ll have less stress about completing your cleaning. You’ll also be able to keep up with your home more easily, limiting overwhelm, mom guilt, or frustration.
Second, your home will be a lesser source of stress. Clutter and mess can often lead to anxiety and sensory overload. But a cleaning schedule can help you stay ahead of the mess that might trigger any mental health symptoms.
Improved Physical Health
You and your family deserve to live in a healthy home. Staying on top of your cleaning means fewer germs, less dirt, and better air quality. You may notice that your family gets sick less often, sleeps better, or simply functions better physically in a clean home.
Daily Cleaning Tasks
Your daily cleaning schedule includes some quick and easy tasks that will keep your home looking tidy, even if there’s still some deep cleaning you’ll need to attend to later. You probably already do many of these things, like dishes or taking out the trash. And there’s no need to schedule a long cleaning session. Just take 10 minutes here and there.
I, personally, am not a person who has typically prioritized making my bed in the past. But I found that making it was a good motivator to start my day. Even if I just simply fluff up my pillow and throw my comforter over everything, it appears less messy, and it gets me moving even the tiniest bit.
Enlist the help of other family members to complete these tasks. If your kids are old enough, they can make their own beds and pick up after themselves. With my young daughter, it helped if we had a few 15-minute tidying sessions throughout the day to keep the mess from piling up.
Weekly Cleaning Tasks
A weekly home cleaning checklist adds one main task to your to-do list each day. They might take about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your house. But, you may also be able to delegate some of these tasks to other family members too.
Your Declutter day on Friday is for tidying up any items that may have been left out throughout the week. For example, mail that got tossed on the counter or new purchases that didn’t get put away. You can also use it to tackle some of your bigger decluttering projects, like cleaning out your linen closet or donating some old toys.
Sundays are for Miscellaneous projects. If you don’t have anything to do, or just want to relax, feel free to take the day off. But it’s also a good day for deep cleaning tasks, your monthly cleaning checklist, or smaller home projects.
Monthly Cleaning Tasks
Your monthly cleaning schedule might include some tasks that take a little more time and dedication. But they’ll be the things that really keep your home feeling clean and fresh.
To be completely honest, I do sometimes miss a task on this checklist here and there. Like, nothing is going to entice me to clean my oven more than once or twice a year. But I do deep clean my stovetop, fridge, and microwave.
The outsides of my windows are none of my business (if I had a hose, it would be a different story, but I’m not dealing with it while living in an apartment). And some of my light fixtures I skip a month or two because they’re just not fun trying to reach.
So make this schedule your own and do with it what you will. Some of you might want to sanitize more often, but I prefer to limit the use of strong chemicals in my home, so monthly is often enough for me.
How to Build a Cleaning Schedule For Your Home
The daily/weekly/monthly method might not work for everyone, and that’s okay. It’s worked best for me so far, but some other methods that I also enjoyed include the:
- Room-a-day method: I would assign each room a day of the week, and I’d clean the whole room at once. I liked this method but felt that it was a little time-consuming. It would probably work best for someone with an extremely flexible schedule who can dedicate more time to cleaning.
- Hour-a-day method: Set aside an hour a day for cleaning. I used this method for a while, but I found that I wasn’t able to get enough done in an hour (I had trouble focusing on my tasks).
- Combo: I combined these two methods by spending an hour on the designated room for the day. And then I would rotate my schedule. Wherever I left off on the list, I would pick back up in the same spot the next week. But some tasks were being left too long in between.
If you have no problem focusing and getting things done quickly, one of these methods might work for you. But I found that grouping tasks was easiest for me to complete.
I suggest making a master list of all of your cleaning tasks to start building your schedule. Then, determine how often you want to get them done. Use the list to try out a few different methods, and over time, you’ll likely find one that works better for you than others.
Come share your new cleaning schedule with us in the Woman, Blooming Facebook group. Our community is full of women working toward a variety of goals, and we’d love to cheer you on as you get your house in order!
