Cleaning Schedule Tips... As requested

From a very early age, I enjoyed organization, systems, schedules, color coordination, filing, plans, charts and tables…to a fault.  It has helped me in many ways, but because I rely so heavily on these things, I often feel lost without them.

Recently, I have been specifically asked about my cleaning schedule and how I do that.  First, let me tell you WHY I do this.  I am that person that if I don’t have a checklist I will wander around and NEVER stop moving or working.  I am “busy” by nature (no matter how much I try to stop.)  Having a cleaning schedule (and a daily schedule in general), as silly and militant as it may seem to some, actually helps me be more productive with my time and the MAIN GOAL is that I know exactly what I need to accomplish, when, so that I have more time to sit down with my kids. 

When it was just the boys, I spent much of the day in their face, on the floor, playing with them, reading to them, laughing with them, dancing with them.  Somehow, somewhere between kid number two and kid number four, I lost this time and routine of playing with my kids so constantly.  I am often guilt ridden at the end of the day, regretful that I didn’t spend more quality time with them.  It’s like those posters say, a child is not going to remember how clean their house was when they are grown.

With that in mind, my husband and I are both clean people and appreciate cleanliness and organization.  I know our house would not function happily if I let all of the housework go and spent all day every day with my kids, in their face.  I may have happy kids, but my husband and I might go a little crazy.

So, what’s a cleaning schedule you say?  It is an outlined schedule of cleaning that needs to happen daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly (seasonally).  Gone are the days, before children, of taking your Saturday to fully clean your house from top to bottom.  There aren’t enough hours in the day – especially with four little ones running around – to accomplish all of my cleaning in one day.  So, I clean a little at a time, a concept a friend taught me shortly after I had the boys.  As long as I know it is getting accomplished, even if it’s just a little at a time, each day, then each day I can clean and then---- STOP for that day and go be with my family!  (At least that’s how it’s supposed to work, but I am also that person that will create a to do list for tomorrow and then do everything on it that night --- see busy by nature.) 

Here are the simple steps I use

1.    Make a master cleaning list, with no certain order to it.  This is basically just your draft of everything that YOU think needs to be done in YOUR house to YOUR standard of cleanliness. 

2.    Begin to put some organization to this list.  Some people choose to organize this by room or by the chore itself.  For example, you may do all of your windows on one day or you may instead have a room by room list (which I am currently trying) and you would do the windows of each room on that rooms day. 

3.    Once you figure out how you would like to organize it to meet your needs, you can begin assigning items to each day of the week, spreading it out evenly throughout the week so that you can do a little each day and get on with the rest of your life. 

Simple as that, right?  J  .

Here’s a little more information about what I do. 

I have small things that are done daily, like sweeping the floor, vacuuming, wiping counter-tops, emptying trash and laundry.  (I also have a laundry schedule.  I do at least one load of laundry EVERY day, otherwise I would spend a lot of time in one day on laundry.  (Just in case you were interested to see – Sunday bath towels and kitchen towels, Monday – baby/toddler bedding, Tuesday – kitchen towels, Wednesday – bath towels, Thursday – Guest bedding (if needed), kitchen towels, Friday – Master Bedding, Saturday – boys bedding.  And then a regular load of clothes each day as well.)

Then  I have weekly cleaning that is done in each room.  The rooms are assigned a day to clean them.  Weekly room by room cleaning includes things like – dust furniture, mop floors, wipe down light fixtures and ceiling fans, clean baseboards and doors/frames, vacuum furniture, move large furniture to vacuum underneath it. 

Then there is monthly cleaning room by room.  Each room is assigned a certain week for it to be deep cleaned. 

I am currently in the process of trying to figure out how much time this takes and move some things around as I can.  I also like to play a childish game with myself and set the timer so I can race the clock. 

In the past I have done really well with having a “cleaning/chore” time during the day and only allow myself the amount of time I have allotted and then STOPPING. So you see where the racing of the clock comes in to play. 

I really love efficiency – and like I said, to a fault sometimes.  So, I’m sharing this with you, because some of you have asked.  I’m hoping you can take from it what may be helpful to you and leave the rest.  We are all different people with different families and different needs.  What works for some may not work for others and that is okay.