Five Tips on Making a Cleaning Schedule

Cleaning: Does anyone actually enjoy it? We all know what happens when we don’t do it, though. Whether it’s simply day-to-day chores or those more extensive projects that have to be done monthly or quarterly, not keeping up with the cleaning just makes more work for everyone. Also, it’s no fun to live in a messy home! If you struggle with keeping up with everything that needs to be done, here are five great tips on coming up with (and sticking to) a cleaning schedule.

Many of these will be automatic. For example, most people clear the table and load the dishwasher after eating dinner. Also, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded in the morning to make room for more dishes! Write down what needs to be done in each room. In the dining room, for example, you probably need to sweep under the table each evening if you have young children. The bathroom sink should be rinsed out every morning. Beds should be made.

Once you have your list, it’s time to pass out jobs to people. Think about the ages of your children, but don’t get into the habit of doing everything for little ones! Even very young children can put their own clothing in the hamper or can carry their plastic dishes to the sink. Bigger kids can wipe down their own bathroom counters, and pre-teens can do things like wash out pet bowls, load and unload the dishes and swish the toilets with a brush. Assigning each person a fair number of tasks helps to keep the home running smoothly.

If you were to allow the bathroom to go completely uncleaned for an entire week, you’d have a bigger job to do than if you wiped out the sink, swished the toilet and picked up the dirty clothing each day. Also, spot-cleaning the kitchen floor each evening can allow you to put off a big mopping job for a while. Putting down a large mat to wipe feet on can reduce the amount of time you spend sweeping or vacuuming up all of that dirt. Try to consider what types of things you can do that will take only a few minutes, that will save you time later.

Instead of trying to squeeze in time to clean out the refrigerator, mop the floors, vacuum the bedrooms and change the sheets, try to carve out a two-hour period each week to accomplish these tasks with your family’s help. If everyone is ready to go at 10:00 on Saturday morning, you can have all of the bigger weekly jobs done in a matter of a couple of hours. Again, assign tasks based on age and ability. Use a team system if necessary or desired.

Some jobs don’t need to be done weekly, but do need to be done more often than once per year. Things like washing comforters and curtains, cleaning out the gutters, and dusting off ceiling fans fall into this category. Make a master list of these tasks, and try to assign yourself just one per month or so. This will allow you to stay caught up on these bigger cleaning jobs without having to stress yourself out over getting them all done at once.

Keeping up with the cleaning is a good way to feel good about your home. It also allows you to invite guests over with little notice and open your home up for meetings and occasional parties. When you have your family help you, many hands make light work and it can even be a fun time of family bonding.