Recently, we moved into a larger home and I had to shift my prior schedule to work in the new, much larger, house. I just wrote down everything that I needed to do in the house, kind of grouping areas that would go together. I also REALLY want to have my week weighted heavily on Mondays and Tuesdays and a little bit lighter as the week goes on. I tend to get more social engagements or frankly, I just get more tired. But, I also tend to work on Thursdays so it helps that I made that day lighter (if I always worked on Thursdays, I think that would change my routine around a lot).
Here’s the basics of my cleaning schedule right now:
Monday: Clean the kitchen (including the fridge, sink and stove), sweep and mop. Wash whites and kids clothes. (Yes, I throw all my kids clothes in together. So far, so good.)
Tuesday: Bathroom day. I rotate steaming different areas of my bathroom as well as the weekly cleaning that has to be done. I wash coloreds and towels.
Wednesday: Room day, I rotate through the kids’ rooms cleaning and re-organizing their drawers, and taking out the too small items, etc. I also try to go through my own closet and take out the stuff that just isn’t working. We also vacuum the whole house on this day and we found a urine stain in the carpet, and this is how to remove urine stains from carpet if you’re interested. I don’t wash anything on Wednesdays. (HOORAY!)
Thursdays: Downstairs. I work on rotating our toys, or filing stuff that needs to be filed, or cleaning the guest room if we have guests coming soon (won’t you please come and visit?). I wash whites and kids’ clothes.
Fridays: Clean the living room and the laundry area. I like to do this on Fridays, as we’re more likely to have visitors on the weekend. Fluff pillows, take the lint brush to them, all that jazz. I wash colors.
Saturdays: I do a 20-minute clean of the entire house on this day. The kids have to get their room and the play room “Mommy Clean”, which means I look in closets and under the beds. I have them clean out the cars and we try and do a little yard work. This is also my day to spend a few minutes in the garage organizing anything that’s somehow been left out of place. We also strip and wash all the sheets on Saturdays.
In addition to these things, I do a daily 10 minute tidy. I set a timer and quickly go through the house putting things away, opening curtains, just making things presentable. It seems like 80% of my cleaning is putting things away, anyone else?
For me, this schedule is a must. I know it doesn’t work for a lot of people, but once I know my little section for the day is “done” I can sit and play with my kids. I feel relaxed knowing that things are done for the day.
QUESTION: Would a cleaning schedule work for you? Do you think you could at least make small groupings to make your life a little easier? Do you think you’d be a better mom if you had a cleaning schedule?
CHALLENGE: If you think adding a cleaning schedule would help make your life easier, try incorporating some of Hilary’s ideas.
Image by FreeDigitalPhotos
Originally published on September 24, 2011.
I put a basic cleaning schedule in place for me, not nearly as intense as yours but something to get me started. I also would never remember what day was for what (even with a printed chart) unless I had mneumonic devices. So monday: mess, Tuesday: toilet, Wednesday: wash (laundry), Thursday: throw out, Friday: Facuum.
It’s a basic start, but I agree that seeing the whole house as messy without a daily regimen is overwhelming. Thanks for your article.
Thanks for sharing your cleaning schedule! It’s always fun to hear how other families take care of their homes.
This is great. I need a system. The only thing I would say is that I would rather only do laundry on 2 days a week. I wash those days only. I just like that I don’t have to think about it every day. Thanks so much for sharing.
I tried the daily system and actually really disliked it. I’d much rather have one big cleaning day.