A clean home is key to a productive household. An organized cleaning schedule helps you finish your chores on time, every time.
Time for the truth bomb. I despise cleaning. Seriously, it’s at the very bottom of my “things I want to do” list. So I try to keep things super simple to stay on top of the necessary chores, and the rest … well, it gets done when company is coming over. Ha!
One of my New Year’s goals is cleaning-related: to hire someone to do it for me this year. Seriously, the idea of someone else cleaning my house every two weeks sounds heavenly. We’ll see if I muster up the courage to find someone, but it’s high on my list of goals for this year. LOL
Although I don’t enjoy cleaning, I have a few cleaning posts here. Above, I’m making my all-natural glass stove top cleaner.
RELATED: Why I Finally Hired a Cleaner
But even when someone comes to clean every couple of weeks, I still have to keep up with the daily pickups (hello! kids live here), the dishes, the laundry, wiping down the counters and all the other eleventy-bajillion tasks that keep a home from turning into a complete hot mess zone.
Tips for an Organized House Cleaning Schedule
- Set realistic, achievable goals for your daily home. Examples: do one load of laundry from start to finish every day, don’t go to bed with a dirty kitchen, vacuum the living area every evening after dinner, make your bed each morning. Whatever matters to you, make it a priority.
- Be disciplined about your goals. I’m learning that organizing isn’t a one-and-done thing. I can’t just set a goal or a system and expect it to run itself. It’s a lifelong learning process with bumps, mistakes and wins along the way. To succeed, you have to be disciplined about keeping your home in order. Give yourself grace in the process, then climb back on the organizing wagon.
- Turn your goals into daily rituals. For me, I always run the dishwasher after dinner. Even if it’s not completely full, I run it. That keeps things in check. I also do laundry on Wednesdays and Saturdays, my designated laundry days. In some seasons I’ll do a load a day or one every two days. Whatever you choose, make it a “rule” and try to stick to it. I dump my clean laundry on my bed and make myself fold it while my hubby gets ready for bed each night. (I stay up later than he does, so I don’t need to get ready for bed just yet.) This keeps it from piling up out of sight.
- Commit to a Cleaning Schedule. If you’re the sort of person who likes a schedule, then create one for the other regular cleaning chores like dusting, vacuuming, cleaning windows, etc. I personally just do them as needed or when someone is coming over. It all went out when window when I had my first baby, so it’s probably time I either hired someone to do it (updated: I finally did and it’s amazing!) or reinstated a cleaning schedule. #preachingtomyself
- Flylady.net is one of my favorite resources for cleaning and keeping your home clean. I used her system and app to keep track of everything before I had kids.
- Want to clean your whole house in one day? Use this checklist.
- Need a list of daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning chores? You’ll want this.
- Print this blank cleaning checklist, laminate it and use a dry erase marker to check items off as you go!
- Whatever you choose, keep it in your Home Organization Binder so it’s handy! I’ll be doing the same!
- Update: I got a Roomba for Christmas in 2017, and it has CHANGED my LIFE! If you can get one, do it. It’s worth every penny to have your floors cleaned once a day. Seriously, the best investment in the past 5 years.
- Declutter! I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty good declutterer. But I’ve recently realized, thanks to this little book (affiliate link), that I’m not good at decluttering at ALL. (Is that even a word??) I have major clutter in my home, but I’m working on it and will share more about it very soon. It’s super exciting! You’ll become an amazing declutterer too, I just know it! Without clutter, though, it’s sooooo much easier to keep your house clean. So this may be the answer to my dislike of cleaning. We’ll see!
Do you have a tried-and-true cleaning schedule? If so, share it with the rest of us in the comments. We’re dying to know what works!
Don’t forget to share your organizing and decluttering this month on social media with the hashtag #lessofahotmess.
The Messy Work: Set your cleaning goals and make a cleaning schedule. Write it down (or find a cute printable – search Pinterest) and tuck it in your Home Organization Binder. I’ll be doing this one with you! #longoverdue
We’re going to keep things light and easy this weekend, so you can catch up if you missed any of the “Messy Works” during the week. But tomorrow we’ll chat about decluttering and organizing something you take with you wherever you go! See you tomorrow!
Right there in the mess with you, Laura
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