The easiest way to keep your home clean is with a cleaning schedule. And, this step-by-step guide shares exactly how to create the perfect cleaning schedule that saves time and helps keep your home clean.
Yes, I know that creating a cleaning schedule seems like just another thing you’ll have to add to your list of things to do, but a schedule will help take away the stress of cleaning as you don’t have to think about what to do next. Just follow the checklist and tick the boxes when you can.
And, to help you create an easy-to-follow routine, we’ve even created a cleaning checklist that you can download and adjust to help take the stress out of keeping your home clean.
How To Create A Cleaning Schedule That Works For You
There’s no right or wrong way to create a cleaning schedule.
It’s all about creating something that works for you. The point of a schedule or checklist is to help you stay on track, have a routine that you get used to and feel less overwhelmed and stressed.
Step 1
Assess Your Space
It doesn’t matter if you live in a studio apartment, a comfortable family home or a huge mansion. Start by taking a look around your home and make notes on things that are important to you.
What are your cleaning priorities? Do you have rooms you rarely use or spaces that always seem to be a mess? Is one space more important than another when it comes to cleaning?
Step 2
Create a Master Task List
Create a list of everything in your home that you want/need to clean. Walk through each room and note everything that requires cleaning, even if it only has to be cleaned once a year.
It’s likely that you’ll end up with a very long list that seems overwhelming, but don’t worry. This is all about creating a schedule that works for you. Once you’ve broken down the steps, it will feel much more manageable, and you can adjust to suit your lifestyle.
Step 3
Prioritise & Decide On A Plan for your Home
Creating a cleaning schedule that you can stick to depends on your cleaning style and how much time you have.
Do you prefer to do everything in one go, or would you prefer to break it down into little jobs for every day? Who is responsible for cleaning? How much time do you want to allocate to cleaning your home?
Decide on what you want to clean and how often you want to do it. Don’t forget to delegate the jobs to every family member. It’s all about creating a plan that works for you, your home and your family.
Our printable cleaning checklist template is perfect for families. It comes with individual cards that you can personalise for each family member. They then have clear cleaning goals to accomplish and can tick off boxes when the tasks are completed.
Step 4
Create A Schedule You’ll Actually Follow
Group Tasks By Frequency
Return to your master task list and look at the jobs you’ll need to do daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.
For daily cleaning tasks, you’ll have to include things like wiping the kitchen counters, making the bed and emptying/loading the dishwasher. Weekly tasks are things like dusting surfaces, mopping the floors and scrubbing the shower.
Monthly cleaning tasks will include things like cleaning your windows, scrubbing the microwave or dusting light fixtures and fittings.
Lastly, there are cleaning tasks that you probably only need to do yearly. These include things like cleaning inside your cupboards, descaling your coffee machine and defrosting and cleaning your freezer.
Decide On How Much Time You Have For Cleaning
Creating a schedule that works for you is about assigning tasks and sticking to them. Be realistic about how much time you can spend cleaning and create a list that reflects it.
Maybe you only have time to clean your windows once a quarter or just once a year. There’s no right or wrong schedule. Don’t pressure yourself to complete jobs you have no time for. It’s about creating a schedule that works for you and using the cleaning checklist to motivate you.
Create The Ideal Cleaning Schedule
No two houses and families are the same, and how you allocate and schedule tasks will depend on what works best for you.
You might find a central hub with a whiteboard in your kitchen for everyone to see works best for you. A Google calendar with allocated tasks might work better if there are just two of you.
For us, a cleaning checklist is the ideal solution. It’s always on hand, and you can quickly tick boxes when you’ve finished the task. It’s reusable, so there’s no paper waste, and there aren’t scrunched-up pieces of paper lying around with half-finished tasks crossed off.
We love how our cleaning checklist helps us keep on top of our day-to-day cleaning tasks. But we know how important it is to personalise your cleaning schedule and that’s why we created an editable cleaning checklist that you can customise for your home and family.
All you have to do is download the template and add all of your cleaning jobs to the prepared cards. Then, print it and laminate it so you can reuse it again and again. These cleaning checklist cards are perfect for families, as everyone can have their own personalised cards with their tasks.
It also includes a practical one-page cleaning checklist that you can use to schedule tasks by weekday or to keep track of seasonal and yearly tasks.
Step 5
Evaluate Your Cleaning Schedule
How well did the checklist work for you? Are you managing to stick to a routine?
Take the time to evaluate how your cleaning schedule works for you and change things that didn’t work well. The checklist is meant to help you and save time, so if it’s not working, adjust it!
Step 6
Be Kind To Yourself
Life is unpredictable, and there will be days when you can’t stick to your cleaning schedule. Be flexible and accept that you’ll occasionally have to adjust your schedule.
It’s okay if your home doesn’t look like it’s just come out of a magazine. Don’t put yourself under pressure to live in a perfectly clean home all of the time. Life is messy, and it’s okay if your home is messy, too.
Leave a Reply