One of my goals for 2016 is to make time for routine cleaning tasks. I’ve actually never worked from a cleaning schedule – I have a weekly routine that I follow to get the house clean and tidy, but the monthly and quarterly tasks only get done when I notice that area needs attention. For my new goal, I’ve created a cleaning schedule to help me stay on top of those tasks and get everything done!
In the past, I’ve done those weekly tasks all in one day. This year I’m hoping to do a little chunk of my weekly cleaning routine each day, leaving me plenty of time on the weekend to tackle the other jobs. I have no idea how well this will work! My plan is to try the new routine for at least a month – after that, I’ll report back on how it is working for me.
There are two things not listed on my daily/weekly schedule – laundry and emptying the dishwasher. Paul helps me with those things and we just do them as needed.
You can download a PDF version of my schedule here.
Do you clean a little bit each day or all in one day?
Come Home For Comfort 
Now that it is March, how is this schedule working for you? Do you find it helps to divide chores up?
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It works really well! I’ve been doing daily chores since the beginning of 2016, but this year I started doing a load of laundry or running the dishwasher every day. That makes my life so much easier.
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This looks so helpful. I think I am going to start trying this to knock out my “create home systems” resolution this year. I’m hoping to try a few versions of cleaning schedules out and adapt for our home. Doing a little each day is something we definitely try to do to keep from getting overwhelmed!
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I hope it’s helpful for you – it’s made a big difference in my life so far!
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Thanks for sharing! I’ve been needing a good cleaning schedule to go by!
Della @ Della Devoted
http://www.delladevoted.com
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I hope it’s helpful for you – so far, it’s working well for me.
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Thank you for sharing this! I just printed your schedule off and am going to try it myself!! I am one of those people who leave it all for one whole cleaning day. I hate having to waste a whole day to clean the entire house.
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I hope it works well for you!!
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This plan looks great! I am excited to hear how it works for you! I used to do daily tasks when I was at home. Now that Miss. E is older and I am back at work, I usually try to tackle my weekly cleaning in one day.
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I always did the one day routine when I worked 40 hours – and it does work. I’m just hoping this makes the house look cleaner more consistently. 🙂 We’ll see how it goes!
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Those bigger tasks have always plagued me…I’m like you – even if I had a plan, inevitably I’d fall back to tackling when needed. Love the way you broke these out. It makes it all much more manageable!
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I’m really hoping this will work for me – keeping it manageable will hopefully make the bigger jobs seem less daunting!
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This looks so helpful! I have been using the Motivated Moms app, but sometimes it gives me more than I can handle in one day at this time in my life. (I have a 22 month old and am expecting a second child next week, and I also am a teacher). Your schedule looks a little more manageable for a working mom with two kids.
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I couldn’t have managed this schedule when I worked 40 hours a week. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate! Keep your daily list short so you don’t get overwhelmed and burnt out! 🙂
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Thanks for sharing your cleaning schedule. I have no schedule whatsoever! I either tend to do chores as needed … or I wind up having a huge cleaning day on a weekend. It’s no fun spending the entire weekend cleaning, when I could have easily divvied up the chores throughout the week or the month. I’m hopeful that maybe I can use your schedule as inspiration in this New Year!
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I’m hoping to get away from those long cleaning days too! My plan is to try this for a month and then let you know how it’s going.
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I need to give this some thought. I have gotten by on doing things as needed for a long time or to do a thorough clean of everything before we host guests. I’m setting my sights on decluttering all areas of my house first and then I’ll have to think seriously about a good cleaning schedule. Thanks for sharing yours.
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That’s been my practice as well – other than cleaning once a week, I just did things in chunks when they needed to be done. I’m hoping this new system makes it less overwhelming!
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This week I’ve been working on breaking down my cleaning schedule to do certain things on certain days. In the past my cleaning routine has been a bit chaotic, just trying to do most everything (other than daily things like dishes & laundry) all in the same day. I think splitting it up and having a set routine will be helpful. I was excited to see your post on this today! I look forward to hearing how your well thought out new schedule works for you, friend! 🙂
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Sounds like we had the same system! I plan to try this new routine for a month and then report back on how it’s going. I hope your new schedule works well for you, too!
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This reminds me of the Sidetracked Sisters from the 80s. Only back then you used file cards and kept them in a small recipe box. You checked off the tasks on the card and noted the date. ( Can you tell I have loved reading about organization from my younger days???) I mostly keep things in my head nowdays and like you some chores I tend to when I see it needs doing. When I was young, I cleaned my whole house in one day and I loved sitting down and knowing it was ALL clean. Well I cannot do that anymore. My house is bigger and my body is older. So doing a bit each day is the way I do it now. And really with just the two of us here now, the house is not as messy as it once was so that is ok for me.
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I’m hoping the result of my daily cleaning plan will be a consistently cleaner house instead of it being super clean on Monday and then going downhill from there. 🙂 Fingers crossed!
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