Cleaning Schedule

We are definitely settling into our routines in Texas and in our new home. The boys are in school full time and I’ve been working in my clinic full time. Our weeks are busy! With this I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to keep our house clean. We have used house cleaners in the past but I honestly haven’t wanted to add that expense to our monthly bills. So, I have been working on creating a cleaning schedule.

When we don’t have a system for cleaning, it typically ends up being a marathon of a clean on Saturday mornings. And it looks like me bossing everyone else around. Everyone else, meaning really just my husband, haha – our kids aren’t  in on this yet. Our 4 year old can do some simple tasks but our 20 month old is obviously not really capable. I do also try to do one load of laundry a day so that’s not a giant task for the weekend. So I didn’t include laundry on our schedules below.

I recently started following various Instagram accounts – other moms with minimalist approaches to their homes with set cleaning schedules. Looking primarily at Heather Barta with @thebartahouse. Give her a follow if you are in need of some inspiration! 

Creating a Schedule

She talks a lot about the value of a set cleaning schedule, this allows her to maintain her home and not lose her sanity. A schedule was very appealing to me because then I could get my husband onboard without feeling like a constant nag. So we gave it a try. 

I should mention, we also try to keep up with some tasks daily. This also allows me to feel like the house is generally clean. The more in depth cleaning is happening with the schedules below. 

Daily tasks include one load of laundry, start to finish, a kitchen reset (dishes put away, counters wiped down), cleaning up the playroom and making our bed. We have been pretty consistent with this even before I set up a more detailed cleaning schedule. I highly recommend this practice! Makes my mornings feel so much less stressful – especially to wake up to a clean kitchen!

I approached a cleaning schedule similarly to Heather. She suggests picking 1-2 rooms daily and thoroughly cleaning them. We tried this approach first. Our schedule example is below. 

We did great with this for the first 2 days. Then we were behind and we still ended up with a weekend marathon cleaning. Part of the issue was that we were trying to get this done after our kids’ bedtime. That’s of course easy for our common spaces but obviously we aren’t cleaning their rooms and bathroom while they are in bed. I also found a few inconveniences with this method. For example I use the same dusting mitt for all the surfaces that need a quick wipe down. Once I used that one day, it went into the wash. Well, then I needed it for the next day’s clean and it wasn’t available. The other issue is that neither one of us enjoys cleaning the bathrooms. Who does? 

A Task Oriented or Room Oriented Schedule

Therefore, when a bathroom was on the schedule it kind of felt like a daunting task that was just easier to put off. So, I tweaked our schedule to make it more task-oriented, rather than room-oriented. I think this will ultimately work better for our family. Here’s my new version.  I printed this and it’s hanging on our pantry door. 

Our kitchen day stayed the same, we just spent the first 20-30 minutes after bedtime and cleaned it together. With Tuesday as the “dusting” day, I’m going to continue to get the boys involved with that. I gave them each a towel too and we all went around before dinner wiping down every surface. Then, on the other days, Bryan and I just each pick a task when there are two and knock them out. I’m hopeful this will become an easy routine for us.

But even looking at this again, I still may need to separate toilets and showers – that just seems like a lot for one day. LOL. We have been able to put this into play though for a week and it does feel more manageable than the previous schedule.

Of course, now we are all off schedule as we have family in town. But we will get back to it once they head home. For now, I’m enjoying having company! 

Take Home Points

Try a daily reset! Our tasks include: a basic clean-up of the kitchen, straightening up the playroom, one load of laundry and making our beds

Try following a schedule similar to one above – either task or room oriented, whatever works better for you and your family.

What do you think? What kind of cleaning routine works for your family? Comment below!