A Cleaning Schedule that Works for Me!

You’ve read it all before; you’ve even tried a couple of them out; unfortunately, no cleaning schedule has worked out for you thus far. Don’t feel bad though, it’s obvious that they just weren’t meant for you! The burning question, however, is why?

Well, to begin, every family and household is unique; therefore, your cleaning requirements will be very different from those of your neighbor’s. What’s more, a cleaning schedule can only be successful if it is tailored to your personal schedule. So, now that we’ve established why you’ve lucked out in the past, we’re going to help you create a personalized cleaning schedule that actually works for you! It’s easier than you think so read on and let’s get started!

Make a Personal, Weekly Schedule

In order to better understand how much time in a day you can devote to cleaning, you need to make a personal, weekly schedule. This should include your entire routine for each day of the week with a little cushion time added to it. To paint a clearer picture for you, check out our generalized personal schedule below:

• 7:00AM: Wake up; shower; make breakfast; eat.
• 8:00AM: Pack lunch; get ready for work; leave for work.
• 9:00AM-5:00PM: Stuck at the office.
• 5:30PM: Get home; relax.
• 6:15PM: Cook dinner; finish up miscellaneous tasks
• 8:30PM: Shower; eat; watch TV; etc.
• 10:00PM: Get into bed.

Now, this may look nothing like a typical day for you (especially if you’ve got kids and work from home); however, it will give you an idea of how to make up your own personal schedule. What’s more, the added cushion time allows you to fit in different cleaning tasks or chores that you would like to get done. For example, After breakfast and dinner, you can choose to do a load of laundry or the dishes, depending on how much time you have left before the next ‘thing to do’ on your schedule.

Create an Overall List of To-Dos

From regular cleaning tasks to recurring errands to run; list all the things you need to do by categorizing them as ‘daily’, ‘weekly’ and ‘monthly’ to-dos. There’s no need to allot a time for each to-do; however, (if you’d like) you can jot down an estimated to complete each task. Again, this is optional as it may end up confusing you; if it does, stick to just making the list! It’s also not necessary to spend hours thinking up things you’d like to do (and need to do) on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; simply write down what you can think of and add to the respective categories as and when something comes to mind.

Merge Your Personal Schedule and Overall ‘To-Do’ List

Now, for the slightly tricky part, you must figure out how to fit daily cleaning tasks into your everyday life. To make it easier on yourself, it helps to start from the beginning of your day. For example, if you can tidy up tables and counters in the morning while also attending to a load of laundry, you’re already on the right track! The important thing is that you don’t put too much pressure on yourself by attempting to squeeze big cleaning tasks into short time frames. This will overwhelm you and leave you to clean in haste which, quite frankly, is pointless! So, in order to create a cleaning schedule that works for you, you need to be realistic when merging your personal schedule and to-do list.

Change Your Cleaning Schedule When Needed

The purpose of a cleaning schedule is to remind you of what needs to be done and to keep you on track. With that said, our day-to-day life can be unpredictable at times; responsibilities pop up out of nowhere and demand your undivided time and attention. In cases like these, it’s okay to make minor adjustments to your schedule or rather, reschedule a cleaning task for tomorrow. Remember, this is your personal cleaning schedule and it must be tailored to suit your needs! What matters is that you learn to discipline yourself and make sticking to your cleaning schedule a habit (even when you have to postpone certain tasks). Also, it’s important to distinguish between legitimate reasons for changing your schedule and plain excuses that allow you to procrastinate instead!

So, there you have it! Everything you need to know about creating a cleaning schedule that finally works for you! Participate in our 30-day cleaning challenge to keep your house fresh and brand new.