New seasons or a fresh start to the year will always make me want to deep clean my home. And then I spiral about needing a better cleaning routine and schedule to maintain it all. So finally, I am sticking to a cleaning schedule that helps me stay on top of the mess and dust, without feeling overwhelmed by it all.
How To Make A Cleaning Schedule
Having a clean and tidy home always feels so good. There’s no better feeling than doing a deep clean in your home, lighting a candle and plopping your butt on the couch to take it in and enjoy your hard work. Just like everyone else, though, I know it can be hard to stay consistent with all the other life responsibilities we have. However, one of the most effective ways to maintain a clean home is to come up with a cleaning schedule.
Why Is A Cleaning Schedule Important
My house is quite small, just 950 square feet, so I know this makes it a bit easier of a task to accomplish. But it is still something I can struggle to maintain at times. Currently, my cleaning schedule is to pretty much knock it all out at once every 2 weeks or so. In between the 2 weeks, I will vacuum. And daily, I am always cleaning up the kitchen. Every week I also will usually clean the bathroom.
If your home is bigger, or if the thought of cleaning a toilet AND the kitchen all in one day is just too much, you can assign each task a different day to make it more manageable. It’s about finding a cleaning schedule that works for you.
I think it can be really beneficial to create a cleaning schedule that you stick to. For a myriad of reasons, a cleaning schedule can really help make you feel more put-together with your life and in your home. Here are a few benefits to sticking to one.
- Encourages tidiness
- Makes cleaning easier so things stay less dirty over time
- Speeds up your cleaning
- Prevents you from feeling overwhelmed
- More efficient
Now that we’ve established the importance and benefits of a cleaning schedule, let’s make one!
How To Create A Cleaning Schedule That Works For You
Set Your Standards
Setting your standard of cleanliness is important. But also being realistic in how you can maintain it is also important. If you are hoping for a deep clean every single time you clean, but don’t have the time, you’ll feel frustrated constantly. Be realistic about what you can get done, and what needs to get done.
Decide Which Rooms To Focus On
Deciding which rooms to focus on will help you develop a cleaning schedule that works for you. If you spend most of your time in the kitchen and cook a lot, maybe this is something you tend to more frequently than say a guest room and bath.
Evaluate Your Time And Schedule
Take a look at your available time and schedule so you can manage your expectations here. If you always seem to have a Sunday afternoon off, this may have to be the day you do the bulk of your cleaning. And when you know your schedule, you’ll be able to realize when you need to prioritize your cleaning if you want to make sure this gets done.
Choose Your Cleaning Approach
When making your cleaning schedule, you need to think about your cleaning approach. Are we just tidying? Or are we fully sanitizing? Deep cleans versus maintenance are very different and require very different time commitments.
Schedule Your Cleaning Sessions
Now that you’ve figured out your cleaning approach, what you want to handle, and when, it’s time to schedule your cleaning sessions. Putting things on a calendar and setting a reminder will help to alleviate the stress of cleaning and keep you on top of the tasks.
Daily, weekly and monthly, there should be tasks you schedule out to keep your home looking its best. Daily tasks like loading and running the dishwasher, to weekly tasks like washing sheets, vacuuming and mopping, to monthly tasks like dusting, deep cleaning spaces and cleaning air filters to name a few.
6 Cleaning Schedule Apps
If creating a cleaning schedule on your own seems a bit challenging, you may want to try an app! We love leaning on technology to help us stay organized and downloading a cleaning schedule app from the app store can help you stay on top of it all. Many of these work in a similar fashion just some have more bells and whistles. Plus, most will suggest things to clean and how frequently. Here are a few house cleaning apps to consider downloading.
Tody
A great app that helps you stay on top of the cleaning tasks. It’ll keep track of when you last changed your sheets, and how dirty your space may be based on when you last cleaned it. There’s also a built in timer in the app, which is a really effective way to maximize your time.
Sweepy
Similar to Tody, this will organize your tasks and how clean things may or may not be. But a cool part about the Sweepy cleaning app is that you can also assign tasks to other members of the household. This would be a great option for families, or roommates to ensure everyone is pitching in.
Spotless
A more simplified interface where you set how frequently you want to clean things. This is a great way to stay on top of tasks and not have any gamification of the app. It’s a great cleaning app with house cleaning checklists build right in.
HomeTasker
Another simpler house cleaning app that will keep you on top of cleaning everything in your home. Set tasks up by room and also assign to other people from roommates or a family member to manage household chores more efficiently and fairly. There’s a calendar view so you can see the days of the week and which tasks are on deck.
Home Routines
Create recurring tasks that help you remember to stay on top of things throughout the week or month. There’s even a shuffle option to pick and choose random tasks to work on when you find you have time to knock something out.
Homey
If you have kids and want to get them involved, this is a great option to try. There’s an app for kids so that they can earn allowance and be in charge of their chores.
Cleaning Schedule Template
If you’re not a big app person, and would prefer a to-do list you can print out and check off, get my cleaning schedule below. Download my cleaning schedule template so you can stay on top of your home to keep it clean and clutter free.
If you’re ready to get your home clean and stay on a schedule, I hope one of these apps, or my cleaning checklist template, will get you set up for success. Something I also like to do is to make sure I am kicking off my cleaning with an already clutter free home. I like to use the Marie Kondo method to make sure my cabinets and drawers are tidy. Because cleaning a cluttered and messy home will never really keep it from feeling actually clean.
