Cleaning is one of those things that never truly feels completed. Constant usage means rooms just get dirty again, and between daily, weekly and monthly jobs, there’s just always something to be done.
As such, it can start to feel a bit overwhelming, and it can be difficult to keep track of what needs to be done. So, to help you out, here’s some advice on how to create a cleaning schedule that works for you.
How to Create a Cleaning Schedule that Works for You
1. Figure Out What Needs to Be Done
This should be a fairly obvious place to start. Write out a list of all the cleaning jobs you can think of that need doing around the home. Don’t worry about organising them at this stage; we’re currently interested in just getting a comprehensive list.
Of course, you’ll likely forget some of the less frequent jobs. But you can always add these on as you remember them.
A good way to do this is to go around each room and think about the jobs you do in it.
2. Decide How Often Jobs Need Doing
Next, categorise things based on frequency. This will be daily, weekly, and monthly. Some examples include:
Daily
· Washing up
· Cleaning down the kitchen
· Tidying the living room
· Making beds
Weekly
· Changing bedsheets
· Washing towels
· Hoovering
· Dusting
Monthly
· Deep cleaning jobs
Of course, some things won’t fit neatly into these categories, such as laundry. To help with this, you might want to class it as a daily job and then just miss it out on days it doesn’t need doing.
3. Be Realistic with Your Free Time
This is arguably the most important step. While it might feel right to have a long list of daily tasks, this isn’t always practical if you work full time. Instead, aim to spend no more than an hour in total on daily cleaning tasks.
Weekly and monthly tasks are a bit more flexible. For example, you could do them all in one go on a free day, or you could fit them into evenings. This bit is entirely up to you and your working/parenting schedule. Either way, don’t devote all your free time to cleaning.
4. Draw Up a Table and Assign Tasks
Now we can get down to the actual scheduling of cleaning tasks. Write out the weekdays and figure out how many tasks you’d like to do on each. Of course, daily tasks will be down for each day, but you might find that, for example, Wednesday nights are ideal for cleaning the bathroom.
Work on this schedule until you’ve fitted in all your cleaning jobs. To save on space and make it easier to digest, it might help to instead include a room name (e.g., living room) in place of listing all the tasks. You could list this on a Sunday, for example.
5. Turn It into a 4-week Schedule
Once you’ve got a weekly schedule that looks realistic, convert it into a 4-week version. Expanding it like this gives you more flexibility with the less frequent tasks, such as those you might only do every 2 weeks or at the end of the month. What’s more, it can allow you to move things around without feeling guilty about it.
You can basically just copy your 1-week schedule out 4 times, making changes as needed. For simplicity, it might help to do this on a computer using something like Google Sheets.
6. Test It and Adjust
Finally, you’ll want to test it out for real. It’s great to have a clear organised schedule on paper, but it means nothing if it’s not actually practical.
See how your weekly schedule works out and change as needed. Then, do it for a month, including the less frequent jobs, and change as needed again. You won’t know how well it works until you’ve actually done it.
Final Thoughts
The basics of creating a cleaning schedule aren’t too difficult. What matters more, however, is making it work for your plan. Hopefully, the tips above will help you figure out how to plan your cleaning week around work and parenting commitments. If you feel like creating the perfect schedule still won’t help you, then you can consider hiring a local domestic cleaning service.