I made a detailed house cleaning schedule during the last few weeks of my pregnancy.
No joke, I thought I could just write it down and when the baby was born he would slide right into my cleaning schedule. I could get the house clean and the meals prepped while my sweet baby napped.
Can you guess what happened?
I had a baby with sensory issues who only slept when he was held. And if he wasn’t held he screamed until I put a boob in his face.
My house cleaning schedule went out the window within two weeks.
I felt like a failure as I sat in my house surrounded by dog hair, boxes of diapers, and piles of laundry. I was frozen in place, unable to even decide where to start.
You might feel the same way about house cleaning. If you do, I have an idea for you.
It’s easier to tackle one area of your home than it is to clean the whole place at once.
The key to managing house cleaning is to separate your home into manageable areas.
A Stress-Free House Cleaning Schedule
I use the following areas of my home to create a cleaning schedule. My recommendation is to do only one area per day. You don’t want to set yourself up for disappointment by taking on too much.
Kitchen
Cleanliness in the kitchen is kinda important. You don’t want to end up sick or make someone else sick. So this is an area that requires more detail.
But the kitchen doesn’t have to be totally overwhelming. A solid Evening Routine will make keeping the kitchen sanitary much easier.
Once a week, I like to move all my counter top appliances around and clean under them. You would not believe how many food particles and coffee grounds can collect in just one week. I don’t take a lot of time to do this, just a quick swipe and it’s done.
Occasionally I’ll wipe down the shelves in my fridge – again not spending a ton of time, just making sure there aren’t any food spills or sticky spots.
Since I use the Roomba once a week, cleaning the kitchen floor isn’t part of my routine. But you certainly could include floors.
Whatever you do, do not spend more than an hour.
Living Spaces
Every week on Saturday I run the Roomba around both of my living spaces. If you don’t have pets or children you might not need to vacuum every week. But I like to start with floors.
This is the Roomba I swear by. (affiliate link. See my full disclosure)
If I am particularly motivated I might Swiffer the kitchen floor or use wood cleaner on my living room floor. I certainly don’t do this every week as it requires a level of cleaning dedication that I do not possess.
When cleaning a living space I like to use Swiffer dusters because they are inexpensive and safe to use on most surfaces. Yes, I use a ton of Swiffer products you aren’t imagining that. (See my disclosure)
Dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning floors is pretty much it. I don’t fluff pillows or clean windows on a regular basis.
Bedrooms
Bedrooms can be tricky. I have a bad habit of leaving piles of clothing all over the place. So much so that I often have to move the piles just to clean the floor.
Change all of the sheets in your house on the same day. You don’t have to launder them that day, but you should probably stick to changing them all at once.
Also, change and other, “stuff” tends to accumulate in the bedroom. Do yourself a favor and clean up all those little items once per week so the top of your dresser doesn’t look like mine.
You don’t need to pull a Marie Kondo and clean out all your closets every season. Just do your best to pick up the piles, or better yet, try some hooks.
Bathrooms
If your bathrooms are small like mine you can get on your hands and knees and be done in ten minutes. If you have a large bathroom use a sponge mop and some kind of disinfectant to clean.
Hot tip: Use a hand vacuum to suck up all the excess hair and fuzzies before you clean the floor.
Once a week it’s also good to do a short scrub of your shower/tub area. I usually use Clorox Cleanup and a scrub brush. If we’re being honest, I clean my shower while I’m in it. I just scrub the walls while my hair conditioner is in.
Wipe down the sink area with some disinfectant wipes and clean the mirror with Windex.
General Maintenance
If you’re doing one area each day, you’ll notice that you still have three days left in each week for general household tasks. Check out my post on laundry shortcuts for my take on how to handle your family’s dirties.
Recently, I’ve begun to sort the mail on a daily basis instead of saving it up into a massive pile on my kitchen counter. Keep the paperwork sorting simple by separating into categories: kid stuff, bills/essentials, trash, and items you need to “hold” like magazines.
General decluttering should happen in short bursts, no more than 15 minutes at a time.
Check out my friend Rene’s house cleaning book. It’s so good, and Rene’ makes everything fun!
If you need a checklist to help you assign your household areas to specific days of the week download my pre-fab example. It’s one page, designed to for you to glance and go.
I created it years ago, but it still works!
Keeping your house clean does not have to be stressful. We put so much pressure on ourselves to create the perfect home.
You know there is no such thing as normal when it comes to housekeeping.
Keys to a manageable house cleaning schedule:
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Divide your home into manageable areas
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Determine which area you want to handle each day
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Come up with a realistic plan for each area
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Relax
Finally – do what you can, when you can. #WYCWYC
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