There are some cleaning tasks you tackle daily and those that you may only do biannually or even annually. The problem with the latter is that it can be difficult to track which tasks you’re getting done. When you lose track and you don’t have a checklist to ensure you’re getting every nook and cranny, it’s easy for things to spiral out of control and for you to feel overwhelmed.
If you want to stay on top of your chores and keep your home clean, it all starts with a solid cleaning schedule. Let’s take a look at some helpful tips on how to develop a cleaning routine that’s thorough, effective, and efficient.
Come Up With a Complete List of All the Chores You’ll Need to Do Throughout the Year
A clean and organized home is only possible when you have a home cleaning schedule that doesn’t just tackle your daily cleaning tasks, but weekly cleaning tasks and places you’ll need to deep clean too. But what exactly does this look like? Here’s a more comprehensive overview of everything you might put on your cleaning checklist and schedule.
Bedroom(s)
- Making bed
- Laundering bedding
- Cleaning under the bed
- Clearing trash or dishes in the room
- Dusting
- Organizing closet and drawers
Bathrooms(s)
- Mopping the floors
- Washing the bathtub or shower walls and floor
- Scrubbing the toilet
- Cleaning the baseboard
- Cleaning the mirrors
- Clearing out ceiling fans
Living Room
- Vacuuming or mopping
- Getting the dirt out from under the couch
- Laundering or cleaning furniture and pillows
- Removing scuff marks on the floor
- Dusting the hard-to-reach places that don’t see much love
Dining Room
- Removing food or moisture that’s on the floor or walls
- Cleaning and preserving the table
- Replacing chair pads to keep them from scratching the floor
- Cleaning the windows
- Dusting and cleaning cabinets and other decorative items
Kitchen
- Scrubbing and deep cleaning sink
- Clearing out the garbage disposal
- Getting rid of the trash
- Cleaning and eliminating scents from the fridge
- Cleaning out the microwave
- Deep cleaning the stove
- Re-organizing pantries
- Throwing out any old food
- Mopping thoroughly
Laundry Room
- Doing laundry regularly
- Clearing out dryer lint
- Using the self-cleaning cycle on your washer
- Tackling any spills that have gone unaddressed
- Dusting behind the washer and dryer
- Reorganizing laundry room staples
Garage
- Clean floors to eliminate any leaking fluids and prevent staining
- Reorganize tools
- Tackle any extra storage before it grows out of control
- Declutter (sell or give away)
Home Exterior
- Clean the exterior of your windows
- Take care of any landscaping tasks
- Clean the gutters
- Inspect the top of your roof
- Water the lawn and plants
- Sweep
- Conduct pool maintenance (if applicable)
(Feel free to add and adjust as needed. This is just for inspiration!)
A clean home takes a lot of work, so you must start right by knowing everything that will need regular cleaning or infrequent cleaning throughout the year.
Don’t Forget About Appliances
Trying to stay organized so that you can get more efficient cleaning done can be difficult if there are deep cleaning tasks that you forget about. One commonly forgotten chore that a lot of people miss is taking care of their appliances. When you forget to include appliances in your monthly cleaning goals, you run the risk of those appliances breaking down faster. This results in greater energy use and, most likely, a big bill that comes with having to replace these appliances, regardless of whether we’re talking about ovens or HVAC systems. Create a home cleaning schedule that incorporates appliance maintenance into your monthly deep cleaning tasks. You’ll thank yourself later when your appliances manage to have a much longer lifespan.
Organize Your Chore List by Frequency
Not all tasks on your cleaning schedule are going to be daily tasks. Some will fit into a weekly cleaning schedule, some will require you to take a seasonal cleaning approach, and others will be even less frequent. When creating a cleaning schedule to help you stay organized and help your home stay clean and tidy, always consider how you’ll work tasks into your schedule based on the frequency with which you’ll do them. Here’s an example of a realistic cleaning schedule broken down by frequency.
Daily Chores
- Wash dishes
- Vacuum high-traffic areas
- Make your bed
- Put your laundry away
- Sweep the floors
Weekly Chores
- Mop the floors
- Clean the shower
- Clean glass and mirrors
- Vacuum low-traffic areas
- Dust your home
- Take out the trash
Monthly Chores
- Clean under and behind furniture
- Clean your windows on the outside of the home
- Maintain your appliances
- Wash your bedding
- Wipe down walls and baseboards
Less Frequent Chores
- Move furniture so you can get in every nook and cranny
- Clean your gutters
- Declutter and organize your home
- Thoroughly clean carpet and upholstery
- Clean and protect wooden surfaces and furniture
- Landscaping
Put simply, cleaning habits should be based on when and how often you need to clean to maintain a clean and organized household. Some chores may be more frequent for some homeowners depending on the environment they live in, so make sure that you’re being realistic about how often you need to clean certain areas when you’re adding cleaning tasks into your schedule.
Break Down Your Cleaning Schedule by Area
It’s not enough to come up with a list of chores and a cleaning process that informs you as to how often you should be tackling these cleaning tasks. You also want to take care to break down your busy schedule by area so that you aren’t looking at a never-ending laundry list of chores. Make sure that your cleaning schedule is segmented by area, list of chores within said areas, and frequency of chores that you will need to tackle in each of your cleaning sessions. The more organized you are, the more efficient you will be when it comes to home cleaning.
Figure Out Which Cleaning Supplies You Need Ahead of Time
Nothing’s worse than getting ready to tackle your list of chores, only to find that you’re out of the cleaning products and cleaning tools that you need to get the job done. Efficient home cleaning requires you to keep an additional list of products alongside your schedule so that you know everything you need at a glance to get the chores done quickly and correctly. You can also make small notes or reminders for yourself to pick up certain items when you run out of them, especially if you need to buy products that you don’t use as often as other items that you rely on daily.
One tip that will help you immensely is realizing that not all products or tools are good for your cleaning schedule simply because they’re expensive. There are plenty of products and tools out there that you can buy in bulk for cheap or purchase individually and use consistently throughout your cleaning schedule to get good results. When you see a cleaning trend, ask yourself, is this something that I need or is it something that I think I need because it has a massive following and a high price tag? More often than not, there’s a cheaper alternative or generic option that works just as well as these various flashy cleaning products that seem to be popping up constantly.
Time Yourself to See How Long It Often Takes You to Get Chores Done
A home cleaning routine can be exhausting for some, especially if the size of your home means that there’s more ground to cover to get a good cleaning. The solution? When you finally get on top of your chore routine and want to stick to your cleaning schedule, time yourself to see how long it takes to complete each of the chores so you have a better idea of how long it should be realistically taking you in the future. When you have a better idea of how long chores take you to do, going about cleaning your home doesn’t become such an insurmountable task but something that you know is achievable. Also, remember that cleaning each day will greatly reduce having to spend time deep cleaning to catch up with areas you may have neglected!
Use a Goal-Setting App or Reward System to See Your Cleaning Projects Through
Cleaning doesn’t excite everyone, but cleaning needs to happen whether we like it or not. We may understand the importance of a cleaning schedule and we may brush up on all the popular cleaning tips, but it still may not encourage us to like cleaning or to stick to the cleaning projects that we wish to tackle. What can be done about this?
There are two important things that you need to learn to do right now: learn how to motivate yourself and learn how to set achievable goals.
Motivation can often be the hardest part. Some people are driven solely by the idea of improving their environment and having a cleaner house. If that’s not doing it for you, don’t worry. There are other ways to keep yourself on track. For example, promising yourself a small treat if you’re able to stick to your cleaning schedule for the week or tackle big projects can be a great way to make sure that you follow through on cleaning all the areas of your home.
Goals are important to have too. When you set small goals for yourself, you feel a greater sense of satisfaction and confidence that you’re able to get through the rest of your chores, which can make it easier to get the job done. Just work on using small milestones and break down each chore into bite-sized pieces. If you have a big chore and you don’t break it down, it can seem too difficult to complete and produce the opposite effect.
Reach Out for Help When You Need It
Not all chores are achievable for everyone, and that’s especially important to keep in mind when you’re creating a chore schedule for yourself. For example, you might not be able to tackle big projects like getting up on the roof to tackle maintenance, cleaning your upholstery or leather furniture, or even doing a deep cleaning of your pool.
No matter what it is, you likely won’t be able to do everything on your own, and that’s okay.
Enlisting the help of a professional cleaning service to help you with some of your bigger chores is a common way to circumvent this problem and ensure that your chores are getting completed in a way that meets your needs and expectations. Keep a list of your favorite cleaning services on hand so that you can call them for regular maintenance when it comes time to clean places you can’t clean on your own. If affordability is a concern, you can always see if they offer coupons or promotions that you can take advantage of throughout the year.
Sticking to a Cleaning Schedule Requires Planning, Organization, and Motivation
Using a cleaning schedule is one of the best ways to clean your house more effectively. It provides you with an overview of what needs to be cleaned, how often, and which tools and cleaning products you’ll need to keep your home looking its best. All you need to bring is the motivation and the follow-through needed to get these tasks done on time.
If you’re looking to streamline your cleaning routine and improve your follow-through, the guide above equips you with all the tips that you need to make sure that you’re able to stay on top of all your chores moving forward. If you ever slip and need to restructure your list or you move and you have more cleaning responsibilities that you will need to manage, you can come back to this guide and start fresh!
