I work a full time job that requires me to be away from the house for about 12 hours from Monday through Friday. We also like to entertain our friends on short notice and occasionally have company stop in to pick something up or drop something off. Having the hospitable personality that I have, it’s important to me that our house is always ready to receive guests. But it’s not easy when I’m not always home to keep on top of things. And it’s soooooooo easy to let my chores slide.
I learned that if I split up my cleaning duties before and after work, and do a little bit each day, I won’t be so overwhelmed to get it all done on the weekend - or feel so embarrassed when there’s an unexpected visitor knocking on our door!
The cleaning schedule I created is more specific to my needs with a full-time job and part-time blogging schedule, but it’s been working out really well, and I wanted to share it with those who might be in the same dilemma! Scroll to the end of the post for the printable.
Here’s how it works:
• I add 30 minutes to my normal wake up time and immediately hit the ground cleaning after I’ve washed my face and brushed my teeth. I spend those 30 minutes speed cleaning. I may not always use up the half hour, but it’s there should I need it. After work and after eating dinner, this is a good time to spend 30-45 minutes doing more cleaning since I have to wash the dinner dishes (which is on the list!). Those 30-45 minutes are spent doing all my evening chores and prepping for the next morning.
• My cleaning schedule is split into two for each weekday: white (or clear) chores denote daytime cleaning, and gray (or shaded) chores denote evening cleaning. Weekends have no shaded chores because I’m available all day to check things off my list.
• The schedule was then laminated so I could mark it with an overhead pen and wash it off at the end of the week to be reused again next week.
• There is also a Maintenance Schedule that supplements the daily Cleaning Schedule and is printed on the back. These are chores that need to be taken care of monthly or seasonally. I have them divided up by month and when the optimum time would be to check them off. The Maintenance Schedule is not cleaned off until the end of the year so I can keep track of which chores have been done each month.
• Maintenance chores are scheduled according to the day. When I’ve done that chore, it gets checked off and if I’ve done everything in that category for the month, then my daily cleaning time gets reduced.
• There is a small checklist for Garbage Day. I generally draw in stars on the day I need to get the bins out to the curb (not the day that garbage gets picked up) so I remind myself to clear out the refrigerator and empty out the trash.
It’s really a simple and smooth system once you get into the practice of it. What’s been the most important is making it a priority to keep a tidy home. Trust me, my house is still FAR from perfect or showroom worthy, but it definitely has improved tenfold from what it was before. What I love most is that my kitchen is always clean before I start cooking. Helps SO much!
If you’re looking for green ways to clean your home, consider making your own cleaning detergents! So many of the items you already have in your home will do a great job at cleaning. We’ve had an ant problem in our yard in the past, so we bought some Borax to clear out their tunnels. We didn’t need much and were left with a full box by the end of it, but have recently found that it’s amazing as a cleaning ingredient! Check out this infographic of all the areas you can clean your house with Borax:
Isn’t it an eye opener all the things you can use Borax for?
Do you use green cleaning products in your home? What is your system to keeping a tidy and clean home?
Download Free Printable:
Cleaning Schedule (with Bonus Maintenance Schedule)
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