How To Create A Weekly Cleaning Schedule That Works For Your Family
Keeping a clean and organized home can be a challenge, especially if you have a busy schedule. However, creating a weekly cleaning schedule can help you stay on top of household chores and keep your home looking its best.
A quality cleaning schedule is one of the best moves you can make to help keep your home clean. When you have a big family like us it is even more important to work as a team and have a set weekly cleaning schedule so that your family can keep up.
Assess your cleaning needs
Before you start creating a cleaning schedule, it’s important to assess your cleaning needs. Take a look around your home and make a list of all the areas that need regular cleaning. This might include tasks like dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and cleaning bathrooms and kitchens.
Once you have a list of your cleaning needs, prioritize them based on how often they need to be done. For example, cleaning the bathroom might need to be done twice a week, while dusting might only need to be done once a week.
The more people and pets in your home the more often you will have to clean your home. For more used rooms like the kitchen and bathrooms, you will need to adjust your plans to ensure that you clean these areas several times a week while rooms like your living room may just need a vacuum here and there between full cleanings.
Create a weekly cleaning schedule
Using the list of your cleaning needs and your cleaning style, create a weekly cleaning schedule that works for you. This might include daily tasks, weekly tasks, and monthly tasks.
Start by dividing your cleaning tasks into categories, such as kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, and outdoor spaces. Then, assign specific tasks to each day of the week.
For example, your schedule might look something like this:
Monday: Clean bathrooms
Tuesday: Vacuum and dust living room
Wednesday: Clean kitchen
Thursday: Vacuum and dust bedrooms
Friday: Do laundry and clean outdoor spaces
Saturday: Grocery shopping and meal planning.
Sunday: Rest and relax
Remember to be realistic when creating your schedule. Don’t overload yourself with too many tasks in one day, and leave room for unexpected events or emergencies.
Make it a habit
Once you’ve created your cleaning schedule, it’s important to make it a habit. This means sticking to your schedule as closely as possible and making cleaning a regular part of your routine.
One way to make cleaning a habit is to set reminders or alarms on your phone to remind you when it’s time to start cleaning. You can also try to incorporate cleaning into your daily routine, such as doing a quick sweep of the kitchen while you wait for your coffee to brew in the morning.
Work on adding a new cleaning habit for each member of the family each month to help make healthy habits a new part of your life so your home stays cleaner with less stress. These small habits like cleaning up things as you walk through a room or wiping down the bathroom counter everytime you go in there can help make your home feel like it cleans its self.
Be flexible
While it’s important to stick to your cleaning schedule as much as possible, it’s also important to be flexible. Life can be unpredictable, and sometimes unexpected events or emergencies might arise.
If you miss a day of cleaning, don’t stress about it. Simply adjust your schedule as needed and try to stay on track as much as possible. If things get out of hand because life got in the way you can easily jump back in and get things back under control when you have a plan and schedule that you can jump back into when things settle back down.
Get the whole family involved
Cleaning doesn’t have to be a solo task. Get the whole family involved by assigning age-appropriate tasks to each family member.
Assign age-appropriate tasks: Take into consideration the age and abilities of each family member when assigning tasks. Younger children can help with tasks like picking up toys or dusting low surfaces, while older children can help with tasks like laundry or vacuuming.
Create a list of tasks: Make a list of all the tasks that need to be done and divide them among family members. Assign tasks based on each person’s strengths and preferences. For example, if one person enjoys cooking, assign them tasks related to the kitchen.
Make it fun: Try to make cleaning fun by turning it into a game or competition. You can set a timer and see who can clean their assigned area the fastest, or play music and dance while cleaning. Try blasting some music to help make cleaning more fun and help your family keep on task.
Use a chore chart: Create a chore chart that lists each person’s assigned tasks for the week. Display the chart in a visible location, like on the fridge or a bulletin board, so everyone can see it. Be sure to assign chores to adults in the home as well as the children so they can see that everyone has to chip in when it comes to managing the home and it feels fairer for kids.
Rotate tasks: To prevent boredom or burnout, rotate tasks among family members on a weekly or monthly basis. This will also ensure that everyone gets a chance to learn different skills and contribute to different areas of the home.
Set expectations: Make sure everyone understands the expectations for cleaning, including when and how often tasks should be done. Be clear about consequences for not completing assigned tasks, but also offer praise and rewards for a job well done.
Lead by example: As a parent or guardian, it’s important to lead by example and model good cleaning habits. Show your children how to clean properly and make cleaning a regular part of your own routine.
Try using apps to make keeping on task easier.
Apps like Sweepy are great for getting everyone to do their part and the color-coded system helps you keep on task by telling you when a room needs to be done again so you never have to worry about falling behind. Your whole family can access the app and use that as a chore chart allowing them to choose what chores they do and earn points to help them stay on task.
What are your biggest cleaning challenges?
