How much time each day do you devote to cleaning? How much time do you devote to all of the other important things going on in your life? When I was 25"ish" I figured out that whatever it was I was doing, wasn't cutting the mustard. I needed to make a few life changing adjustments.So I took stock of what time I had in a day, blocked out how much was devoted to eating, meal prep, and caring for kids, dressing, etc... you get the idea. There are only SOOO many hours in the day to get things done and to ensure I accomplished what was most important, I made a plan.
Here are a few tips to creating your cleaning schedule:
Here are a few tips to creating your cleaning schedule:- Inventory your time: Use a simple calendar. Write down the hour you wake up and the hour you go to bed. Block out times for meal prep, child care, work, nap times, errands... In short, determine what your daily schedule looks like so you know where you can fit in priorities like cleaning.
- Estimate how much time you need to keep house: A rough house cleaning estimate is 1-1.5 hours per person in the house each week. For a family of 8 that's 8-12 hours of cleaning!!
- Priorities what cleaning needs to be done each week. For me, it's bathrooms and if you have boys you KNOW what I'm talking about. Is it a MUST that all windows are cleaned each week? Nah... Just keep your priorities in order and go down the list.
- Block out set cleaning times in your week long schedule: Do what works for you. Some people devote an entire day to cleaning and do maintenance for the rest of the week. Other people do a little every day. What works best for you? You might do bathrooms one day, vacuuming another, and have a day for deep cleaning.
- Rotate your deep cleaning schedule: Cleaning behind the fridge doesn't need to be done each week but it ought to be done. Determine which jobs are monthly or quarterly cleaning jobs and set a time in your schedule to do monthly or quarterly deep clean jobs. Maybe the last Saturday of the month could be set aside for monthly deep cleaning, or perhaps you can concentrate on one room to deep clean a month. Again, this is your schedule do what works for you.
Having a plan is essential to getting things done. I think the most helpful thing for me was realizing how much time it takes to care for all of the needs of my family. It was so great to sit down and figure out how much "free" time I had during a day. Sometimes that free time is scheduled for housecleaning and errands, other times it is scheduled to work in my kids classrooms, and sometimes it may be used for a craft or much needed nap time. The key is keeping your Priorities Pretty Organized. You can't know the time you're wasting or where to trim fat on a schedule unless you block it out. Don't forget to reward yourself with your own free time for a job done well! I LOVE Barnes & Noble cafe... chocolate, books, quiet... doesn't get much better than that!
Do you have a Cleaning routine?
All Pics. BHG.com
Do you have a Cleaning routine?
All Pics. BHG.com
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7 comments:
I follow sort of a modified Flylady schedule. I have my Minimum Daily Requirements (I think of Veggie Tales-the Pirates who don't do anything's song every day!) I also have a basic plan for the week. I have all of the weekly stuff divvied into each day. Each day of the week is also assigned to a "zone". On that day, I work through a list of cleaning things that need to be done less frequently! It's harder to explain than to actually do it!!
Great post. It's interesting to see how others get things done. I try to do a little to big projects every day and I get my cleaning skills (or lack of) from my mom. You get up, get ready, get the kids ready and then do your chores. Some are longer...but I try to spend 15 to 20 minutes in each room twice a day...morning and night...except the kitchen...I pretty much live in the kitchen.
This is so true! Once I had a routine I could actually keep up. I have specific tasks that I take on various days of the week (bathrooms monday, kitchen and meal plan tuesday...), daily tasks (1 load of laundry, dishes, etc), and periodic tasks (e.g. windows and baseboards once a month). It's so much less overwhelming!
xo, Amanda @ www.kiddio.org / www.housemade.org
I just found your blog and it is wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to write and I am really feeling motivated by your time organization ideas. I need that reminder sometimes. Thanks.
I LOVE this post! I am constantly working on my routine...I do my own version of flylady and now I'm reading "Sidetracked Home Executives" and getting a ton of new ideas.
Thanks so much for your sweet comments! Did you see the link we put to your post on our post today? We think you have the best organizing ideas...kari is a bit of an organizing junkie!
smiles kari & kijsa
Great post, I love to have a cleaning routine. I am working through my home to deep clean a different room a month. Then I will December for Christmas. Love your blog.
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