Cleaning the house is never fun.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing I like more than a nice, clean house to walk through at the end of the day.
But the actual "cleaning" is always a chore I put off more often than I should.
After years of trial and error I have finally work out a cleaning schedule that works perfectly for my lifestyle and I thought I would share with you.
Bare in mind, this does not include those cleaning emergencies like when your nine year old daughter decides to "bake a cake" in your nice clean kitchen, or when someone-- I'm not naming names-- decided it was a good idea to let the dog in the house after it had been running around the backyard getting all muddy and wet as she runs through thawing garden beds bringing most of the muck and mud straight up the stairs and onto her favorite spot on your white sofa!
No this is not for emergency situations like that but more of a guideline of sanity for busy mom's who don't want to spend all day cleaning the house.
Seems simple enough right?
Here's why it works for me:
I never have to spend more than an hours worth of time cleaning in a single room. Most of the time it's more like a half hour.
I'm lucky enough to have children that are old enough to get ready for school on their own with only minimal prompting on my part.
My day's start a little before six a.m. when the first of my three girls need her wake up call.
I start my daily schedule not long after and by time the last of the kiddos leave the house at nine a.m. all my daily cleaning responsibilities are done and I have the until the early afternoon to do whatever I please.
Have A Plan For Each Room
When I start to tackle a room I almost always start with the dusting and end with the floors. Not sure why, that's just how I like to do things.
Take the my bedroom for instance.
The first thing I do is vacuum the along the ceiling edges and down each corner of the room. Next I move to dusting, followed by cleaning the windows and mirrors. After that I vacuum the baseboards and then the floor. The final item is to change the bedding, which I wash right away and remake the bed.
Below I've listed my tasks per room to give you an idea what I expect to do in each room.
All Rooms:
Dust
Vacuum / sweep / mop:
(ceiling edges, baseboards, floors)
Clean Windows / Mirrors
Kitchen:
Wipe down Cupboards / Range / Fridge
Polish Stainless Steal
Bathrooms:
Clean Sink Area
Clean Toilet
Clean Shower
Change Linens
Bedrooms:
Wash Bedding
Not at all complicated or difficult right?
There are two key elements that I think make this schedule work so well.
#1. Be Consistant
As the weeks go by I find myself spending less and less time on any one room.
Why?
For one, I've been good and kept to my schedule so there hasn't been that much time to get really dirty.
And secondly, through trial and error I've found the best and quickest way to tackle each room that requires the least amount of time and effort.
#2 Plan Ahead
For me this means the night before I will take five to ten minutes and declutter the room I'll be cleaning the following morning.
Deep cleaning a room is much faster if I have a space that doesn't need to be straightened first . . . I can just jump right into cleaning.
Which saves me time and effort.
Who doesn't like that!
If you've been struggling with this issue I urge you to take the time to make yourself a schedule that works for you. Maybe tackling a couple rooms a day or even the whole house at one time will work better for you.
Whatever it is, stay with it. No doubt the first week will be your most challenging but you'll see improvement in your home and effort level within a week or two - I promise!
Believe me, having a schedule and sticking to it takes alot of stress out of the whole cleaning process. Plus it gives you peace of mind that your home and family are well cared for.
Have a great day now!
Robin
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