Walking into a clean home has many benefits and with the right cleaning routine you can enjoy all of them. We spend a lot of time trying to “keep up” with the household chores. If you are like me, you might find that starting to clean opens up a can of worms. I start noticing corners that have been ignored. I might interrupt myself with an impromptu organizing project that I do not have time to start and finish because I was trying to put something away and got frustrated the space was too full. No matter how organized you are, cleaning regularly brings challenges that seem to have little reward when you have to do it all over again the next week.
Not everyone has the luxury of delegating this task to a paid service provider. Not to mention, you may have a family that causes more cleaning problems for you than help…you heard me say it kids! But what if you could make cleaning a less overwhelming routine? It is completely possible when you establish clear roles, expectations and habits in your home.
What is the reward? Less stress when you walk in your house, no fear to have an impromptu guest and no more fighting over chores. Deep cleaning your space and working to maintain that regularly will make your home feel new again. Follow these tips for a path to cleaning freedom.
Discuss Cleaning Goals
Work together with your family to create daily cleaning jobs, such as wiping kitchen surfaces, to keep up with the day-to-day tasks. Daily tidying of spaces (especially now that you have decluttered and have a home for everything) keep areas from getting out of control too quickly.
Remember we all have our tired days. Delegating and sharing responsibilities with all household members helps keep a happier home for everyone. Try to understand what everyone’s individual concerns and goals are for a clean home. Your husband might be more concerned about having a clean surface in the kitchen each, while you get more unwound that toys remain on the floor every night. Understanding what triggers frustration to each person in a household helps you work on it as a whole.
Create A Routine
The frustrating thing about cleaning is that it is a short-term joy. It feels good until the dirt, kids’ toothpaste and dust creep back on the surfaces. Then it all has to be done again. It is no wonder most people feel defeated before they begin.
Creating a regular cleaning routine helps reduce the overwhelm of taking on the whole house. Spread out the fun all month long! My cleaning routine guide helps you outline what needs to be done daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. You can use mine or create a custom one based on your household’s needs with my fillable PDF.
Knowing you will eventually get to every area in the house on a regular basis with a system can be easier than trying to tackle it all at once and get frustrated at how long it takes. And, you can maintain in short spurts rather than long tiring cleaning marathons.
Systemize your Cleaning
Routines and habits are important to achieve balance with cleaning. Make sure you have cleaning kits with basic supplies where they will be most used (i.e. the kitchen or bathrooms). When you see toothpaste in the bathroom sink, it will be much faster to grab a paper towel and cleaner from under your sink than walk downstairs to the the laundry room to grab supplies. You will keep up with it faster if you have cleaning stations around your house for frequently cleaned areas.
Use checklists to maintain your freezer, pantry and fridge items. Update them regularly to avoid old food from piling up and duplicate purchases for items you already have.
Seasonal Tasks & Goals
Some cleaning tasks do not have to be done as frequently, but it is important to remind yourself to do them quarterly or yearly. Changing batteries in smoke detectors, cleaning out the garage, or washing the bed skirt under your bed could all be less frequent tasks.
Creating a checklist or schedule of reminders on your calendar help complete these tasks on a regular basis. Think about what unique cleaning projects need to be done in your household and make a plan everyone is on board to help with. You will see examples of these tasks in my cleaning routine chart.
Housekeeping Log
Whether you clean your house yourself or hire professionals, it is good to keep a log to help you communicate what needs cleaning. It is also great for tracking the time projects actually take. Use it to track issues that came up while cleaning or note supplies that were needed.
This will help family members gauge the best time to tackle some of these projects or make your cleaning professional aware of areas they need to tackle weekly.
Below is an example of the Housekeeping Log that I have created.
Summary
- Work together with your household members to create a routine that works for everyone. With more help the jobs at hand will not be so overwhelming.
- Create a plan that everyone can follow and have a way to communicate to the household what needs to be done and what has been accomplished each week.
- If you have the means, consider delegating projects no one wants to deal with to a professional cleaner.
To make this process easier for the families, I created the printable Complete Cleaning Routine System. You can purchase it at a 20% discount with code CLEANINGBLOG20.
I hope this tips and resources help you navigate a better cleaning routine and a happy household everyone enjoys.
Happy Organizing!
Kristin
Kristin Vander Wiede is a Professional Organizer and owner of Livable Solutions Professional Organizing and Life’s Lists printable organizing labels, systems and activities.
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