Developing a plan to clean your whole home can feel a little bit like trying to plan a strategy to eat an entire elephant! However, with some simple planning, both can be accomplished one small bite at a time! Here are some great tips to help construct a cleaning schedule that will allow you to clean your home in a routine, organized, and time efficient manner!
1. Grab the means to make a list. Goals are best met when they are laid out in simple, step-by-step approaches. They are also better achieved when they are able to be visualized, so for a clean home—grab a pen and paper or whiteboard and start your plan of how to keep a clean and tidy home.
2. Identify all the rooms in your home. The first step for your personalized cleaning schedule is to identify the levels and rooms of your home. A one bedroom condo will require far different maintenance than a 3 story home. Make a list that categorizes level, room, and then begin adding tasks.
3. Look around; identify all tasks that need to be completed. Visit each room and make a meticulous list of what needs routine attention. Most rooms will be standard, requiring dusting, vacuuming, window washing, etc.—but what specialized tasks need to be completed as well? Do you have a bathroom vents that need to be removed to be cleaned? Do you need to unplug the appliances to clean all parts of the kitchen? Be thorough as your list can always be edited.
4. Select frequency of task completion. Once you have identified the tasks that need to be done, it is imperative to note how often they require attention. Be realistic! You cannot complete every task daily or even weekly, so make a list in terms of both priority and how often the area/item is used and thus needs cleaning. For example, beds should be made every day but bed-sheets should be washed every week and maybe bedroom windows only need washing every month.
5. Determine set dates/times to complete the tasks identified. Once you have selected what needs to be done and how often you need to do it, make a schedule of when you intend to complete these tasks. Setting a specific goal with a deadline will result in better organization, time management, and increased chance of completing the task at hand. For example, maybe each day of the week is linked to a specific weekly task—Wednesday are washrooms, Fridays are floors, and perhaps the first Sunday of the month is dedicated to all chores scheduled to be completed monthly. Create a schedule that works with your lifestyle!
6. Do a trial run! Once you have your plan penned out, put in action and monitor its success and shortcomings over the period of one month. You may find that you need to change what day you complete certain tasks, maybe you host a book club Thursday nights and cannot commit to doing all the household laundry. Perhaps you are cleaning your baseboards too frequently and you wish to increase time between washings. At the end of your month trial re-evaluate to see what works, what doesn’t, and revamp when necessary!
7. Stay on track & get in a routine. When you have created a schedule that suits your home, life, and cleaning needs stay on track! Try to turn common practice and goals into habits that become second nature. Once you are cleaning your home with regularity, you will notice that the tasks take less time and effort as dirt and dust are kept at a minimum!
For best results, get the whole family involved, assign age-appropriate tasks, set family goals, and make cleanliness a household habit!