If you’re a mom, you’re probably overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done in your home every day, just like me.
I do like my home to be clean but when things start to pile up, my anxiety kicks in and nothing gets done at all.
Analysis paralysis I call this. When things get out of hand like this, I recruit my husband to help in the evening after a long day of work. It’s only fair, we BOTH work hard, one just works outside the home.
I tried every cleaning schedule I could find and printed out binders full of routines and motivational quotes to help me get my butt into cleaning gear and that kind of overwhelmed me even more.
That’s when I had the idea to create a new schedule. One that worked for ME.
And once I was able to come up with a solution that was tailored to me and my life, things became more simple. I can now keep up with my housework, my kids and my work at home routines.
This article isn’t just about the perfect routine, it’s about making a routine that works for you, however, you need to make it work.
I don’t have time to check 25 different detailed tasks off lists each and every day.
A good deep clean of the house is terribly difficult to do on a monthly basis too.
I really do need to and want to keep the house clean and tidy, but the dirty floors and the dusty baseboards sure do creep up and make the house seem dirtier than I like to keep it.
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Benefits Of A Clean Home
Living among the mess, dust and grime can literally make you want to hide. A common thing that people do is ignore the mess and move onto an activity that they would rather do more.
A Clean Home Is A Healthy Home
A messy, dirty home can spread around dangerous bacteria and make your other family members sick. Dust particles can aggravate asthma symptoms and make it harder to breathe. Fresh air is so important.
It is also a good idea to use safe non-toxic cleaning agents around your whole home. I tend to make my own when it comes to cleaning supplies.
Feelings Of Happiness
An added benefit to having a clean home all the time is it makes you happy.
Do you feel happy in a cluttered home?
I find when my home is clean, my mind is calm and I can focus on more important things like keeping my kids occupied with fun activities or baking something I’ve never tried before.
Visitors Welcome
You’re always ready for company! Imagine your parents stopping by to say hello without calling you first and it was no big deal because your home is ready for a visit at all times.
Your children can feel comfortable bringing friends home after school if the home is clean and tidy, a luxury I did not have when I was growing up because our house was always a disaster.
Impact On The Environment
Did you know that when you keep a clean home, you can also help support the environment?
I find that when my clutter gets out of hand, I tend to toss everything and anything into the trash. I don’t think about it, I just toss.
When I have some tidying to do and not a mass cleanup, I have time to think about the full landfills and how sad that makes me.
When I come across items that I can donate, or give to a friend, I choose to do so when considering throwing something in the trash. My green cleaning products are also something I recycle rather than trash as I would with harsh chemicals such as bleach.
A clean home also makes it so much easier to do the big cleans in the spring and fall!
There are so many benefits of keeping a clean and tidy home.
How To Create A Cleaning Schedule (That Works For You)
If you are so overwhelmed that you think you might need to ask for help, and that’s ok!
If your home does get into an overwhelming state of disorder such as dealing with a crisis in the family and depression takes over or you simply have a newborn, you can ask for help if you need it.
If overwhelm of clutter keeps happening in your home, consider decluttering!
Decluttering does take time and a lot of effort, and it’s not for everyone.
Here is the process to creating a routine that works for you.
Prioritize
The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out what is important to you. Is it important that you living room is clutter free, the bathrooms to be clean or the laundry to be done daily?
Every household will be different since we all have different homes, different family dynamics and different habits.
For me, my biggest priority is keeping the kitchen clean and tidy. We do not own a dishwasher so I have to work extra hard to make sure those dishes don’t pile up, even though sometimes they still do.
Another priority of mine is to keep the living room presentable at all times. I personally like sitting on the couch and not having to look at garbage and mess around me.
When my kids are in bed, I do make it priority to straighten out the living room just so I can relax.
I do also try to do a load of laundry daily, but that doesn’t always happen. The key thing is to try and stay on top of the washing as much as possible.
In order for you to create a schedule that works best for your family life, you’ll ant to figure out what your cleaning priorities are.
Clear Clutter
Clutter is a huge distraction when it comes to cleaning the house.
Sometimes it seems so out of control, I wonder where the heck all those papers on the kitchen table even came from and why are there 6 bowls on the coffee table?
When I can keep the clutter under control, the whole house just feels cleaner.
I find going through my home daily and clearing strange clutter away, helps me mentally with anxiety and motivates me to keep the house clean.
I was looking at photos of my first born the other day, and as cute as my little man was at 2 months old, the house behind the cuteness really made me upset.
Babies keep moms busy, and it’s OK to let the clutter pile up at the point, but if you can and have the energy, try to keep that extra mess put away.
I’ve also started to throw things out more often.
I used to think that maybe I’ll need this random screw one day, and no I’ll toss it out. This helps keep the junk drawer/cubby at bay too.
Make List
Now that you have your priorities straight, it’s time to create that list.
This is just a list, not a schedule, so what you’re going to do is write down all the things you want to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
The first three items on your list should be “must completes.” I only ever have 3 things that I must complete on a daily basis, because life gets busy and I don’t want to make myself upset by putting too much on my homemaking plate.
Here are some example lists.
Daily
- Make Beds
- Wash Dishes
- Wipe Down Bathrooms
- Vacuum/Sweep Floors
- Complete 1 Load of Laundry
Weekly
- Dust From Top To Bottom
- Vacuum Floors
- Mop Floors
- Scrub Bathrooms (Deep Clean)
- Clean Out Old Food From Fridge
Monthly
- Disinfect Light Switches And High Traffic Areas
- Wash Bath Mats
- Clean Out Car
- Wash Bedding (Covers And Duvets)
- Disinfect Toys
The items on this list are MY priorities, yours may look different. You may even have time to do more than that daily, weekly, monthly.
I know I can complete my daily tasks in 20 minutes a day, so that makes me pretty darn happy.
If I get behind on my daily to do’s and my husband is around, I will for sure recruit him. He lives with us too, he of course needs to help.
Do Daily Maintenance
I have a morning and evening routine, as do most homemakers to help keep up with those pesky daily cleaning tasks.
I really like to wash up breakfast dishes right away so they aren’t sitting in the sink or on the counter until i’m ready to wash them in the afternoon.
After the kids go to sleep, I like to take a minute and wipe down the bathrooms. I have two boys so I just do a quick spray and wipe of the toilet which takes two minutes and then quickly wipe the sink.
Another thing I do daily is during my morning shower, I use my DIY Daily Shower Cleaner which is just a spray and leave solution. I do like to rinse it off eventually, but I usually forget, and it’s not a big deal.
Each evening i’ll straighten up the clutter in the living room and put things back in “order” as they should be. This takes no more than 5 minutes and really just quiets down my anxiety.
Finish Tasks
An important thing to keep in mind when keeping your home tidy, is to try your hardest to complete your tasks that you start.
If you start dusting the house, try to finish all the rooms so that you don’t have to start all over again when you have time.
If you started laundry, make sure to dry it and fold it and put it away that day too.
Basically just finish what you started, even if mom life gets the better of you and you get distracted, try your best to come back to the task and finish it off.
Schedule
The final step is to create the schedule.
You’ve created a list of tasks that are important to you and maybe you have an idea of what you should do each morning and evening to keep up with the tidiness of the home, now it’s time to schedule.
Look at your list and decide how long it will take you to complete the tasks. This will look different for everyone because we all have different homes, different amount of rooms, and different families.
I have included an example of what my personal routine looks like, just in case you need some ideas..but remember it’s not going to be the same for you (probably)
My Cleaning Routine (As a work from home mom)
Daily
Morning
- Make bed
- Wash up breakfast dishes
- Straighten Up Living Room
- Clean Bathroom
- Complete A Load Of Laundry (Folded Too)
- Wash The Floors
- + Bonus if time/energy complete one monthly task.
Evening
- Dinner Dishes Washed Up
- Coffee Pot Clean And Ready For Morning
- Pick up Toys
Weekly
My weekend is pretty much spent having fun with the family, I don’t worry about cleaning at all, but I do make sure these tasks are completed before we go have our family fun.
- Landry should be all caught up- but catch up if you need to.
- Wipe down bathrooms (mirror included)
- Vacuum / Sweep floors
- Disinfect doorknobs and light switches and remote controls.
- Spray disinfecting spray on toys
- Dust as needed
Monthly
I try to complete one task every couple of days so this doesn’t end up getting completed on the last day of the month.
- Wash curtains
- Wash bedding
- Disinfect Toys (Especially Bathtub Toys)
- Organize something that is out of control – hallway closet, Tupperware cabinet etc.
- Scrub grease off kitchen cabinets
- Wash walls
- Scrub Bathtub
Staying On Track And Creating Good Habits
If you make cleaning your home part of your everyday routine, it will become habitual and you’ll start to have a clean home without really having to try to keep it clean.
It’s pretty easy to stay on top of your cleaning if you do a little bit each and every day and cleaning doesn’t become this big chore you have to tackle on the weekend.
The biggest tip I can leave you with is, get your kids and husband involved in keeping a clean home. After all, you all live in the house, shouldn’t you all contribute to its cleanliness?
