No Stress Cleaning Schedule for Busy Moms — Kristin's Peppermints and Cherries

How to Keep a Clean House with a Relaxed Cleaning Schedule

Many moons ago I lived in an apartment. I also worked full-time outside the home as a teacher. My cleaning plan during that season of life was simple. I took one day a week, usually Saturday, and cleaned the entire place, including all the laundry (I had multiple washers to use at the laundry facility!). All I had to do during the week was make the bed, keep the bathroom tidy, and make sure the kitchen was clean each day. It was pretty simple, but I found that living in a small place still takes a while to clean all in one day! Why? Well, it’s simple… you use almost every inch of your space to live!

Since living in a house, I have tried many options for keeping the house organized and clean.

Both of these words are important. I am always searching for new ways to organize things because clutter really gets under my skin. And sometimes lately, I feel we have a lot of it with all the baby paraphernalia!

Having a clean house is also important. Vacuuming is probably one of my top priorities. Certain members of my family may say I have an obsession with it, but I would disagree! By the way, I recently purchased a wonderful new vacuum, and it sports an exciting yellow color that makes vacuuming even happier! I mean, although I like the results of vacuuming regularly, no one likes cleaning all the time! My little guy thinks it is a ‘’vroom, vroom” and sometimes he even tries to ride it! He also enjoys practicing his skills and taking a turn vacuuming after I’m finished.

So, back to the main point of this post…

Is it possible to have a relaxed cleaning schedule and keep a home clean and organized?

I believe it is, but disciplining yourself to actually do the job is still important. I have experimented with more rigorous schedules that suggest I clean the bathrooms every Monday, dust the entire house on Tuesday, vacuum and mop on Wednesday, wipe out the refrigerator on Thursday, and so on. I think these plans are wonderful for some people, and maybe you follow one of them. However, for me, and maybe you too, these plans do not work. Why?

A strict schedule causes unneeded pressure and anxiety in my days.

I dread cleaning when I would normally enjoy it.

Life happens and the schedule doesn’t always work.

If I know I have to do my major clean on the bathrooms every Monday, I dread Mondays! It is better for me to change-up the days when I clean. One week I may clean the bathrooms on Monday. The next week I may clean them on Tuesday. It’s also important to keep a check on them throughout the week and keep them picked up and wiped down after daily use. Maybe I dusted on Friday of last week, but this week I decided to dust on Wednesday. The dusting job was still completed, but I didn’t have to dread doing it on Friday. I had time to dust on Wednesday, so now the job is finished. Maybe I knew I had other plans on Friday, and the dusting was Wednesday’s job because it was not possible on Friday! Dusting a few days earlier kept me from feeling behind on my task list.

These ideas are just options for those who feel that doing the same tasks every day of each week is not for them! I believe it is still important to complete certain tasks each week, just not always in the same order. And if you don’t get around to something this week, just bump it to next week, and don’t beat yourself up over not completing it.

Here is a summary for having a relaxed cleaning schedule.

Have a plan for weekly cleaning that is flexible.

There are certain things I like to do a big clean on each week. So I made a list of those things.

Clean two bathrooms.
Vacuum and dust bedrooms.
Vacuum and dust the living area.
Vacuum and dust the guest room, play room, and hallway.
Wipe down the door knobs, glass doors, refrigerator, and laundry area.

Some weeks (most weeks lately!!!) I am not able to do one of the things on my big list, but that’s the first job to complete the next week. After all, there are other things that are much more important than cleaning! I am learning that sometimes I just need to play with my little boy a little longer. I also teach piano lessons and have other various responsibilities. We all do! There are some things that are not a priority every week. For example, my living room doesn’t get super dusty, so I don’t have to dust it but every two weeks. I dust the blinds about every three weeks. On the other hand, I may need to dust my bedroom twice a week because it collects dust very easily!

You may also have days when you have more energy, so you do two or three of your big jobs all in the same day! Then you have more free time on the other days! It’s a win, win!

Make a daily list.

I am a list maker. I make to-do lists regularly…the old fashioned kind with a pen and paper. I believe it is important to cross off what you have completed because it gives feelings of accomplishment! And if you did a job that wasn’t on your list, write it on the list and cross it off!

These are cleaning tasks that I try to do every day.