{playing house} my cleaning schedule

Hey there! I am checking in today to share my cleaning schedule with you. Like most people, I don't always enjoy cleaning, but I do love having a sparkling clean apartment. I personally just don't function well in a space that is not tidy and organized. If my place is messy, I often find myself feeling frustrated and unproductive, which is why having a cleaning schedule has been so important. I have always been a tidy person in general, and I naturally am always straightening up my space. However, you don't need to have a cleaning bug in order to adopt a routine. The most important factor is to find what works for you. You know better than anyone else what your preferred level of cleanliness is, so don't set unreasonable expectations for yourself. Today I will be sharing what works for me. The purpose of this post is not necessarily to tell you that this is the RIGHT way to set up a cleaning schedule, but is rather meant to inspire you to create your own system. However, if you do think that my schedule will work for you, PDF files will be provided at the end of this post. Let's get to cleaning :)

First, I have my master schedule. This is an overview of all my different chores, broken down by area and frequency. There are 4 different areas to my apartment: bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and common rooms (living room, dining room, etc.). If your home has more areas, then you will want to add more to your schedule. The frequency denotes how often I do the chores in each of the areas (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and twice yearly). It may seem a little overboard to some, but I find that this is the best way for me to ensure that everything gets done. This also helps me to stay stress free because I don't have to remember which chores to do when - all of the information is right there for quick reference. For the past couple years, this master list was all that I needed to keep myself on top of my cleaning schedule. However, I have recently decided to start incorporating daily and weekly cleaning checklists into my routine. This way, I can ensure that everything gets done when it should. As for the monthly, quarterly and twice-yearly chores, I like to just write those into my planner, so I remember to do them.

My daily cleaning checklist is pretty straightforward. It is a list of all of my daily chores, organized by area, with a box that can be checked once I complete the task. I suggest printing off one copy of this and either laminating it or putting it in a picture frame and using a dry erase marker to check the boxes. That way you can re-use the list each day without having to print a new one off each time. 

My weekly checklist is similar to my daily one except that it is broken down by weekday. Therefore, Monday - Friday I not only need to complete my daily tasks, but a few weekly tasks as well. I don't schedule anything specific for Friday and instead use that day to do any extra tasks that I need to complete. If I have already done everything I need to during the week, I take the day off (besides my daily chores, that is). The same goes for the weekend. I like to keep all of these lists on the fridge, so they are easily accessible and I see them everyday as a reminder of what I need to accomplish. 

Well, that's about all I have to share with you. I hope this post was helpful and inspired you to create and implement your own cleaning schedule into your routine (or that it at the very least got you to clean your room :P). Thanks for taking the time to read!

PDF download links:
Cleaning schedule
Daily checklist
Weekly checklist

What kind of a cleaning schedule are you currently using? Let me know in the comments!

xx