Tell me if this sounds familiar. You want to be able to have a consistently clean house so you start to research cleaning schedules. It works well for a couple of weeks…and then life happens. You don’t vacuum on Tuesday because you had to take a child to the doctor and you sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes, the exam room for 30, and then with the doctor another 10. By the time you got a prescription filled and back home, you just didn’t have time. Or you didn’t to the laundry on Monday because you just plain forgot. Before you know it, you are no longer on the cleaning schedule and wondering why you failed.
Guess what? I am a super, mega clean freak…and I do not follow a cleaning schedule. Cleaning schedules just plain do not work for me. Sure, my house gets away from me once in awhile and clutter is the ban of my existence. I have a husband who works around trees and equipment and a child who likes to play in the dirt. My house is certainly not spotless, but for the most part, my house is 20 minutes away from “company ready” almost 100% of the time. Keeping your house clean doesn’t have to be all that complicated.
What’s my big secret?
Clean when the house needs it.
Yup. That’s it. Clean when you need to. Now, that doesn’t mean let the house get filthy and then do a big clean. By not following a cleaning schedule, you do have to have a little bit of discipline and intentional living. See some dirt on the floor? Bathroom starting to look a little worse for wear? Don’t wait. Either take care of it that day or add it to the to do list for the next day. Then actually do it! Don’t keep putting it off.
With laundry, do loads when the hampers are full or if someone needs something that is dirty. That means sometimes doing two loads on Thursday and one on Friday or doing one load on Monday then not another one until Saturday. It depends on the week. The trick with that is actually finishing the load. I personally do struggle with doing a load from start to finish all in the same day but I do try. The house does seem so much cleaning and put together when I don’t have a basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded sitting in my living room or on my kitchen table (although a friend jokes that there is always a basket of laundry there…).
Keep your house clean with only 20 minutes a day and no cleaning schedule! Click To TweetThe other trick is to do daily clean ups. I may not do my dishes after dinner every day but the dishwasher is loaded and everything else is stacked neatly next to the sink or in it, ready for the next morning.Ā If a pan needs soaked, it sits on the counter with water and dish detergent in it overnight. The counters and stove get wiped down after dinner every night, preventing the stuck on “cement” of food spills. All toys and dirty laundry are put in the proper places before going to bed. This daily clean up keeps the house from getting out of control.
By doing a daily clean up and cleaning when it needs to be done, you can stay on top of your house cleaning. By following those two things, you can spend only about 20-30 minutes a day cleaning, not counting dishes and laundry. With those two things, it’sĀ closer to 1-1.5 hours, depending on how much laundry, etc. It really doesn’t take a lot of time if you don’t put off the cleaning activities.
How about you? Do you “clean as you go” or do you have a set cleaning schedule?
This sounds VERY familiar! Haha! I love schedules, but lately I can’t keep up with the ones I make. This is going to be my new life. Great post. I’m visiting from Coffee and Conversation.
Thanks for visiting and good luck!
I don’t have a cleaning schedule, and I do try to clean as things need it when I’m home. One thing I’ve done during 47 years of marriage is always make the bed every morning first thing and never leave a dirty dish in the kitchen – wash it and put it away, but the rest has to be done as I can.
I agree with you on the schedules. We can have a schedule but life sure happens or at least it does for me substitute teaching and watching toddler grandkids which are things I love, but I can’t stick to a strict schedule of cleaning.
Making the bed every day, first thing, does go a long way!
What a great philosophy, Julie. I have a very loose cleaning schedule myself, and though I don’t normally get to my chores often, my house is cleaned as needed. It’s been such a load off because it really keeps my priorities for the week straight. Thanks so much for sharing this with us on #shinebloghop š
I certainly work at doing all of this. Sometimes, like this week, when I’m working on something important or time consuming I let things go and give myself some grace. On the other hand, Hun has a very physically demanding job and his energy just isn’t there most days. The boys are still so small and into everything, but I know I’m always happier, calmer, and much more flexible when the house has a bit of order to it! š
I have tried to keep a schedule but by Monday afternoon it usually goes out the window! Definitely a clean as you go Mom now, so much more practical! Great post!
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Ha! Yup. I was a “out the window by Monday afternoon” kind of person too. š
Hi, Julie! I’m so glad to hear somebody say this! Yes, we all want our homes to be clean, and having a set schedule can be helpful. But you don’t want to be a slave to it and make yourself (and your whole family) miserable. And it doesn’t make much sense to clean something that isn’t dirty just because the schedule says it’s time to clean it.
There are a few things I do daily, like making the bed first thing in the morning and making sure the dinner dishes are cleaned up and put away (just because I hate waking up to dirty dishes in the sink). Other than that, I just clean when it’s needed.
Thanks for the great post and for making us all feel better about ourselves! š
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I need my bed made every day too. I’m always amazed at what a difference that makes. š
I’d be lost without my cleaning schedule! š I don’t use one where tasks are assigned to specific days (for the reason you mentioned); the tasks simply rotate so I pick up where I left off.
Anyway, your post highlights the important reality that different things work for different people. We must all find what works for us.
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Absolutely! As scheduled and routine as I am, a cleaning schedule never worked for me. But I know plenty of people where that is the only way to get it done.
I try to keep up with the housework the best I can on a regular basis, I don’t have a set schedule. Then once a season I do more of a deep clean by washing walls, having the carpets cleaned, etc. Great tips, thanks for sharing!
These are great tips! Daily clean ups.have helped me so much. I get overwhelmed with big piles. Tackling small chores is the way to go.
Great post! Definitely some very helpful tips and advice. Cleaning your house when it needs it has always been my personal philosophy. Thanks for sharing!
It really does work quite well for me. Glad it does for you too!
Wow, awesome post! Definitely a very good and more laid back approach to cleaning. Thanks for sharing!
I definitely follow the only clean when it needs it rule! Thanks for sharing!