How to Create a Realistic Cleaning Schedule For YOUR Home in 7 Steps

Ever asked yourself the question, “How does anyone create a realistic cleaning schedule for stay at home moms?” If you have then chances are you Googled and then saw a ton of pretty printable household chore lists. There are so many awesome ones out there, right? All you have to do is pick one.

Realistic and Easy Cleaning Schedule for Stay at Home Moms

You then went on to print the list that was the cutest and you even laminated it to show that you meant business. Sadly a week later your house is still in shambles and you have no clue what went wrong. To make matters worse, your mother-in-law just called to say that she wants to drop by for a chat. 

Sounds a bit too close to home? Don’t worry, this used to be me too but not anymore. Today I am going to help you create your own realistic cleaning schedule for stay at home moms.

If at any time you want to see the other posts on how to put together the parts of your own no stress home management binder, then simply click Your Home Management Binder in 10 Days

How to Create a Realistic Cleaning Schedule For YOUR Home

Now let me clarify by saying that this will not be a post where I simply give you a printable cleaning schedule that you can simply check off a box. I honestly don’t think they are an effective way to create a cleaning routine for your home.

[mv_video key=”xng1gijiyrvs9lo4c3s9″ volume=”70″ aspectRatio=”true” title=”Build Your Home Management Binder in 10 Days!!” thumbnail=”https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/xng1gijiyrvs9lo4c3s9.jpg” jsonLd=”true” doNotOptimizePlacement=”false” doNotAutoplayNorOptimizePlacement=”false” sticky=”false”]What I am going to do is give you the tools to come up with a system that works perfectly for you and your home. I will also share my own cleaning schedule as an example. Ready? Of course, you are.

Gathering Your Tools to Create Your Cleaning Schedule

• Pen / pencil
• Notepad or a few sheets of paper
• Binder (use the home management binder that you recently started creating)
• Printing paper
• Hole punch
• Dividers
• Protective sleeves (optional)

Please note that affiliate links are used below for your convenience. 

 AmazonBasics 2-Inch Round Ring Binder, White, 4-Pack AmazonBasics 2-Inch Round Ring Binder, Mixed, View, 12-Pack 400 Sheet Protectors, 11 Hole Lightweight Binder Sleeves, Designed to Protect Frequently Used 8.5 x 11 Papers, Acid and PVC Free Page Protector, Clear Plastic Design, 9.25 x 11.25 Top Loaded, 400 ct Bostitch inPRESS 20 Reduced Effort Three-Hole Punch, Silver, Black (2220) AmazonBasics Paper Binder Dividers, Writeable 8-Tab, 4/Pack Avery 5 Tab Plastic Binder Dividers with Pockets, Two Tone, 1 Set (11988)

Now that you’ve gathered your tools, let’s get to work.

What Should Be Cleaned Weekly? What Should Be Cleaned Daily?

Step 1: Get your notepad and your pencil or pen

and list every room in your home that needs to be cleaned regularly. This will include bathrooms, bedrooms, and hallways. If your family uses that area it needs to be listed.

If you have a garden or lawn add that to your list and label it OUTSIDE.

Step 2: Write tasks for every room you list

For every room that you list, I want you to write all the tasks that you would have to do to keep it clean. 

Let’s use my home as an example. First, we only have 1 bathroom in my small home and so I have to clean it very often. Here’s a list of what I have to do to keep it clean:

1. Declutter
2. Wipe down bathroom shelves
3. Clean blinds
4. Clean mirror 
5. Wipe walls and baseboards
6. Replace towels
7. Clean bathtub 
8. Clean toilet
9. Sweep floor
10. Wash floor

Now I want you to do the same for each room/area that you have listed in Step 1.

Step 3: Daily or Weekly?

Decide on what needs to be done daily and what needs to be done weekly for each area or room.

Let’s use my bathroom again as an example. Starting from the first task and going down, write daily or weekly.

1. Declutter weekly
2. Wipe down bathroom shelves weekly
3. Clean blinds weekly
4. Clean mirror weekly or earlier if needed (got to love those secret messages from my kids)
5. Wipe walls and baseboards weekly
6. Replace towels twice a week
7. Clean bathtub every other day
8. Clean the toilet every other day
9. Sweep floor daily
10. Wash floor daily 

Step 4: Make a list of all the daily 

Now on another page, write down all the tasks that need to get done daily. For instance, doing the dishes, sweeping the floors, and getting rid of all the visible clutter before bed. 

Step 5: Choose a day to clean each area or room

Pick a day in the week to clean each room or area. For example, you can choose to clean bathrooms every Monday while deciding to clean bedrooms on Thursdays. Maybe you want to clean the party and laundry room on a Tuesday- it’s all up to you. Just ensure that every area is assigned a day.

Here’s my weekly cleaning schedule to help you get started:

Step 6: Download and Complete

Download and fill in your printable house cleaning schedule. This download is a small portion of the Chaos Free Home- Digital Home Management Binder.

You’ve already done all the hard work in STEP 3.  Now go ahead and fill in your cleaning schedule. 

Looking for a few more templates to help you? Then grab the complete Cleaning Organizer.

It includes:

• Kids chore sheets (filled out)
• Kids chore sheets (blank)
• Weekly chore sheet
• Weekly cleaning checklist 
• Cleaning supplies list
• Notes page
• Yearly Cleaning Schedule
• Room cleaning checklist
• Laundry guide

Step 7: Use your customized cleaning schedule. 

Yay! You did it! You created a realistic cleaning schedule that was designed for your home. 

Bonus Tip

I took my list a step further and added it to Todoist so that I could get daily and weekly reminders of what tasks need to be done. Maybe you can try it too.