Monday, August 6, 2012

My New Cleaning Schedule

Last year I posted a cleaning schedule it was in "Domestic Executive" I believe. That schedule worked well while we were in an 800 sq ft apartment and I wasn't pregnant.

Just as I got used to being in a house twice as big as I was used to I got pregnant. Let me tell you that NOTHING got done the first four months. It was all I could do to keep up with laundry and dishes. Now at 8 months pregnant, I simply have no energy to deep clean every week- ok, not to mention that I would always forget the monthly stuff. Well, procrastinate is more like it. I would look at the planner at the beginning of the month and decide that I have plenty of time to get it done. AAAND guess what? It wouldn't get done-Big surprise, I know.

 With a new baby on the way, Nick starting school and Christian starting seminary this fall there are so many changes about to happen and I have no idea what a schedule will look like. Deep cleaning every week seems rather over-whelming and I wanted to actually schedule some monthly things. So I decided to re-work my cleaning schedule and try to take a little pressure off.

I wanted to share this with you in hopes that a more relaxed cleaning schedule will make it less stressful for you.

There are still activities that I do daily and weekly. I've copied and pasted below.

Daily chores:

Make beds
Bible Study (not a chore but I really don't want to forget it)
Plan dinner/take out meat to thaw
Start Laundry
Unload Dishwasher/do breakfast dishes
Finish laundry
5 minute pick-up (spend 5 minutes putting things in their places)
Dinner
After dinner clean-up (including sweep)

I still do a number of chores weekly, such as:
Monday: Mop the kitchen
Tuesday: wash bed linens
Wednesday: grocery shop
Thursday: swipe and swish (while gathering dirty wash clothes just wipe down sinks and the toilets)
Friday: de-clutter.paperwork kitchen (alot of junk mail and paper work gets stashed on the bar)


Next I decided to focus on just one area of the house per week. I have scheduled deeper cleaning activities during this week so I will see them on the schedule and not be tempted to put them off. 

Week One: Kitchen/dining
Monday: Mop floor and wipe blinds
Tuesday: wipe baseboards, walls,vents and windows
Wednesday: de-clutter/ paperwork
Thursday: scrub counters and cabinets
Friday:  clean refrigerator and stove

Week two: Living room
Monday: Mop and wipe blinds (move furniture)
Tuesday: wipe baseboards, walls, vents and windows
Wednesday: wipe banister and vacuum stairs
Thursday: Vacuum furniture
Friday: Dust/de-clutter (alot of clutter accumulates in the living room too)

Week three: Bedrooms
Monday: wipe walls, baseboards, vents and windows (our room)
Tuesday: beds/linens (this includes vacuuming mattresses and pillows*)
Wednesday: vacuum all floors
Thursday: walls, baseboards, vents and windows (boys rooms)
Friday: office straighten/declutter
* every now and then I will sprinkle baking soda on the bare mattresses, wait 15-20 minutes and vacuum them off using the mini beater bar attachment. this really helped the life of the mattress and with Christians allergies. I will also put the pillows-one at a time- in a garbage bag and suck all the air, dust and yuck out with the vacuum hose.

Week Four: bathrooms
Monday: counters, toilets
Tuesday: Walls baseboards mirrors
Wednesday: tubs and shower curtains
Thursday: sweep/mop
Friday: Laundry room trash, wipe washer and dryer, check ac filter

And then there are things that only need to be done every few months. 

Week four of January, May and October:
Monday: clothes (go thru clothes and weed out any we can't wear also put out/put away seasonal items-as if we had those in Florida)

Week four of March, July and November:
Monday: Toys (weed out any broken and toys not played with and with this done in July and November it clears the way for new birthday and Christmas items)

So I am hoping that this will help me feel less overwhelmed with all the changes in our lives (happening all at once) and keep me from just procrastinating my chores. I haven't been on this schedule long, I just came up with it last week so there may be some things I've forgotten and I may have to add mowing the lawn in there somewhere after I have the baby.

I would love your feedback on what worked for you and how you adapted this to fit your own homes and lives. 

Happy cleaning, 
Cathy

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

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2 comments:

  1. I wished I had had this 30 yrs ago, or at least when I got a new start in a new home 6 years ago. Now its like my weight, it seems insurmountable.

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  2. our houses are like our weight and our debt. It didn't get out of control over night so we can't get it under control over night. It will take time- but it can be done.

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