One of my biggest stumbling blocks, which may also plague you, was that I just couldn’t find the right system for keeping my house clean.
I think, however, I have finally figured out this house cleaning stuff, and I want to share the tips that worked for me with those of you who also struggle to keep your home clean.
Why Most Cleaning Schedules Don’t Work
I have tried many systems (too many!) for housekeeping. From ones that made me put on shoes first thing in the morning, to ones with lots of check boxes, to special apps for my phone, to free downloads from every corner of the internet. You name it, I have probably tried it. Each one would go fine for a while, and then I’d fall off the wagon. For the longest time I couldn’t understand why I kept failing.
Then I finally figured it out: I couldn’t stick to a schedule that somebody else had written. I needed to take the time to write out my own, with a mind toward the tasks that actually applied to our household and the general rhythm of our days.
This doesn’t mean you can’t gather inspiration from other people’s routines. You absolutely can, and should. But you’ll be far better off creating your own once you’ve collected those ideas. (I keep a Cleaning Schedules board on Pinterest that I’m always adding to, if you’d like to browse for inspiration.)
How to Make a Cleaning Schedule That Works, Step by Step
Establishing a routine is the real secret to keeping a clean house. It’s no accident that homemakers of the past assigned tasks to certain days, like “washing day.” We simply tend to work better with routines. Once each Monday becomes bathroom day, you’re far more likely to keep those bathrooms clean.
Here is the exact process that finally worked for me:
- Write out every task that has to happen each week. Don’t get bogged down in things that only need doing occasionally yet. Just capture the weekly must-dos: bathrooms, floors, dusting, sheets, trash, and so on.
- Write down your recurring weekly commitments. These are the standing obligations: work hours, church, lessons, or co-op.
- Assign each task to a specific day. Put the more time-consuming jobs on the days without outside commitments. In our home, our homeschool co-op and ballet lessons land on the same day, so that’s a day where I purposely give myself fewer household tasks.
- Add your daily non-negotiables. Some things have to happen every single day, or several times a week. On my schedule, loading and unloading the dishwasher is listed every day.
- Decide what’s weekly versus monthly versus seasonal. Not everything belongs on the weekly plan. Pulling the occasional jobs (baseboards, windows, cleaning out the fridge) onto a separate monthly or seasonal list keeps your weekly schedule realistic instead of overwhelming.
A Sample Weekly Cleaning Schedule
Here’s an example weekly cleaning routine to get you started. Treat it as a jumping-off point, then adjust it to fit your own home and week.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Monday | Bathrooms (toilets, sinks, tubs, mirrors) |
| Tuesday | Floors (vacuum and mop main areas) |
| Wednesday | Kitchen (wipe appliances, clean out the fridge) |
| Thursday | Dusting and bedrooms (change the sheets) |
| Friday | Catch-all and errands (lighter day) |
| Saturday | Family spaces and a quick declutter |
| Sunday | Rest, plan the week, and prep for Monday |
Every day: make the beds, run and empty the dishwasher, wipe down the kitchen counters, and start one load of laundry.
Cleaning Tasks by How Often You Do Them
One of the easiest ways to build your own schedule is to sort tasks by how often they need to be done. Here’s a simple breakdown you can borrow:
Daily
- Make the beds
- Dishes and dishwasher
- Wipe kitchen counters
- Quick pick-up or 10-minute tidy
- One load of laundry, start to finish
Weekly
- Clean bathrooms
- Vacuum and mop floors
- Dust surfaces
- Change bed sheets
- Empty all the trash
- Wipe down kitchen appliances
Monthly
- Wipe baseboards and door frames
- Clean out the refrigerator
- Dust ceiling fans and light fixtures
- Wipe cabinet fronts
- Vacuum under and behind furniture
Seasonal (every few months)
- Wash windows inside and out
- Clean the oven
- Declutter closets and drawers
- Launder curtains and wash bedding like comforters
- Deep-clean carpets and upholstery
How to Display Your Cleaning Schedule
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that if you struggle with housekeeping, you’re also the kind of person who benefits from visual reminders. So your next step is to find a way to display your weekly schedule where you’ll actually see it.
A few ideas that work well:
- Laminate a sheet for each day so you can check items off with a dry-erase marker. (I use my personal laminator so that if I make changes later, I can just laminate a fresh page. I keep a separate sheet for each day because I also list my school and work tasks on each one.)
- Frame your schedule and write directly on the glass with a dry-erase marker.
- Print a fresh daily or weekly schedule each day or week.
- Write tasks on index cards and set out the right card the night before.
How to Actually Stick to Your Cleaning Schedule
Now that you have a schedule, it’s time to start following it. Be gentle with yourself as you ease in, especially if you haven’t been following a cleaning routine regularly. A few things that help:
- Start small. If a full week of tasks feels like too much, begin with just your daily non-negotiables and add one weekly task at a time.
- Expect an off day now and then. Missing a day isn’t failing. Just pick back up the next day.
- Remember whose schedule this is. You are its creator, which means you don’t have to be beholden to it. If something isn’t working, change the schedule instead of abandoning it altogether. That single mindset shift is what finally kept me going.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best cleaning schedule?
The best cleaning schedule is a personalized one that matches your home and your weekly commitments. Generic schedules tend to fail because they don’t account for your specific rooms, family, and rhythm. Start with a template, then rewrite it to fit your life.
How do I make a cleaning schedule I’ll actually stick to?
List your weekly tasks, note your recurring commitments, assign tasks to specific days (heavy jobs on lighter days), and add your daily must-dos. Display it somewhere visible and give yourself grace to adjust it as needed.
What should I clean daily versus weekly?
Daily tasks are the ones that pile up fast: dishes, beds, counters, a quick tidy, and a load of laundry. Weekly tasks are bigger jobs like bathrooms, floors, dusting, and sheets. Occasional jobs like baseboards and windows belong on a monthly or seasonal list.
What’s the best day to clean the house?
There isn’t one “best” day. The trick is to match cleaning tasks to your least-busy days and spread bigger jobs out across the week so no single day feels overwhelming.
How long should cleaning take each day?
With a routine in place, most days take about 20 to 45 minutes, plus your quick daily tasks. Spreading tasks across the week keeps any one day from becoming a marathon.
Jessica W says
Thanks so much, Angie! My family is looking to move in the next few months, and I am looking forward to more space–but not to more cleaning! Eek! Your Pinterest board looks so helpful! And thanks for the reminder to create a schedule that works for ME. : )
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, Jessica! I often think I’d like a bigger house, but then I also have to remember that it would mean more cleaning. I can barely take care of the space we have now.
Good luck on your move!
Christen says
Thank you for this post! I think this is the most straight forward and down to earth approach I’ve seen in a while and a bit of motivation for me 🙂
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
Thank you so much for saying that, Christen! I really appreciate it, and I hope that you’re already busy figuring out that schedule.
Leah says
I just started using Cozi to create my own cleaning schedule. I had been using a pre-made chore planner, but found too many things didn’t apply to me, or that I wanted to have tasks reorganized through the week. Cozi lets me assign all the tasks to days, and I can print a new chart each week. It’s been helpful!
Minna says
For me, routine says it all. I am one of those people who feels better about the world when my house is clean. In order to prevent from getting overwhelmed by how much has to be done, I will tackle one room at a time, and not worry about the other rooms until the one I am working on is done. I usually attack the kitchen first. Then I make the beds and start vacuuming. I hate cleaning bathrooms, but I have to tell myself that they are the smallest rooms in the house, and won’t take long if I just get in there and do it. Playing music helps alot too. When it comes to folding clothes, I usually listen to an online sermon (Allistair Begg) and I can whip through the dreaded whites basket because my mind is preoccupied with the devotional. I am blessed to be a stay at home mom, and on the days that I get frustrated with how much I have to do, I have to remind myself that there are so many women out there who would give their right arm to be able to stay home with the kids rather than work outside the home, and it gives me the perspective that I need to enjoy the duties rather than complain about them.
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
The intentions in your heart in regards to your work definitely make a difference, don’t they? Great point!
Carrie says
I’ve discovered that just because a cleaning schedule works for me now, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will always work. 🙂 I’ve tweaked and changed my cleaning schedule over the years so that I have something that works for the season of life that I’m in.
Heidi says
I have tried various schedules too. Now I just clean the whole house on Saturdays sometime. The daily maintenance is key too.
I just saw someone write about the secret to having a clean house. They said that you should regularly have people over. We have 3 other couples over every week for a Bible study and that sure does get my house a lot cleaner. 🙂
Wendi says
I bet I’d have a cleaner house if I stopped reading blogs about how to do it and just did it! I keep telling myself to make a schedule but myself keeps telling me it won’t work. I am now going to do as you suggest and at least TRY it before I declare defeat! Well, after I read some more blogs that is….
Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse says
I really liked this post. I was really struck by the point about making your own schedule. I am so easily inspired by everyone else’s cleaning schedules. I think they are awesome and will most definitely work for us. I also like the idea of having specific days for different tasks. This really sounds like something that could work for us. We have different routines for different days and adding in cleaning routines for those days would be helpful too.
Blessings
Honey
April says
Thank you for this post! I’ve kinda been doing what you suggest for the last couple years. But, I’m finding that my ambition to do anything fades dramatically once the kid’s nap time starts (I have 4 children, 5 and under). This would be fine, except that our schedule only allows me to dress the kids,make the beds, feed them breakfast, do devotions and exercises with them, clean the kitchen, and then it’s lunch time and naps! Laundry, bathrooms, etc. usually are thrown to the wind until I HAVE to do them. I could easily accomplish all these tasks IF I just kept the schedule going in the afternoon as well. How do you keep going on the housecleaning when you are exhausted, and just want to laze around while reading books to the kids?
brittany says
I have spent more time researching routines and schedules than i have experimenting to see what works for our family. Im not a routine person, i have twin toddlers that have always had a routine so i find it suffocating to add to another routine to my already monotanous day. However, KUDOS for the index cards… Im not committed to them daily but when i do fill them out it really does motivate me. I love your pinterest boards they are always beautiful!
Sophie says
I am 13 and i clean my whole house over 3 days ( Friday, Sat, Sunday) in times that i’m not busy every week
Kitchen
clean cooktop clean benchtops clean appliance exteriors
clean splashback clean sink & taps clean inside microwave
bathrooms
clean bath clean counter tops clean & disinfect toilet
clean shower cabin clean sink & taps clean mirrors/splashbacks
all rooms
vacuum clean carpets dust surfaces general tidy up
mop wooden/tiled floors empty rubbish bins air freshen & deodorise
monica says
found your cleaning schedule pinterest board. best board ever! it was great for getting ideas but like you, found i have to make my own schedule for routine to ‘stick’. the only thing i can always do is a load or two of laundry every day… but it’s everything else i never feel like cleaning. needed a kick in the bum though and this is it! thanks
Patty@homemakersdaily.com says
One thing that really helps is if you put your house on the market to sell! 🙂 Ours is on the market and my first order of business every day is getting it “showing ready”. I tidy, vacuum, touch-up the glass, do the dishes, dump the trash and touch-up mop. My house has never been so clean!!!
Nola Franzen says
I used to be worried because I’m not the best housekeeper. Then I figured out that I don’t want to be a “housekeeper”, I want to be a “homemaker”.
The difference is simple.
A housekeeper is someone who won’t let the kids wear muddy shoes into the kitchen because she just scrubbed the floor, won’t let the hubby eat in the living room because she just vacuumed the furniture, won’t let the pets in the bedroom because she just changed the sheets.
A homemaker knows that the floor was going to get dirty anyway and is probably leading the parade into the kitchen. She has popped the corn, filled the glasses, and joined the hubby so both of them can neck on the couch during the commercials. And she knows that the pet won’t be with them forever, just like the kids, so hugging them on the bed is more important than the sheets.
Having a home is more important than having a house. Not that a daily pickup isn’t needed along with making sure the dishes get done. But, a home is more than a showplace.