Realistic cleaning schedule for working mom

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As satisfying as it is to come home to a clean house it is really difficult to keep it clean for a busy mom. Working moms have to beat the challenge of having a clean house with the limited time available. But having a regular cleaning schedule that is prepared as per your lifestyle can help. A daily and weekly cleaning schedule can help you stay on top of the mess and make sure that your home is always looking its best.
In this post, I am sharing all about the daily and weekly cleaning schedule that I follow as a working mom to keep my house clean without house help with a toddler.

Why do you need a cleaning schedule?

Cleaning chores are endless but a cleaning schedule helps you make them manageable.

• A weekly cleaning schedule ensures you do not get carried away with the most frequent cleaning and miss out on others.
• With a daily and weekly cleaning schedule, your house is much cleaner and you spend less effort on deep cleaning. We all face a situation when a corner of the house is ignored and later on, you spend way too much time deep-cleaning it.
• With regular cleaning, you don’t end up with stains and dirt that have turned tough and cleaning is easier.
• You don’t procrastinate cleaning as with the cleaning routine you exactly know what you need to do for the day.
• A weekly cleaning schedule spreads the cleaning task throughout the week so you feel less overwhelmed and stressed.

Mistakes to avoid when making a cleaning schedule

Although cleaning schedules are the best way to tackle house cleaning when not prepared well may not serve the purpose. Here are some common mistakes that you must avoid when preparing a cleaning schedule.

• Being overambitious: Most commonly when we start to plan a cleaning schedule we get overambitious and start adding up those cleaning tasks too that may not be necessary or at least not necessary at the weekly frequency. So, when listing out the cleaning tasks to be added to your schedule think again do they really need to be part of your daily and weekly schedule?
• Being unrealistic: Often we get unrealistic with the cleaning schedule and do not realize things on paper and in practice may be different. When you plan think of the amount of time the cleaning tasks would need, and also the energy you would need to do them, many time-consuming and high-energy demanding tasks added together may be exhausting and may make you quite the schedule.
• Having a rigid schedule: Keep your cleaning flexible, it should definitely have structure to help you follow but should also have room to skip a few things or reschedule them when days go out of control.
• Not aligning with your lifestyle: Make the cleaning schedule as per your lifestyle needs like the time at hand, the kind of mess you have more often, the most attention area, etc. It should be aligned with your life needs. If you have a kid’s activity planned every Thursday then your Thursday should have lighter cleaning chores as compared to the other days. 
• Not including it in your daily routines: To be able to follow the cleaning schedule you must include it in your daily routine so that eventually it becomes second nature for you to follow it. 

How to create your own daily and weekly cleaning schedule

Here are steps to help you create your own daily and weekly cleaning schedule that is custom to your need and when prepared with suggestions shared above to avoid the mistakes will be easier to follow.

Use a cleaning planner to effectively make your own cleaning routine. I use a Google sheet cleaning checklist that is edible and easy to use. It includes 4 types of cleaning planners that help in effectively planning and tracking the progress for all types of cleaning needs be it a regular cleaning routine, spring cleaning, or deep cleaning. You can get it here.

Step 1:  List down your chores

Start by listing down all the cleaning chores and house sections that you need to take care of very frequently. Take enough time to do this so you have everything included as this will be the base for the schedule you will build.

Step 2: Make a daily cleaning list

Go through the list prepared and identify the cleaning tasks that need to be performed daily and mark them or highlight them to differentiate them from the others. You can now write these separately as your daily cleaning list to make your daily cleaning schedule. Use the free printable for this.

Step 3: Divide by rooms

I like to make my weekly cleaning schedule based on the room. So when preparing the list at step 1, I list all house sections. Based on the rooms and house section, I assign 1 section or room to 1 day of the week. For smaller sections, I add more than 1 section for the day or assign them to a busier day.

Step 4: List the weekly chores

Based on the house section or room I, list out all the cleaning chores that are related to that room and make an elaborate list so that this can serve as a checklist when doing the cleaning and will also give a fair idea of the amount of work each section would need. You can use the template in the printable it has some common chores for each section listed.

Step 5: Make a weekly cleaning list

Now finally I make the weekly cleaning schedule starting with Monday, list all the chores for the room assigned on Monday, and move further for the other days. Also, not just the rooms some tasks identified in Step 1 that need not be done daily may be added on different days of the week. Such as mopping the floor is not required daily but maybe alternate days so I will add that to my weekly schedule on an alternate day. This will complete the weekly cleaning schedule.

You can now print them and place them around somewhere you can easily refer by all for the shared task. You can go ahead and include the name of the person you have assigned it to.

Now that you have a fair idea about preparing a daily and weekly cleaning schedule. Here is a simple cleaning routine for you to start and inspire your cleaning schedule 

Daily cleaning schedule for working moms

• Make beds
• Unload the dishwasher
• Load laundry for the day
• Tidy up living spaces
• Sweep the floor
• Tidy the dining table
• Wiping down the kitchen counters
• Load the dishwasher
• Fold the washed clothes and keep them in place
• Discard the wastes
• Take out the trash

Weekly cleaning schedule for working moms

Monday:  Master bedroom

• Tidy the side table and wipe it
• Change bedsheets and pillow covers
• Wipe the windows and bedroom door, especially the knob
• Quickly Tidy the closet for anything off place
• Wipe the mirrors.
• Vacuum the rug
• Mop the floor 

Tuesday: Bathrooms

• Clean the sink, faucet, and surfaces.
• Clean the toilet
• Scrub the bathroom floor
• Wipe the mirror, clean the counter surface, and other containers such as the thrush holder, soap dispenser, etc.
• Change the mats, towels
• Refill the consumables like soap, cotton, shampoo, etc.

Wednesday: Second bedroom/Kid’s bedroom

• Tidy the study table and wipe it
• Change bedsheets and pillow covers
• Wipe the windows and bedroom door, especially the knob
• Tidy up toys
• Organize assignments and homework sheets, books
• Wipe the mirrors.
• Wipe the decors items
• Vacuum the rug
• Mop the floor 

Thursday: Living room and dining area

• Change the cushion covers and throw
• Wipe all the surfaces, like T.V., Bookshelves, and decor items.
• Clean the dining table
• Vacuum the rug
• Clean the windows and balcony
• Clean the shoe rack

Friday: Balcony and outdoors

• Tidy up the balcony and outdoors
• Take off the yellow leaves from the plants and trim if required
• Dust the surfaces
• Change the mats and covers
• Sweep and mop
•  Wipe the doors

Saturday: Kitchen and utility

• Wipe down all the appliances like, Chiney, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, grinder, toaster, etc.
• Clean the stove
• Wipe all the cabinets in the kitchen 
• Look out for waste food and expired items in the kitchen
• Quick organization of the kitchen to keep things in place
• Wipe over counter items like sugar and coffee jars, oil dispensers, decoratives, etc.
• Change the kitchen towel
• Tidy up the utility area
• Run a cleaning cycle in the washing machine
• A quick wipe of the washing machine and dryer
• Wipe the detergent jar and other utility items
• Mop the floor

Sunday

I like to keep Sunday free of weekly cleaning and as a buffer in the case on a busy day if I have missed any cleaning as per the schedule.

How to stick to a cleaning schedule

It often happens that you make a great schedule and you are unable to follow it. Here are a few ways to help you stick to the cleaning schedule.

1. The most common reason for not being able to stick to the daily and weekly cleaning schedule is that it is not made right as per your need and capacity ( the time and energy). Hence you should reread the section Mistakes to avoid when making a cleaning schedule section in this post before you nail down your final cleaning schedule.
2. Use a cleaning planner that helps you plan effectively and track your progress. Don’t spend time planning every time just spend a few hours and make a cleaning schedule for an entire year

3. Remember you have the weekly cleaning task in addition to the daily cleaning so don’t overplan or plan on days you have more time. Like for me kitchen takes the most time hence I plan it on Saturday as it will be weekly off and I do meal prep on the same day so I am able to little bit while things meal prep is on and after the meal prep when the remaining cleaning is done it will last for the week, of course except the daily cleaning. 

4. Before starting with cleaning make sure to eat as mostly no energy is the one that makes us quit.

5. Block a time slot of max 20-30 minutes maximum to do the cleaning activities. And set a timer and challenge yourself to complete it in the given time eventually, you will get pro at it.

6. When you start don’t be hard on yourself, there will be days you may not do all. Give yourself time to learn and keep up with the schedule 

7. Share work with other members in the house if required, even a small help will be one less task for you.

8. As a working mom, there will be days when you will be too occupied with work and the house may get completely neglected. Take a weekend to get it on track and resume the schedule. You must read my post on How to get the household back on track after busy times for quick cleaning of the whole house.

9. Use the right cleaning tools and keep your cleaning supplies handy. A spray bottle and microfibre cloth does most of the job.

10. I have a detailed post on 10 simple working mom cleaning hacks for a tidy house, it will be useful to follow any cleaning schedule.

P.S. For spring decluttering and cleaning, try my Spring cleaning and decluttering checklist. It is loved by most and also has a 30-day Spring decluttering challenge, completely customizable.

Conclusion

Hope you will now be able to build your own daily and weekly cleaning schedule with will the steps shared in this post to help you create your own cleaning routine, that is sustainable. Use the weekly and daily cleaning routine ideas shared to make your own.

Ensure that you’re not wasting time on unnecessary tasks and instead focus on following daily and weekly cleaning schedules of the day so that your home is clean, organized, and clutter-free. The tips shared to let you stick to the cleaning schedule will help you go a long way. Make sure to grab your free cleaning schedule printable.

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