If you are anything like me, then a cluttered messy house can be the WORST. I can’t finish anything in a dirty house. Want to eat breakfast? “Oh check it out, dirty dishes in the sink. Guess I’m not eating breakfast for four hours.” It is wonderful in some ways because my house can never get too dirty. I always reach a point where I can’t take the clutter anymore so then we have a family deep cleaning session; however, it can be a real pain because I find that I can’t keep get anything else done if one little thing is out of place. This has forced me to get my home environment and cleaning schedule as under control as possible.

A blessing and a curse. Cleaning can take up a lot of time and sometimes it can be hard to prioritize correctly. Sometimes cleaning isn’t the most important thing to do, but if you can keep up a rather regular schedule then you can find that a missed day of cleaning isn’t as difficult as it would be otherwise.

The funny thing is that I’ve noticed my husband is the opposite of me when it comes to cleaning. He is not a “dirty” person per se, but the clutter doesn’t bug him quite as much as it bugs me. He’s the, “If my laundry falls next to the basket it is good enough,” or, “It’s fine, I’ll clean it up in the morning,”kind of guy, and it has the ability to drive me absolutely bonkers!

So what are some ways that I’ve learned to get things in order, and make it less of a 24/7 burden on myself? I’ll share my cleaning schedule secrets below.

Calendar Notes

I have a dry-erase calendar in our family room area where everyone can see it. At the beginning of the day I take a look around and decide exactly what large chores need to get done today. This can include laundry, dishes, vacuuming, mopping, etc. THEN I write in orange on the side of my calendar exactly which chores need to get done. When I’ve finished my chores I can award myself free time.

This list applies to my husband too. He’s not allowed to play Switch games or Legend of Zelda until our list is finished. This means that from the beginning of the day I know exactly what we’ve been able to get done.

Chore Chart

This is for the kiddos. A lot of times kids will avoid chores until it is inevitable, but the trick is to make them independent and proactive about finishing their responsibilities.  So how do we, as parents, accomplish this? The simple answer for me has been a chore board. This is much like the family list on our calendar, but applies specifically to every child. Do they need to make sure to get dressed, brush their teeth, and tidy up their room in the morning before they get breakfast? Put it on their chore chart. Be consistent about your rules. Kids don’t eat breakfast until their chores are done. Your child won’t starve from getting a late breakfast, and they have to know that there are expectations and rules that apply to all members of the household.

You can do larger chores a few different ways, but the idea of a commission for larger chores can be great for teaching your younger children about the relationship between doing work and earning money. This will help you children not to expect money for simply being alive, and it will teach them a good work ethic.

A Day for Everything

I also like to decide from the beginning of the year that certain days are for certain deep-cleaning tasks. Monday? That’s bathroom day and I will go through our bathroom and make sure it is perfectly spotless. If I do this EVERY Monday then it means when the next Monday comes around then there can only be so much damage done. 

Tuesday! That is the day for floors, a vacuum everywhere and then sweep and mop the kitchen. Wednesday is meal planning and grocery shopping day. Thursday is laundry day. Last, but not least, Friday is leftover day (which means that anything that has been ruined since the beginning is getting special attention.) You can break this cleaning schedule up in multiple ways depending on your family, home size, and general responsibilities.

A good idea is to plan to have one day a week that you designate for the BIG chores. These chores could include yard work, cleaning the car, getting the carpet cleaned, washing the baseboards, cleaning the grout, and all that jazz. If you can keep up on it regularly, it isn’t as large of a job when it comes around again.

The Cleaning Closet

Keep all of your cleaning supplies in one closet. Keep a bucket/basket for each room. There should be a bathroom basket that has EVERYTHING you need for the bathrooms. This way you aren’t cluttering up your bathroom cabinets and instead “cleaning time” for the bathroom begins and ends with bringing that bucket in, finishing everything, and escorting the bucket back to the cleaning closet. 

The same goes for every job in the house. If cleaning mirrors and dusting go together, make sure all of the tools are in one bucket.

The Fun Activity Prerequisite

Rules and requirements in a home and in our world is what keeps everything under control. We have laws so that we can keep ourselves safe. There are speed limits, warning signs, extra charges in construction zones, and the works to make sure that everyone abides by the rules of our society. The same should go for the actions in our home so that our children can learn in our home first how important following the rules are so that they don’t have to learn the hard way after becoming independent and living on their own.

So what does that mean? Well, it means that fun things come last. Consistently. If you want that toy at the store, you’re going to have to work to save up money to get it?

When my husband and I splurged on our Nintendo Switch I decided that we weren’t allowed to play unless that house was clean. This worked for about a week, then I got lazy with enforcing our rule, and eventually the house was a mess, and all we were doing was sitting on our rears playing video games.

Making sure the fun activities are last is important and necessary. Otherwise we can become idle, which in the end will make you more frustrated and disappointed with your life and experience than you were in the first place.

Friends cannot come over to play until the chores are done; video games aren’t allowed until the kitchen is clean; jumping on the trampoline is prohibited until the weeds are pulled. The list can go on, but the core of the issue is that we need to set our family priorities on organization and cleanliness and expect each family member to offer their help and assistance when necessary.

Turn Up the Music

This is my absolute favorite way to get into the cleaning mood, and make it a party for the rest of my family. You pump up the music, get out the cleaning supplies, and jam while you clean. My mother used to make us food while we were cleaning and dancing to old blues music. This way we knew that there was a congratulatory snack at the end of our hard work.

For some reason, music makes everything better. It also seems to make the work flow faster, and it keeps everyone in a good mood about cleaning. If you can make this a tradition with your family they will learn to love it and look forward to it in the long run, and they may apply it in their future family as a tradition as well.

Conclusion

There are many ways to band together with your family and encourage everyone to participate with a good attitude and an understanding that is simply a requirement and expectations if you want to take advantage of the roof over your head and the food on your table. This is a wonderful way to teach your children to show their gratitude. Get access to my free cleaning schedule resource, the “Digital Planner.”

How have you managed to keep a regular cleaning schedule in your home? Comment Below!