Do you like cleaning? Maybe it’s a bit of a therapeutic thing; many people find they feel better simply via the act of cleaning, and everyone feels more relaxed and settled once everything is put away! However, maybe you’re someone who hates to clean and always puts tasks off and off again, until you’re forced to confront just how dirty something has become? Don’t worry, no one blames you!
However, no matter what approach you take to cleaning, you don’t have to tire yourself out trying to go from top to bottom, keeping the house clean and in good shape. Because such a thing as a cleaning schedule exists, and can do wonders for helping you to keep your life in order!
All in all, a cleaning schedule will save you a lot of time and effort around the house, especially when you’ve got kids to feed or the dog to walk or a much needed Zumba class to attend! But putting one together might seem hard – how do you know it’s going to work, or that you’re going to be able to stick to it?
Well, we’ve got some great tips that could help you to keep the house clean without having to work up a sweat on a daily basis, and we’ve listed them below for your convenience.
Create a Priority System
The first thing to do, when it comes to putting together a cleaning schedule that works for you, is to create a list of priorities. What needs cleaning first, before anything else? Or alternatively, what needs cleaning more than anything else? Because you’re going to be working on a kind of rotation system here, and you want to cover as much ground as possible while still keeping a good, clean home.
So make your list; for example, areas such as the kitchen and bathroom should be at the top, and also on there twice, as your toilet and cutting board will need a good scrub down more than once a cycle! Then put areas such as the bedroom and living room in the middle of the list, and then places like the hallway or basement/garage (if regularly used) at the bottom.
Don’t forget to include high use items on the list either, such as door knobs or mail boxes, that’ll need cleaning regularly too, even if they’re not in any of these rooms.
Take it Month by Month
In order to properly fit a cycle in, you’re going to want to take your schedule month by month, on repeat. Instead of cleaning one room one day and another room the day after, try to take it once per week and double up – it’ll save you a lot of time, and give you a proper rest in between each cleaning project.
Let’s walk through this in more detail. In the first week, you’ve got the wet, high traffic rooms to deal with. Then in the week after, the dry, mid traffic rooms, and then switch back to the former room subset for the third week. Then finally, tackle the lowest need, low traffic rooms. If you’ve got a priority list to work with, this shouldn’t be hard to work out!
A monthly cycle has a lot of advantages to it, in all, and it’s definitely the most productive way to tackle a regular deep clean of your home. And in these very trying times, that’s something you’ll want to focus on more than anything else.
Grab Your Supplies Well Ahead of Time
Once you’ve got your schedule in place, and you know what you’re doing month by month, you’re going to want to collect all of your supplies in bulk. Try to shop for these once a month too, or if you manage to get them wholesale, you can shop for them every other month.
Because collecting all of your supplies together well ahead of time cuts out half the stress of cleaning. You won’t have to quickly run out and buy some new cloths or sponges, or a new bottle of bleach for putting down the toilet. You’ll have it all ready to go in a bucket under the sink, and can just pull it out, pop your gloves on, and get to cleaning.
This also helps if you’ve got some spare time in the middle of the week and want to just do a quick tidy up. Maybe you’ve noticed the TV needs dusting down a little? Well, all you need is right there, and you won’t have to cobble together a bit of wet and dry tissue for taking care of it.
Don’t Go it Alone!
Finally, try not to clean up on your own. Yes, you do a better job than anyone else because this is your house and you know how it works, but you’re just one person with one set of hands! Rope other people into the job with you, such as friends or family, and you’ll cut your time down even further. If you provide a pair of gloves to wear as they clean, it’ll be much easier to get them to help you out, especially if they also live with you!
Or maybe you could go the professional route? For example, hiring an electrostatic cleaning service to give your kitchen the deep cleaning it really needs right now could be a Godsend! This is especially true if you’re worried about how COVID-19 might affect you and your family; a professional cleaning company has the tools and materials you don’t, and can put them to great use within your home.
Depending on just how well you clean up around the house, you might need to put together a cleaning schedule. We’ve all been there – sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy to scrub the toilet! Don’t beat yourself up for this – make sure you take a proactive approach, and get into the habit of cleaning in a cycle. You’ll adjust in no time!