How to Create an Amazing Cleaning Routine

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A cleaning routine can help you in so many ways. Your house will look better, you’ll have peace of mind knowing things are done and, believe it or not, you’ll have more free time.

Some people cringe at the very mention of the word, “routine”, but the truth is, without a set idea of what needs to be done each day, things fall apart! I know this first-hand! If you search the word “cleaning routine”, you’ll find binders, planners, and lengthy to-do lists. Copying someone else’s routine might work for a few days, but what happens when lists aren’t your thing and your house is still so cluttered that you can’t even find your cleaning binder?

There is a perfect cleaning routine out there for you, you just have to find it. I created this ultimate guide to help you figure out what’s going to work best for your family and the steps you need to take to get there.

Step 1: Discover

For some of us, having a sparkling clean house is at the top of our to-do list. For others, our dream home looks a little more lived in. Realistically think about what your vision is for your home. Are you thinking model home, with sparkling windows, spotless carpets, and pristine walls? Maybe your dream home is a comforting place full of texture, scent, cozy decor and great atmosphere. This is your home, so go into detail! I’ve created this printable to help you get your vision down. Download it here!

• What Is Your Schedule?

•  What Is Realistic?

Our last step of discovery should be to think about what’s realistic. It’s easy to fall into a comparison trap and think that just because someone else’s house looks a certain way, it’s realistic for ours to as well. The truth is, your life circumstances might not allow for a model home and that’s okay! The point is to do the best you can with what God gave you.

Step 2: List Your Daily Must-Dos

For this step, we’re going to make a list of what needs to be done each day. When making this list, try to think of those essential things that you must do or your house falls apart. Some examples of these types of chores:

• Making the bed
• Dishes
• Sweeping or Mopping
• Laundry

These chores are going to be the base of your cleaning routine. Try to keep this list minimal, yet effective.

Step 3: List the Rest

After you’ve determined what chores need to be done every day, start thinking about those things that need to be done weekly, monthly, and seasonally. This gives you a chance to lighten up your daily load, while still finding time to do those little things like:

• Organizing closets
• Cleaning gutters
• Washing your sheets

Separate this list with the following categories

• Seasonal
• Monthly
• Weekly
• Bi-Weekly

Then, as you find spare time, schedule a couple of these chores in.

Step 4: Choose Your Method

Last, we’re going to choose our method. I personally use a couple different methods based on whatever my season of life looks like:

• Homemaking Binder

This is such a great way to keep all of your cleaning lists in one place. I like to use this method along with some dry erase markers to keep life in check! I used a binder from Wal-Mart and printable lists from Flylady.

• Flylady

Flylady is a great option to use if you have no clue what choes need to be done or if you’d rather have your cleaning routine on auto-pilot. Her daily page gives you a list of things to do each day as well as a “mission” to complete. You work in zones, so each room of the house gets clean eventually. You can jump in where you are! Not interested in the site? Check out the best-selling book, “Sink Reflections” here.

Here are a couple more methods that I’ve heard people rave about:

• Phone App

There are quite a few chore apps available for both iPhone and Android. A lot of these come with pre-loaded chore charts, but I have seen a few that you can customize.

•  Google Calendar

• Plain old paper and pen

Creating a cleaning routine is going to save your sanity many times over! How do you keep your home tidy?