When I first became a homemaker I struggled to get our home clean on a regular basis. I had all the desire to get it done, but I would lose focus easily and find lots of other things to do. Or I would create more messes in one area of the home whilst cleaning another.
It seemed like there was always something more to do and I didn’t have time to do it. I wound up cleaning certain areas of the house over and over, while ignoring other areas because I would always start in the same place.
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Just when I got a normal routine figured out and was starting to clean the whole house well, we moved house. And the house we got was much bigger! I had the same problem all over again! I couldn’t figure out the routine that worked for me.
When we added kids to the mix, maintaining the cleanliness I desired seemed impossible. I knew I needed a plan.
Formluating a Plan for Homemaking
I sat down and made a list of the rooms that needed cleaning and what it took to clean each room. Then I put each item for cleaning on a weekly calendar, dividing up tasks by day and grouping like tasks together (all sweeping and mopping done on the same day, upstairs vs. downstairs cleaning, etc) .
This made such a huge impact on my cleaning schedule! I was suddenly focused on the tasks for the day and not overwhelmed by attempting to clean everything every day. I could even let myself off the hook if I didn’t get everything done. Because I knew it was on the list for the next week; it could wait (really).
Having a plan and a list of tasks for my day made keeping my house relatively clean possible. But I found sometimes I would still be cleaning the same parts of the house over and over and leaving other parts dirty each week. By the time Thursday would roll around, I would be busy with other things and oops, forget to do number four on my task list…for four weeks in a row.
Then I had an aha moment…
A Routine Shift
I should reverse the order each week!
I tell you, this little epiphany is still rocking my world! So simple and yet such a great solution.
This means that the tasks I do on Monday one week, are switched to Friday the next week, and so on. Wednesday is the only day that doesn’t get a reprieve. That might indicate what kind of tasks need to be scheduled for Wednesdays. With this solution, if I don’t get the tasks done from the week before it is not a whole other week until it gets accomplished.
A little switcheroo solved the problem! It is procrastination- and focus-loss-proof. It also keeps me on my toes for cleaning and helps make it a little less boring.
A Printable Bi-Weekly Housekeeping Schedule
Sometimes I need a visual map of my tasks for the week ahead. So, I created a printable bi-weekly housekeeping schedule for myself.
I printed out a copy of each sheet and placed them back to back in a laminating sleeve. Every two weeks when I am working on my homekeeping routines, I write on my laminated schedules with these fine point wet-erase markers. I fill in all the tasks which need to be completed each day for those two weeks and post it on my refrigerator.
I also included a laundry tracker at the bottom to remind myself to keep up with the laundry – a whole other routine situation.
Would you like to have a copy of my Bi-weekly Homekeeping Schedule? I made it available in my new Facebook group – Simple Homeschooling Blessings. When you request to join (and answer the questions), you can find it inside the files.
