Operation: Clean House

Let me start by saying on any given day my house could be a complete disaster. I have a four year old and a soon-to-be one year old. There is no such thing as a tidy house if they are home or awake. I might take 15 minutes to get a load of laundry folded and let the girls play...now I have 15 minutes of cleaning to do picking up the entire toy box they just emptied. So yes, I understand we are in a battle that has already been lost. But I refuse to give up; because lets face it, if we gave up we would be knee deep in it all.

But I have gotten a routine down that I absolutely love that has helped me to keep focused and have more time to spend with my girls. The fact is no matter how much stuff is cluttering the floor you still have to find time to actually clean the dirt and germs off stuff.

What helps me is my 12 week rotating schedule. That might sound complex but its really very simple. I sat down one day and wrote all the thing the need to be done daily...like the dishes and a quick pick up of toys. I wrote those under the daily category at the top of the page. Then I wrote what needed to be done weekly...like cleaning the toilet and vacuuming the floor (and a whole lot more). I wrote out Monday through Saturday and assigned each day a small list.

Monday is the Bathrooms.

Tuesday is the Bedrooms.

Wednesday is the Kitchen.

Thursday is the Living and Laundry rooms.

Friday is floors and windows.

Saturday is Outside/Office work.

At the bottom of each day I also made a note of which type of laundry to do that day.

Monday is Towels and Diapers.

Tuesday is Sheets and darks (since Tuesday is bedrooms day).

Wednesday is Towels and Diapers. 

Thursday is Reds and Kids clothes (I keep their clothes seperate because their rooms are on the other end of the house so its easier when folding and putting away).

Friday is Towels and Diapers.

Saturday is darks and whites.

The final box on my paper is Sunday. This is where I put the extra stuff that isnt daily or weekly, but maybe quarterly or monthly. ..like cleaning the blinds or the couch or changing the A.C. filter! This is why its a 12 week rotating schedule and not just a weekly sheet on repeat.

There are two reasons that I think this method is so much simpler and worth a try. 

#1 it takes the pressure off. How many times have you woke up to a messy house and been overwhelmed with where to start and ended up getting a whole lot of nothing done. 

#2 It focuses your energy. Wednesday is Kitchen day, so you better believe I'm not working on any other room besides that kitchen. And when the kitchen has been wiped down and my two loads of laundry done, I'm done. It doesn't take up much of my day at all.

Best part is: if you skip a day that's okay too. Your sinks will be fine if you miss a week. And...you don't need a clean house to start this out "fresh" either. Because with about a half hour a day you will be squeaky clean in seven days! Just get started with whichever day it is and work your way around the week. Happy cleaning!