Do you have a cleaning schedule for your home ?

**Andys Mom** · 11-29-2001, 05:14 PM

Im trying to get my home somewhat organized but Im feeling so overwhelmed right now !!

Im wondering if all of you have a cleaning schedule for you homes ...like daily, weekly, monthly ect... or do you just "wing" it ? I started a routine a couple months ago but it seemed like when I got to the end of the week, I was playing catch up and I ended up stressed out over the whole situation.

Any tips on how I can do this without the stress ?

**Sara Noel** · 11-30-2001, 12:40 PM

I think you'll find many of us here are "flysisters".
I am a bit off track lately, but generally have a good daily cleaning schedule.
I tend to rotate super cleaning rooms on alternate days, so overall everything is presentable. Then on the off day a room may not be super clean, but is at least surface clean.
My weakness is mail. Although, I organize much of my "clutter" into nice plastic totes. It is time to declutter those totes. *LOL*

I would look into flylady if you haven't already. She can at least get you motivated and organized with time.
http://www.flylady.net/index.asp

Sara

**chimes** · 12-26-2001, 06:27 PM

I do have a cleaning schedule.. but i do give a lot of time for myself to do them... try to divide your chores as daily, weekly twice, weekly once, once in two weeks and monthly..
for example
daily- cooking
weekly twice - laundry
weekly once - vacuuming, clean bathrooms
once in two weeks - clean windows,pay bills

and then plan for the month.

the chores and no: of times you may have to do it will depend on your household. I try to keep the same day for the same chore, like laundry on mondays and fridays. that makes it easy to remember.

**Jerseygirl** · 12-30-2001, 08:11 PM

I wish I had a real schedule-- when I bought my very old house, my mom's first comment was "what a beautiful staircase, that will be your Tuesday" My greatgrandmother had a written in stone schedule that kept her homes spotless.Luckily it never really gets too out of control. Daily is cooking, dishes and a quick wipe-up of the bathrooms and some part of laundry-sorting, hanging, washing, ironing etc. On the weekends I usually do the heavy stuff, and try to fit in grocery shopping or any other shopping in on the way home from work during the week.

**CountryMom** · 12-30-2001, 11:28 PM

Schedule? What is that?

I pick up toys, do dishes, do laundry and of course cook on a daily bases, at a minimum. If I slack off on these things my house looks really ummm cluttered.

Vacuuming and sweeping the kitchen gets done as needed. (ie everyother day at a minimum, our kids are in the crumby stage

)

Bathrooms, as needed. Averages to once a week.

Dusting and everything else, when company comes.

**AmyBoz** · 12-31-2001, 12:23 PM

I am a part time professional organizer, (after school and on the weekends), and I have to be honest, the FlyLady website is the best I've seen for organizational tips without an actual consultation. So, visit it and go nuts! You'd be surprised how much easier life is when your house is organized!

**Megareader** · 01-05-2002, 09:04 PM

Cleaning schedule? What's a schedule?? LOL

**Andys Mom** · 01-08-2002, 03:59 PM

I used to belong to the flylady site......this was before our computer crashed

Anyway, Ive tried 2 times to register and so far nothing has worked. Whats the key to joining ? I want to get the daily emails again. Even though they can get very annoying,I did find some of the tips helpful. The shiny sink was always a hard one for me, LOL !!!

Any suggestion to make this work ?

Im thinking of venturing off and making my own organizational list BUT so far, I havent had the time or energy ......Boy, what a crazy circle, huh ???

Thanks for the help

**CarrotCake** · 01-09-2002, 08:35 AM

I don't have a fixed schedule, but I do try to spread things out so I don't get overwhelmed.

Everyday I make the beds, pick up clutter, wipe down the bathrooms and clean the kitchen.

One day I dust and vaccuum, one day mop, one day scrub the toilets, etc. I don't have a fixed schedule for which one I will do each day. I just figure out each day which one I feel the most like doing or which needs to be done the most. (the only thing set in stone is Monday is linen day. Not for any reason though. That's just the way it is. LOL)

I also pick a room a week for deep cleaning. If it is the kithcen that week, I clean out the fridge, clean the oven and microwave, purge the cabinets, etc. For the bedrooms, I would get the dust bunnies under the bed, vaccuum behind, furniture, purge the closets, etc. Again, I spread it out over the course of the week.

I never spend more than an hour a day cleaning and that is only if there is a big task to be done in the room of the week. Because every task gets done on a regular basis. It never (okay usually never) gets so grubby that I have to "clean the house."

If you really want to use a schedule, in addition to fly lady check out side-tracked home executives and organizedhome.com.

**Michelle** · 07-31-2003, 11:52 AM

I really NEED a routine. I'm doing Fly Lady, but I want to know what others do too.

**dz_blonde_girl** · 08-01-2003, 06:55 AM

The plan I use works pretty good for me. I clean 1 room a day and do 1 load of laundry a day. Of course I try to keep everything picked up and the dishes clean every day. I wipe up the bathroom every night before bed.

My kitchen sink will never shine because it's old, stained porcelin, and I absolutely HATE wearing shoes. Can I substitute by decluttering the kitchen counter and putting my contacts in? The flylady sounds great, but I couldn't get past the shoes before.

**DawnM** · 08-01-2003, 09:30 AM

I'm not a shoe-wearer in the house ... not past the front door anyway.

The key for me being able to keep to a cleaning schedule is having the house decluttered and streamlined first. It's so much easier and faster to maintain without having to include decluttering and stuff shuffling into a cleaning schedule. I also don't write down specifics as you'll see - a reminder pops up on my palm's to-do list of what *day* it is and I do whatever needs done on that floor and check it off. It's not that I don't remember what day it is - I just love the satisfaction of checking it off.

Here's my routine:

Daily - quick run thu/pick up, dinner prep and kitchen maintenance

Monday - Lower Level and Laundry
Tuesday - Upper Level
Wednesday - Desk Day
Thursday - Main Floor and Laundry
Friday - Errands, food prep for the weekend

Weekends - *Project Work and Free/Family Time

*project work is anything "we" might be working on at the time that's house related, like repainting, etc.

** My DH does bathrooms either Friday night if we don't go out, or Sat morning (our agreement 7 years ago when we bought this house that has 4 bathrooms - two full/two powder). I LOVE my home but hated that it had 4 bathrooms. He agreed to do them - we "shook" on it

and it works for me. He also does his own ironing.

I LOL Jerseygirl at your mom saying Tuesday was going to be staircase day - that's how I felt about bathrooms when we were house-hunting and saw this house.

*** since my kids were old enough, they've been responsible for their own rooms, their own messes, and their own laundry. DS does his laundry on weekends if he's home from college (his future wife will thank me one day LOL), and DD does her laundry on Wednesday. She also has daily chores - the dishwasher, the dogs, and bringing in the garbage and recycle bins twice a week.

I don't think there's any right or wrong way to tackle household maintenance - it's just finding a system that works for you. I get lovingly teased by family and friends for having a clean and organized house. LOL They don't get it. Truth is, I hate housework and spend as little time on it as possible. Being decluttered and streamlined is what gets me through the mundane fast and painlessly, and on to more fun/important stuff.

**gkp1031** · 08-01-2003, 08:01 PM

I am fairly well organized, so I find that my cleaning night is Thursday. I dust, vacuum and do laundry that night. Every night before bed I make sure the dishes are done and put away, things are straightened and in the right place! I do spring cleaning and usually do a room a week, whenever I have a free weekend.

AmyBoz--can you tell me how you got started in professional organizing? That's something that I would like to do, eventually maybe have my own business. My family and friends tell me I would be good at it, but I don't know how to start!

Thanks,

Gina

**Jeanna** · 08-01-2003, 09:52 PM

I used to be very organized and a clean freak. But with my illness I just do not have the energy, nor can I physically do what I once done. I have tried Flylady a couple of times since getting sick, but now I just do what I can. Some days are good, some not so good. So if you come to see my house make an appointment. If you come to see me don't worry about the house, you don't have to live here. HAHA.
Jeanna