As a working mom, you know there is never enough time in the day to get stuff done. It can be tough to find the time to clean when working full-time. On top of trying to maintain a social life, finding time to relax, and spending time with your family. However, it is possible to maintain a clean home even if you have a busy schedule. Creating a cleaning schedule is one of the best ways to keep your home clean. This will help you and your family to know what needs to be done and when. It will also help everyone to stay on top of the cleaning. Creating a cleaning schedule can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. In this article, I will share seven tips for creating a cleaning schedule for a working mom. By following these tips, you can make your life much easier and keep your home clean!
Table of Contents
Plan ahead
A cleaning schedule doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler, the better. You can start by listing all the cleaning tasks you must do in a week. Then, break those tasks down into smaller, more manageable chunks. For instance, if you need to vacuum the entire house, you can break that down into vacuuming one room per day. Once you have your list of tasks, it’s time to create your schedule. Look at your weekly schedule and see which days are the least busy. If you have a more significant task you would like to accomplish, assign that to your day with the least other commitments. Schedule the quick, easy tasks for the busier days.
I have not mastered it, partially because I also battle adult ADHD. My ultimate goal is to complete as much as possible during the week so that the weekends are free to relax and spend time with family or work on something I enjoy. This same theory would apply even if your “weekend” falls on different days of the week. Join my email list to get a simple cleaning schedule printable like the one below. This will include a blank template to create your own!
Use a calendar
The best way to stay organized with your cleaning schedule is to use a calendar, checklist, or both! Once you’ve decided which days to complete specific tasks, put it in your phone calendar with reminders. You can also write it on your paper planner or wall calendar. This will remind you and your family which cleaning task should be done. Hopefully, this leads to a routine and habits down the road. Join my email list to get a free download of the cleaning schedule printable below. This includes a blank template to create your own!
Set realistic goals
The best way to create a cleaning schedule that will work for you is to start by setting realistic goals. Don’t try to do too much at once – start with a manageable plan, like cleaning the kitchen daily or doing a laundry load every other day. Once you have a goal, start breaking it down into smaller tasks. For example, if your goal is to clean the kitchen every day, break that down into smaller steps that make you feel like your kitchen is clean when you go to bed. If you prefer to do all the vacuuming one day and all the dusting a different day, you can also break it down that way. I like to follow Clean Mama on Instagram, which breaks down the cleaning tasks that way.
The other part of setting realistic goals is realizing you don’t have to be perfect! If you don’t get everything you planned one day, that’s ok. If you need to pivot, and I try a different approach because one system doesn’t seem to be working for your family, that’s ok too! We are all trying our best, and something that works for one family may not work for the next.
Get the family involved.
Once you’ve set some goals and decided what tasks need to be done, it’s time to get the family involved. Assign tasks to each family member based on their age and abilities. Younger children may be responsible for simple tasks like picking up toys or folding laundry. Older children may be able to handle more complex tasks like cleaning the bathroom or doing the dishes. Work with your spouse or partner to work on tasks together or decide who will work on which tasks.
Teach your kids how to help and give them life long skills.
I have a blended family now, and we only have the kids every other weekend. So Jeremiah and I work together to clean up after ourselves and clean things as we go without the kids. Then we have the kids work on chores on Sunday of their weekend with us. With four teenagers and busy sports schedules, we don’t have tons of extra time, and we don’t want to waste all of our limited time with our kids doing chores. What works for us currently and the house we are in is having two kids each clean a bathroom, one kid cleans all the upstairs floors (sweep, mop, and vacuum any carpet), and one kid cleans the downstairs floors. We then alternate who does what each time. One kid also empties all the garbage. We are currently in a split-level house, so it’s pretty fast when they try! While the kids are doing those chores, Jeremiah and I divide and conquer on dishes if there are any, laundry, and changing litter boxes or whatever else needs to be done.
I posted on social media once about having the kids do chores, but apparently, that is a very hot-button issue, and some people view it as a form of child abuse! Who knew? We are not forcing them to do all of the adult responsibilities. We would be doing them a disservice if we did not teach them how to care for a home (that they also take part in dirtying). Especially since they are a few short years from being “adults” themselves. I think it is essential to involve the kids because it teaches them valuable skills and makes it a little less overwhelming for you!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
This goes along with what I previously talked about but don’t be afraid to ask for help from your family. If you and your spouse work outside of the home, you should not only be responsible for keeping the house clean. Even if you work from home or have decided staying home with the kids is the best option for your family, it STILL shouldn’t all fall to you. It might not always be easy to ask for help, but this is why creating a schedule and assigning tasks to your family members can be helpful. Also, if it works for your budget, there is no shame in hiring a cleaner to help out. Especially with some of the deeper cleaning tasks that need to be done.
Take a break
One of the essential things when creating a cleaning schedule for a working mom is to ensure you allow yourself breaks. You still need time to unwind from work and enjoy time with your family. This is why asking for help can be so important. You also need to give yourself grace. As a working mom who also has ADHD, I spent a lot of years living in chaos. You want a system that helps you keep your house somewhat in order so that when it’s time to relax, you can, and your day-to-day is less stressful. But do not feel like you always need a perfectly spotless Pinterest or Instagram Influencer house. Those photos are curated and do not show the whole picture. You need to enjoy life with your family and your free time because life goes by quickly, and your memories will not come from how clean your house was!
Create a cleaning schedule that works for you.
Creating a cleaning schedule that works for you as a working mom takes time and patience. Don’t be afraid to adjust your schedule as needed. Remember to give yourself grace when things don’t go according to plan. It would be best to change your tasks and when as you see how it fits your schedule. Find out if your family works better doing a little each day so you don’t have as much to do on the weekend. Otherwise, you may prefer to set aside a couple of hours on the weekend and work together to get it all done and not worry about it during the week. With a little effort and dedication, you can create a clean and organized home while juggling your other responsibilities as a working mom. Don’t forget to involve the whole family!
Creating a cleaning schedule as a working mom can be challenging, but with these seven tips, you’ll be able to tackle the mess in no time. From setting realistic goals to delegating tasks, these tips will help you achieve a clean and organized home without sacrificing your valuable time. For more tips and tricks, connect with me on Instagram or join my private Facebook group! Let’s tackle the cleaning game together!
