If you’re not not super into planners/planning, you might not realize how versatile or customizable they can be! Although I work outside the home, my job isn’t one where my schedule is varies a lot from day to day. My shift is the same, and I do relatively the same things, so I don’t really need to use my planner in that way. However, I do like to use my planner to keep track of chores, daily tasks, and cleaning routines around our home. So I want to share with you 8 cleaning/home tasks that I track in my planner on a weekly basis!
Laundry – Currently we are a family of only 3, so I’m not yet to the point where I HAVE to do laundry every single day. Instead, I only do laundry about 3 days a week, and I like to write down in my planner on which days I’m going to do it. Mostly because laundry is a multi-step chore and I like to be able to see what days are going to be busiest for me and try not to schedule it on that day.
Vacuuming/Sweeping – We have a mixture of carpet and tile in our home, so I do a combination of both sweeping (with a broom) and vacuuming on a weekly basis. To keep myself on track and organized, I alternate days and write them down in my planner so I don’t forget! For example I’ll write down, “Sweep” on Monday, “Vacuum” on Tuesday, “Sweep” on Wednesday…. you get the idea. That way I don’t forget or lose track of when I did what or how long it’s been.
Trash – I’m not sure how you get rid of your trash and whether or not it’s collected for you, but a truck comes by to collect ours early in the morning twice a week. I like to write this down in my planner so I remember that the trash needs to be collected around the house and taken outside before bed the previous night. Otherwise, I’ll forget and miss it!
Bathroom(s) – We only have one bathroom in our house, but I still like to track in my planner what days I clean it on. It’s usually Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you have more than one bathroom, you would probably benefit even more from writing this down.
Changing/Washing Bed Sheets – This one is a definite MUST for me! I’m awful about remembering the last time that I changed and washed the bed sheets on our bed. Actually, it’s gotten a lot better since I started writing it down, and I’ve been able to develop a more consistent routine. I hate doing this so bad, but I think by writing it down it “forces” me to do it, and by being able to schedule on the day I want….I have a chance to kind of psych myself up for it haha!
Fridge Clean out – This is another good one that I like to write down in my planner. It’s important stay on top of your refrigerator, because I speak from experience when I say, it can get out of control really quick! You lose things, forget stuff, food goes bad, and the overall organization gets out of whack! I like to clean/tidy up mine each week before I do my grocery shopping. Doing it then also helps with meal prepping/list making!
Deep Clean Day – One day each week I set aside some time to clean the entire house from top to bottom. I like to write this down in my planner, so I can choose the day that works best with my schedule and, like the rest of the tasks above, I can see when I last did it.
I know that lots of ladies have a “home planner” separate from their work stuff, but I’ve just never been a girl that can handle more than one planner. For this reason, I like to write everything down in the same planner, so I can have all my information in one place! If you are currently using a planner, I would encourage you to try tracking some of these things in it, or maybe adding a “Cleaning Schedule” page to your planner. I’ve found that I am much more successful with keeping my house clean and getting stuff done by writing it down somewhere that I see every single day! If you’re already doing this, I would love to know what you track/schedule each week!
blogger / apricot / 439 posts
My goodness, I’m so impressed – How do you do all this every week!?!?
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
A deep clean and a fridge clean weekly? I’d be happy with monthly haha! Great job! I usually pick a bathroom item every morning while I’m getting ready, for example, on Mondays I do mirrors sinks and counters, Tuesday I do the shower, Wednesday I do the toilet….and I wipe our tub daily. That way I only spend about 5 minutes at a time cleaning it and it’s a time when if be in there already. I’ve been doing it that way for a few weeks and it has been so nice!
blogger / apricot / 389 posts
Wow you’re so organized, and your planner – my goodness!! It’s amazing. And I’m with @Mrs. Starfish: how do you do all of this every week?!
kiwi / 511 posts
My DH and I each have the app Todoist on our phones and we have some shared lists and some private lists. For example on my private list it is things that I need to do and are not family related, things like do my homework since I am in a certificate program at a near by university. Most of our stuff is family chore related and that list we share so we can see what needs to be done. Some things we will assign to the other person simply because it makes sense for a specific person to do it. An example would be I am assigned meal planning because I am better at it and it drives my husband bonkers, while I will assign him other things like getting the oil changed or calling the plumber because it drives me bonkers.
Most of our list falls to the weekends, but on the Family chore list: Load of darks, load of lights, wash sheets, wash dust covers (dust mite allergies are killer in our family), grocery shopping (we also have a shared app for our various store lists), wash water bottles & Brita, yard work, make the beds, put the daycare stuff in the car (Sunday night chore), put my work out bag in the car (Sunday night chore).
We have a cleaning service once a week that will clean the bathrooms (thank goodness), mop the floors, vacuum where there are rugs, dust, clean the stove. We do spot clean ups as needed, and have our boys clean up the bathroom (under supervision) when they decide they don’t want to pay attention and get pee everywhere.
I should clean my fridge more but instead I bought the clear flexible cutting mats and placed them on my shelves, so if one looks gross, I just take out that one mat and clean it and put it back when it is dry.