Essentially EmmaMarie

We have reached the holiday season; and with it comes company! With so much to do already before the company comes;(wrapping presents, preparing food, etc.), cleaning can be the thing that throws off your nicely planned schedule. How can you keep from going crazy cleaning before the company comes? How can you keep your house clean for the unexpected guest without quitting your day job or getting rid of the kids?? 

The answer is routine. I know that’s not an exciting answer, a cleaning routine just sounds like one more thing to implement into your already hectic life but here’s the thing- staying current on your cleaning will save you time from doing a massive but infrequent overhaul. Not to mention it will make you feel better, and breathe easier- literally it turns out because there will be less allergens floating around your house! 

Where to Start?

The goal here is to come up with a plan that works for you. If you look up cleaning schedules on Pinterest you will see countless schedules and routines of how often you need to clean certain areas. These schedules are absolutely helpful but don’t feel like a failure if you don’t vacuum your kitchen floor,scrub your sink, and clean your toilets everyday- no one really has time for that! 

A lot of people are proponents of cleaning a little everyday. This is good in theory but when studies have been done on this method time management experts have found that it is more efficient to do most things weekly rather than daily; do all your laundry at once rather than a load everyday, do all the vacuuming or dusting in your house at once rather than one room a day. By trying to do a room each day you will lose time pulling out your cleaning supplies and then putting them away each day, rather than just tackling it all at once. However if you thrive on a daily routine, or lack a big chunk of time at any point during the week then it might be worth it for you to do a little everyday and thus conquer the cleaning! 

My schedule during the week is crazy. I never plan to do any chores during the week unless I know I have an exceptionally light work week. My rule of thumb for cleaning is the same as for cooking; I try to do one big batch during the weekend and then only very small tasks during the week. 

I have found a routine that works well for me and my family at this stage of life. Here’s what it look like: 

Friday: I typically work a shorter day than I do Monday- Thursday. After work I swing by the store and pick up groceries and head home. I put the groceries away. I start a load of laundry. I like to then dust, do the bathrooms, vacuum and ideally mop. Now lets be real- very seldom is there time and energy to do all of this Friday evening. In my perfect world yes, but life isn’t perfect so we have to pick and choose. 

Cleaning schedules will tell you to clean bathrooms and kitchens once a week, and dust weekly to every other week. This is what I was doing when I realized it didn’t work for me. There is just my husband and myself living in our house right now. We have 2 bathrooms and while we do use our guest bathroom, we use our master bath much more. When it comes to dusting however I am OCD. I CANNOT stand to see dust, hair and crumbs on any surfaces. This bothers me much more than the hair on the back of the toilet. So I went radical- I would do the dusting every week since that’s what bothers me most and I clean the guest bathroom every week if I can, but if not then it goes two weeks.

What areas drive you crazy? For me if my surfaces are dusted and my floor is mopped and vacuumed I feel great- even if my windows and doors have quite a few nose prints from our pets! 

Still Struggling? 

It is overwhelming- especially if you have a large house to keep clean!  Below I have listed some guidelines to follow. Remember though, whatever it is that is the first thing you see when you walk in the door of your home, that is the thing that you need to make time to clean at least weekly, if not more often. 

Daily:

• Do a quick tidy up before bed. Pitch mail you don’t need, put shoes where they belong and return cords to their homes. 
• Keep a rag in both the bathroom and kitchen to do a quick wipe after using the surface areas.
• Wipe out sink
• Squeegee shower doors if you have a glass shower. 

Weekly:

• Kitchen: quickly wipe off appliances, stove top, microwave, and counters. Scrub sink. 
• Bathroom: wipe down sink area, scrub toilet bowl, and wipe down outside of toilet. 
• Clean showers- you can do a quick wipe down while you shower!
• Dust all horizontal surfaces. 
• Vacuum
• Mop
• Purge fridge as you bring in groceries, and clean any spills.
• Sheets

Monthly:

• Clean windows
• Dust anything hanging on the walls
• Wipe down fronts of cabinets- you have cabinets in the bathrooms too!
• Lauder floor mats. 
• Clean the inside of the dishwasher and washing machine. 
• Baseboards
• Vacuum most often used upholstery

Every 3-6 Months

• Change air filters
• Vacuum all other upholstery
• Deep clean baseboards
• Spot check walls 
• Deep clean fridge
• Clean oven

Once a year or as needed:

• Shampoo carpets and upholstery
• Defrost freezers
• Clean kitchen drawers and cabinets for crumbs and dust. Clean the cabinet under the sink- you’ll be surprised how dirty it gets! 

We are all different, and therefore how, when, and how much we clean will vary. For a more detailed breakdown of cleaning routines, and suggested cleaning rotations for different personalities enter your email in the box at the bottom of the page and I will send you my free in-depth, cleaning schedule with different breakdowns according to your personality! 

I hope these guidelines help, again these are just guidelines shared in hopes of making life easier- not to stress you out and make you feel like you aren’t doing enough. Try to carve out 3 hours a week to spend on these chores with an hour or 2 a month to help get through some of the irregular cleaning. If having a clean home is important to you always remember that there are cleaning services and people out there willing to help! It may be worth adjusting your budget to get a little extra help if you are stressing over cleaning that seems like it is never done. Life is about what is important to you- so prioritize accordingly!