Unless you are someone like me that actually finds joy in cleaning, it can be really hard to find the motivation to actually do the dang thing. It's especially difficult, even for someone who enjoys cleaning, to find time to actually get it all done. Over the years we've tried a lot of different methods. Before I share a couple of those, I do want to note that some of these methods work very well for other people. And to that I celebrate with and for you. For us, these methods just didn't quite work out the way I'd anticipated...
The Other Methods
One Big Cleaning Day: This was where we tried to tackle the entire house and get it all done in one day. For Team Yearley, it was kind of like impending doom waiting for that one big cleaning day. Saving everything for that one day meant that there was a LOT to get done and very little time to actually get it all done. Often that would result in things getting done halfway or not at all. Having two kids on top of that makes a single day of cleaning next to impossible because otherwise the laundry is piling up to the ceiling and there is an absolutely haunting amount of urine surrounding the toilet...
The Printables: I started seeking help from my good friend Pinterest. Let's just say that while she can be a clever gal with excellent ideas and techniques... she can be a tiny bit overbearing and create a level of complete and total destruction if left to her over the top devices. I found myself printing out all of these different chore charts for daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. Sweet molasses. By the end of that journey not only was my house NOT getting clean, I was beginning to hoard chore charts and found myself spending far too much time beating myself up for all the incredibly specific cleaning tasks I wasn't doing. Is everyone using a toothbrush to clean the baseboards....?
Stumbling Into My Current Method
I was visiting with my sweet friend Alaura one day and happened to notice her cleaning chart on her fridge. She told me that she has things set up so that she does a few chores every single day. She explained that doing it like that encouraged her to really stay focused on getting things done, not feeling totally overwhelmed with the chores and that she had begun utilizing it in a way that encouraged reward. If she wanted to watch a show or hang out one day, she would first be sure to get the chores done for that day. That way she wasn't thinking about needing to get it done all day and could actually enjoy the downtime after it was all done. I remember thinking that the woman was a genius and that I needed to adopt the exact same method. I attempted to use her method, but had a difficult time really stepping into it. In a lot of ways I think that I was trying to clean my house as though I had her house.... does that make sense? In my opinion one of the keys to success with any cleaning method is to adjust it for you, your home and your family's needs specifically. We all have different homes, different quirks, different schedules, and different cleaning styles that actually suit us well. While a method may work for some, it may not work in its entirety for you. While Alaura was onto something and really sparked something for me, I needed to adjust things to find the benefits for our family. And that's what I did.
Our Home
We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with front door entry into the living room & office combo, and a kitchen & dining area with the laundry room off the kitchen. It's small & concise. My routine schedule works as well as it does because it fits the size of my home. If we had multiple levels, extra spaces, more rooms or bathrooms, a larger kitchen or a separate office space it would be necessary to adjust this cleaning schedule to suit the size and space needing to be cleaned and/or maintained. This is where it is absolutely vital that you take the method and work it into your home instead of taking my home and working it into yours.
Establishing the Routine
Initially I tried to separate my cleaning schedule by each area in the house. I would do Luke's room on one day, Lynae's on a different day, and then our room and so on and so forth. But then it just felt strange to do it that way. It made more sense to me to do all of the bedrooms on the same day because then I could keep the chores consistent. If I was changing the bedding in one room, why not change the bedding in all of the rooms? If I was going to vacuum in my room, why not also vacuum the kids' rooms? It just made the most sense to combine the like chores and keep things as concise as I could. It has taken a lot of time to really narrow this down. The one thing that has really amplified this method is Google Keep. Did you read last week's blog? If so, you know what I'm talking about. If you didn't... well... here's your encouragement to do so. (:
I like having checkboxes so that I can easily check things off. I was also able to create notifications for each of the notes. It alerts me at 8am each day of the note. It's also then shared with my Google Calendar as a reminder. I can check off the tasks from there as well.
The Nitty Gritty
A change that we have been attempting to enact over the last couple weeks is to have the whole family work together on Sunday to get things ready for the week. It would be whatever is time sensitive so that the week can start off right for all of us. It's super important to us that we cultivate an environment for Luke (and eventually Lynae), to understand that we are all part of this team and we ALL have to work together. Another important key to success is to let the work take longer than it normally would and actually encourage your kids (or husband, I see you ladies...) be a part of the tasks. So often we say, "I can just do it myself," "They don't do it right," or "They're kids, let them be kids." While I get what you're attempting to do here, LET GO OF THE CONTROL. The bed not being made perfectly doesn't impact your well being the way that raising a child to not know how to take care of themselves will impact them later. I had to show a LOT of the people in my dorm how to do laundry because very few of them actually knew how. Set your kids up for success y'all. It's worth the extra time it takes to do the chores, I promise.
BEDROOM DAY! This has become such an ingrained part of my routine that I now wake up on Monday mornings and remind everyone that it is bedroom day. I love having the first day of the work/school week be bedroom day because I have the entire day to wash everyone's bedding, vacuum all the rooms, and put things away. By the time everyone is home from the dreaded Monday, the bedding is fresh & the floors are ready to be destroyed again... (:
I will note that my husband and I only have one bedding set, while the kids have two. This allows for me to switch out the kids bedding pretty quickly and not worry too much about getting it washed right away. Our bedding is always the first load on Monday. I start with the sheets, pillowcases, and bottom blanket (we have three... what can I say... it's cozy and I like sleeping with the window open =D). Anywho, after that load, I do the middle blanket and then the last load for us is the comforter. This way, the loads get done in the order I'm going to put them back on the bed. I never have to wait with a freshly washed comforter just balled up on the bed. It comes out of the dryer and goes right onto the bed. Once ours is all done, then I do the kids bedding. It's not as pressing that I do theirs in any particular order because I've already replaced all of their bedding with the second set. (: I just try to get everything washed & put away on Monday if I can because then I'm able to take care of other laundry needs on Tuesday.
Speaking of Tuesday... bathrooms anyone? It's exactly as it sounds & there is very little to suggest here. I do want to note that our neighborhood trash pick up is Wednesday. In addition to the bathroom trashes, I go through the whole house and gather trashes, even if it's not that room's cleaning day. This includes checking the fridge for any food that has gone bad, the cat box in case it needs to be fully dumped and not just scooped out, and the trash I use under my desk for junk mail and other things of that sort. If I did Monday right, the bedroom trashes are already cleared and everything should be compiled. I then try to get the trash out to the street Tuesday evening so that I don't have to worry about it Wednesday morning. But let's face it, I'm a mom.... I usually put the trash out on Wednesday morning. (:
This is a task that I do often throughout the week because we spend a lot of time in these spaces, however on the established day for the living room & office, I'm more intentional about the cleaning that happens. I may clean off the coffee table throughout the week, but I actually use cleaner to wipe it down on Wednesday. I also wash the couch cover, detail the desk and file any documents that I may have acquired over the week.
A note about the "take stuff to the shed" checkbox: this is a Wednesday task because my "office" area is in the entryway. The area by the front door, and the shelf in the entryway are where we set stuff down that may need to go out to the shed or out to the trash. On this cleaning day, I'm intentional about clearing those things out if we should need to. (: Especially during the holiday season because I am often bringing in my decor bins. [=
If I'm being totally honest, this is one of my favorite days. I think that there is something so incredibly comforting about a clean and inviting kitchen. I really believe that the kitchen is the heart of the home and I work hard to treat it as such. Because the kitchen being clean is so important to my mental health, I try to make sure that the kitchen is clean everyday. I usually have to sweep daily as well as clean off the counters & tables. But again, I'm quite intentional with this specific cleaning day. On this day I will detail and deep clean Lynae's seat (ew), the appliances, and the floors. If I've kept up with my chores on Tuesday, I should have removed any outdated food, but I check again on Thursday as well as wipe it out. I try to get my grocery orders ready on Thursday too, so that way I can place the order & pick up the groceries on Friday morning (more on this next week!!). It's easiest to do this on the same day that I clean out the kitchen because it not only encourages me to clean out the fridge and see what is needed there, but it also encourages me to clean out the cabinets and be sure that I know what I have and what I need to get for the next week. I also do the laundry room on this day because it is off the kitchen. There isn't an exponential amount that needs to be done in the laundry room, but all of the cat's stuff is in there. Throughout the week I'm usually keeping up on the cat box and cleaning up the food bowls, but on Thursday I take everything out, clean the floors, and replace everything with fresh dishes.
Friday is more often my errand day. I will run into town to switch out my work if that is needed, pick up grocery orders and then get all of that back home and put away. Putting away the groceries is a long process for me usually because I rotate stock and refill all of my containers. It's tedious, but it really allows for us to know what we have and fully utilize everything. If I've taken care of the kitchen on Thursday, it really helps cut valuable time off of putting everything away because I've already made the space for everything. I also meal prep whatever may be needed for the next week. Lynae's meals are typically made ahead of time and then any needs for dinners or any lunches for the next week are also readied on Friday so that we have the weekend open for anything else as needed. (:
On Saturday's we take the day off!! And by take the day off, I mean from cleaning. 99% of the time the weekends are jam packed with things. All the things. But what it's not jam packed with on Saturday is cleaning. Mama needs a day off too, ya know? Saturday can be utilized however I need it to be without stress of the specific cleaning details. I love it this way!
I also want to note that having specific cleaning days for each area of the house does not mean that I let things go that need to be done throughout the week. We need to run the dishwasher at least every other day, if not every single day. I'm not going to wait until Thursday when I clean the kitchen because that would add way too many things to the list. I also have an almost one year old, so sometimes I have to clean her bedding more than once during the week... poop parties anyone? -__- There are things that need to be done throughout the week to maintain the functionality of the household, but overall, I do try to keep to the schedule. In this way, I can't get ahead of myself and I also don't have to feel bad for "not doing enough" in the day. If I've cleaned the rooms, the bathrooms can wait until tomorrow. It gives me the feeling of success in the day and the sense of accomplishment, without making me feel like I need to go crazy!
The Benefits of This Method
If you have a full schedule like I do, it allows for the creation of routines that make it easier and almost brainless to follow. If I know that I am going to have a full day, I plan ahead and work the day's chores in where I can. It's also really helpful for others to help in when they can. If your spouse (or whoever) knows that it's bedroom day, they can help start the laundry, or whip out the vacuum and help out with that. It defines what needs to be done easier so that it can be a team effort if/when the time calls for it. (: And that leads me to my final key to success, which piggybacks on my second key to success of letting the chores take longer and including others. Talk about it with whoever you are living with - including husbands and kids. That's right, I said it... COMMUNICATE. In my case, I am a work from home mom, so I often feel like the entire house is my responsibility. The reality of it is, I'm here more so I can take care of things more often than everyone else can. But that doesn't mean that everyone else can't chip in where they can. And... to you, the control freak reading this in a state of panic - I see you, I am you, and you CAN let others help. Yes, yes you can. Stop arguing with me. Just having a conversation about what is going on with your daily routine allows for an a discussion about what is going to be best for the entire household. Maybe your plan that week is to do the bedrooms on Monday, but your spouse is going to need extra clothing cleaned for a work event on Tuesday and it would be better to switch bedroom day with bathroom day to keep the washer open? Or maybe the grocery order that week needs to include a couple of items that would help the kids maintain their rooms better? You won't know until you TALK TO THEM. It takes an entire team to win a game y'all. Even Tom has his Rob.
That concludes the very exciting (don't roll your eyes, you know it was a little fun) cleaning routine for Team Yearley. For those of you that didn't fall over from extreme boredom, I look forward to seeing you next week for all things groceries & meal planning! As for me, I'm off to clean my kitchen! I mean, it is THURSDAY! (: Sending love to you, wherever this may find you.
Xx,
Mama Yearley
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