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Keeping your home clean (especially with kids or a pet) can feel like a losing battle. Laundry and dishes are endless jobs that seem to reset magically every time you think you catch up, never mind the oven cleaning, window washing, and floor scrubbing. Using a cleaning schedule template can help simplify your cleaning routine so you do not feel overwhelmed with daily tasks.

Did you know that keeping a schedule is actually beneficial for your mental health and can even help individuals who struggle with depression or mood change disorder? A daily schedule can help you sleep better and relieve stress. Remove (or at least) reduce one major stressor: keeping your house clean, with a schedule you can live with.

Since having a clear list of tasks is so important, we decided to include three templates for you to download (for free, of course): one for the routine daily tasks, one for the weekly chores, and one that includes both daily, weekly plus a series of monthly tasks. You can find them at the bottom of the page.

Gather house cleaning information for your schedule

Before you can create or use any cleaning schedule template, you need to have some information. Gathering your intel before you sit down to craft a workable chore chart will help speed up the process and ensure that you do not forget important chores or dates. Your information gathering should include:

•    A calendar. Some chores (like cleaning out the garage, cleaning out the oven, and major deep cleaning only occur a few times a year).
•    A complete list of chores/jobs that need attention in your home.
•    A list of people that will be responsible for at least some of the house cleaning

The easiest way to make a list of all the chores in your home is to go from room to room. Grab a notebook and pen and make the rounds. Stand in each room and look around. Write down everything that needs attention. Include regular and irregular chores. For example, in the living room, you may include a vacuum, pick up toys, dust blinds, wash baseboards/walls, wipe down doors, dust furniture, etc.

Go to every room in your home. Do not forget the closets, attic, basement, and garage. You may even want to include yard and outdoor work.

Commonly overlooked areas in the home include:

Inside cupboards
Doorways
Backsplash
Oven hood
Blinds
Window Sills
Toy chests
Bath toys (these are germ heaven!)

Ways to plan your house-cleaning Schedule

There is no perfect way to plan your cleaning schedule template.  Your cleaning schedule should match your needs, desires, and tolerance level. There are a few different ways to approach your planning. Here are a few of the most popular ideas:

Room by room: If you want to keep your house-cleaning schedule simple, try cleaning one room a day. Sounds simple because it is simple. Essentially, you assign a room to a day of the week and then you tackle all of the chores in that room on the given day.

There will likely be some crossover as the dishes, laundry, and some other tasks will likely need attention more than once a week. This simplifies your routine because you only have to worry about big projects in one room. For example, knowing that you always wash the kitchen floor on Friday can reduce stress the rest of the week.

Schedule longer-term chores like cleaning out the oven or the refrigerator (which you can usually do once a month or even every two months) on the day you normally clean the room or area they apply. Simply a lot a little more time for cleaning on that day. Lump same spaces together (so all bedrooms on Tuesday and all bathrooms on Saturday, for example).

Frequency: This is probably the most common way to clean. It works for families that prefer the all-over cleaning method. This style of cleaning schedule is chore based rather than room based.

Simply assign different chores to each day of the week. This type of cleaning plan will usually include chores in every room of the house. This type of list usually includes the same set of chores each day plus a few extras. If you use this method, you will likely have a list of daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly tasks.

There tends to be a little more flexibility with this type of schedule since you can put some of the heavier chores on whichever day works best for you.

Both methods work fine. With both you will have daily chores, the rest just depends on your preference. Both styles benefit from the use of a calendar and a printed list you can refer to as needed.

Things to consider on your cleaning checklist

When creating your cleaning checklist, it is handy to have an idea about how often you should target specific chores. Regularly cleaning areas will save time and prevent the unhealthy build-up of germs and grime.

Here are a few simple guidelines you can refer to when planning your cleaning routine:

Daily Chores
Daily chores should/could include:

Dishes
Pick up toys/clutter
Wipe down cupboards
Wipe down the dining room table
Laundry

Weekly to biweekly:
Weekly chores are fine once to twice per week.

Dusting
Sinks
Vacuum
Toilets
Wash Floors
Windows
Mirrors
Stovetop
Wash sheets and pillowcases
Clean out the microwave

Monthly or longer:
Chores you can do on a monthly basis include:

Baseboards
Door Frames
Refrigerator
Clean out the inside of the oven
Wash bedding (blankets)
Wash out garbage cans
Empty cupboards and wipe down shelves

For cleaning projects that only need attention every few months, grab your calendar and schedule a day to get the tasks done. You may want to schedule a backup day just in case an emergency or unexpected plan comes up.

Do not be afraid to delegate

An efficient cleaning chore list includes kids’ tasks as well as jobs for everyone else in the home. Cater the list to match skill levels to make sure everyone completes the chores well. You can help prevent boredom (particularly with kids) by rotating chores and allowing your little ones to help you with harder chores until they can do them on their own.

When printing your chore list you may want to choose how long you want to use the same schedule. You could slip your daily and weekly list into a sheet cover and use it for an entire month before reassigning tasks.

Consider laminating a copy of your list and writing names next to assigned chores in the dry-erase marker for an easy schedule you can reuse for months.

And here, as promised, are the daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedule templates for you to download.