Keep Up With Household Chores By Creating a Cleaning Schedule

I love to organize. I like everything to have a home and be labeled. The problem is, I become so focused on keeping the small stuff in its place that I let the bigger picture fall apart. My craft items all have a specific home, but when is the last time I cleaned my baseboards? My teaching files are well organized by theme, but it has been a month since I've cleaned my oven.

To help me keep my house tidy, I created a monthly cleaning schedule. I made my calendar in Microsoft Word, but you could also use Excel or find one online. Monday through Friday I have listed different chores that should be completed. Weekends are for catching up on what I didn't get to during the week.

I laminated the schedule so I could use dry-erase markers to fill in each date, like a calendar. On each day, I have "Daily", which are items that need to be at least checked everyday. These include: trash, dishes, sink, counters, and laundry. Other chores are listed weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. For example, you might clean your gutters monthly and your microwave weekly.

I used putty to hang my schedule on the wall. After I've completed a task, I cross it out with a marker. The following month I can simply wipe off the calendar with a little hand sanitizer and start over. I still don't get to everything on the list each day, but having the reminder in my line of sight helps greatly!