Updated Sep. 22, 2019.  Originally posted Jan. 1, 2013.

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Household cleaning tasks are an inevitable part of life.  In order to keep your life organized, it’s necessary to think about what you need to do to maintain a relatively clean, tidy house (on a home cleaning schedule that works for you!).  The best way I know to go about this is to start big, and then break it down from there.

List ALL the Household Cleaning Tasks

STEP 1:  So, your first step is to make a list of every cleaning and similar task you can think of, regardless of how often it needs to be done.  If you ever have to do it, to keep your house clean and functional, write it down.  (At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a list to get you started.  A few of the tasks on the lists might not apply to you, and you might think of a few others to add, because everyone’s home is different, but it should be a good starting point.)

Break it Down

STEP 2:  Now you have to determine how often each task needs doing.  Just go down the list and jot a note beside each one: “daily,” “weekly,” “monthly,” “twice a year” — that sort of thing.  Or you could use highlighters and color-code them.  Whatever works for you.  When you’re done with that, you might find it easier to read the list if you re-copy it, grouped by frequency.  (So you’d have a list of daily tasks, a list of weekly tasks, etc.)

Optional Extras

If it’s helpful for you, you could also make a note of which tasks could be accomplished by someone else, the youngest age at which it can be assigned to a child, and/or how long it should take.  These are totally optional, though.  Add them if they serve you; ignore them if they don’t.

Hang onto your list, because you will need it for the next step: Routines!

Download the Starter List:

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