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Having trouble figuring out how to keep your house clean when you work full time? Try this method for keeping your house clean in 30 minutes a day. Plus a free printable monthly cleaning checklist!
What if I told you that you could keep your house clean in about 30 minutes a day? You’d probably laugh in my face!
All jokes aside, you actually can keep your house clean with just 30 minutes of elbow grease each day. I’ll show you how.
Watch the video below, or scroll down and read on below to find out how to keep your house clean in 30 minutes per day!
An easier way to keep your house clean
Do you love a clean house? Me too!
Do you have time to clean your house? Me neither.
When you’re working full-time, managing a household, and hopping from one activity to the next, cleaning la maison gets lost in the shuffle. One day, you look up to see dirty carpet, dust bunnies everywhere, and something, um, abnormal growing in your shower.
Ew.
You want a sparkling, beautiful house, but where the heck are you supposed to find the time? The energy? Give up half a day of your precious and all-too-brief weekend? That sounds terrible.
If you don’t have the time or energy to clean you whole house from top to bottom all at once, there’s hope.
Cleaning can actually be done little by little, spread out over time. In fact, you can keep your house clean by performing 1 major cleaning task each day, along with smaller daily tasks. All together, you’ll spend about 30 minutes on cleaning daily. As a result, each area of your house gets cleaned often enough that dirt and grime don’t pile up. Plus, you aren’t stuck spending half of a day scrubbing like Cinderella.
Oh, before I forget… I have a free printable for you! The Monthly Cleaning Checklist was a lifesaver for me. It’s a simple schedule of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks designed to keep your house clean with minimal time and effort. I cleaned my entire house on this schedule for years, and now I’m sharing it with you!
Go ahead and grab your free copy of The Monthly Cleaning Checklist!
Now, let’s take a look at how to build a monthly cleaning schedule using daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks.
No magic here… only tough love
Before I introduce you to this cleaning method, let’s get something straight.
This isn’t a magic wand. It’s not the silver bullet that will miraculously allow you to get your house clean without lifting a finger.
The truth is… there is no silver bullet.
(Okay, there is, it’s called a cleaning service… but that’s an issue for another post.)
If you’re not going to outsource your cleaning for whatever reason (Budget, awkwardness of strangers cleaning your toilet, etc), the truth is that you’re going to have to put in the work. There’s no way around it.
Cleaning is one of those things that most of us care about, but almost no one likes to do. We want it to be easy, painless, and require minimal effort.
Look, I get it. It’s exhausting, unglamorous, and sometimes gross. But you just have to jump in and do it. You can read every book and blog post under the sun about cleaning faster and better. But unless you take action consistently, nothing’s going to work.
That being said, there are ways to reduce the time and effort spent on cleaning. And though I don’t have a silver bullet for you, I do have an awesome little system to reduce cleaning overwhelm and increase motivation, so you can get your house clean and keep it that way.
By the way, if you struggle to get motivated to clean your house, check out my post on the cleaning mindset shift that will change your life. My friend Sarah at A Simple and Contented Life also has some great tips on getting motivated to clean.
While I’m thinking of it… I’m guessing if keeping your house clean is a struggle, you might be fighting disorganization at home, too. I have some tips for keeping small spaces organized and step-by-step organizing that might be helpful!
Keep your house clean in bite-sized chunks
An easy way to avoid the time and overwhelm associated with cleaning your entire house at once, is to break cleaning down into doable chunks. More specifically, break it down into tasks that you do daily, weekly, and monthly.
The power in this approach to cleaning lies in the creation of habits and routines. Once you’ve created a cleaning schedule and stuck to it for a few weeks, daily cleaning becomes second nature. It won’t feel like as much of a chore, because it becomes something you’re so used to doing every day.
If you’re not starting with a squeaky-clean house, that’s okay. You can get each area fully cleaned as you work your way through your first few weeks on the schedule.
Now, let’s break it down and look at how to approach daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks. And by the way – I did all the work for you and created The Monthly Cleaning Checklist for you to use, based on the info below. It includes 4 weeks’ worth of pre-scheduled daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks. Grab your copy now!
Do it daily
The foundation of a clean house is keeping high-traffic areas clean and free of clutter. What does and doesn’t qualify as a “high-traffic area” varies from household to household. However, these are pretty universal:
- Kitchen
- Bathrooms
- Living areas
Why it works
Tackling high-traffic areas daily goes a long way towards always having a clean, presentable home for a few reasons:
- The areas you and your family use the most will become dirtier, faster.
- Keeping these areas in check will make your house look and feel cleaner. As a result, your house will be in much better shape when life happens – you have to skip regular cleaning one week, unexpected guests show up, etc.
How to do it
Here’s a suggested list of daily micro-cleaning tasks to incorporate into your cleaning schedule. Generally, these tasks will take about 10 minutes as a whole. Add or subtract what makes sense for you and your home:
- Load dishwasher (Or hand-wash dishes, pots, and pans… leave sinks and counters empty either way)
- Wipe down surfaces (Kitchen and bathroom counters, tables in dining rooms and living areas, wherever “high traffic” is for your home)
- Spot-clean floors (Clean up any spills or spots that you notice)
- Put away loose items (Pick up and put away any clutter; if you’re in a room, grab anything that doesn’t belong there before exiting, then put away)
- Make bed (Not exactly a cleaning task, but makes a room look so much neater; have each family member make his/her bed each day)
Fit these little micro-cleaning tasks into your schedule wherever there’s time. First thing in the morning, just before bed, after dinner, or whenever you happen to be in the room (Especially for loose items). Do them every day. These should become habits that are ingrained in your life. And don’t be afraid to enlist the help of your family to get these done.
While you’re at it, why not add some daily decluttering tasks to your routine?
Remember – the more often you do these, the easier they will be.
Do it weekly
Larger cleaning tasks can be done once per week. They can easily be added onto your foundation of daily micro-cleaning tasks.
Why it works
It breaks whole-house cleaning up into doable daily tasks. Rather than spending several hours completing all of the major tasks at once, break them up and do one per day. Over the course of a week, you end up cleaning your entire house, one step at a time.
How to do it
Set up a weekly schedule, and stick to it. The Monthly Cleaning Checklist is specifically designed to help you track and tackle daily, weekly and monthly tasks – grab your copy now!
Here are the 6 major tasks I recommend. On average, these take about 20 minutes each:
- Clean appliances (Stove/oven, microwave, refrigerator)
- Dust all rooms
- Clean bathtubs and showers
- Wipe down furniture
- Clean sinks, toilets, and mirrors
- Clean floors
I like to do them in this order. Why? Because I hit the areas that will be most visible to guests as I draw nearer to the weekend – prime time for entertaining at home.
The nice thing about this system is that if something comes up and you aren’t able to get to that day’s task, you can tack it onto the next day. This is a slippery slope though. So if you miss a day of cleaning, always get back on track ASAP.
Do it monthly
Some areas need to be hit less often, and you can rotate them out over the course of a month.
Why it works
Were you wondering why I only had 6 daily tasks listed above? It’s because the 7th daily task is actually a rotating monthly cleaning task. There are a few things that hold up better in between cleanings. As a result, there’s no need to do them daily or even weekly. Address them just once per month, and you should be good.
How to do it
Choose 4 monthly cleaning tasks. Rotate them out, doing one task on day 7 (Or whichever day you choose) each week.
Here are my 4 picks for monthly cleaning. You can change them to fit your needs:
- Clean trim & baseboards
- Wipe down kitchen & bathroom cabinets
- Clean windows
- Clean & disinfect trash cans
The recap
You can avoid the overwhelm and time associated with home cleaning by breaking cleaning tasks down into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. The most important thing is to create a schedule and stick to it. Turning cleaning into a daily habit will help keep you motivated to clean consistently.
P.S. – Don’t forget to grab your copy of The Monthly Cleaning Checklist!
This breakdown is very helpful. I agree that the most helpful and important starting point is keeping those main traffic areas tidy every day (kitchen, living room, bathrooms). Maintaining those areas only takes a few minutes, but makes the home always appear to be clean in case of drop-in guests. Thanks so much for sharing this. I can’t wait to get your checklist in my email.
Glad you found it helpful, Treasure! Yes, those basic areas are highly noticeable, whether they’re clean or dirty. Hope you enjoy the checklist, thanks for reading!
This is just what I need – and I used to clean houses for a living! It’s alot easier to do someone else’s …I get bogged in the “what should I do with this – or oh, that needs cleaned worse”.
Having a list and a time limit is something I can do!
Thank you SO much … I can’t wait to give this a try…
It wasn’t until recently that I started doing daily tasks to keep myself organized and clean, it’s amazing how much you can do in 30 minutes and what a huge impact it makes on your day & house. Love your ideas and I will include some of them in my routine for sure!
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I have been struggling with cleaning for a while. I am so glad i found you. i just got the monthly cleaning checklist and i’m working on sticking to it. this will help me in achieving one of my 2020 new year resolution:staying clean and declutter since 2020 is just around the corner. thank you so much for sharing this. GOD BLESS YOU.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR.