Do you struggle to keep up with your home or homestead?
If so, you need a weekly cleaning schedule. It has taken me years to figure how to run a home and homestead efficiently.
Because we all know, if your home doesn’t stay clean it is hard to function, and if your homestead does stay clean it could literally be the difference between life and death.
So I’m going to share my weekly cleaning schedule, my tips for designing your own cleaning schedule, and why you need your own cleaning schedule.
Let’s get started:
Why Do I Need a Cleaning Schedule?
Let’s start with the basic question of ‘why do you need a cleaning schedule?’ To put it simply, in order to run a home/homestead effectively cleanliness has to be a priority.
First, the cleaner you keep your home the easier it is to locate necessary items. This will save you money because you will be organized and know what you have. This could save you a lot of money when it comes to your grocery trips as well.
Second, the cleaner you keep your home the less likely your family will get sick. When we became a family of 5, my middle son brought home a stomach bug the last day of school. We were supposed to go to Disney World a few days later.
Well, we all contracted the bug and actually took the bug with us to Disney. It was the most miserable couple of weeks of my life because we just couldn’t get rid of it. I learned then that when a large family gets sick it is horrible trying to rid your home of it.
So for that reason, I’ve learned to stay ahead of the game. I wipe down our bathrooms and kitchen every day with bleach. I am happy to say that my family rarely visits the doctor besides for annual check-ups.
Third, if you stay on top of your home, it is less likely to get out of control. Have you ever had those days where you know you need to do things around the house, but the thought of tackling such a mess is overwhelming?
Yes, I’ve had those days too! So I’ve learned to not let things get to that point. Then I’ll never need to pump myself up. I’ll just have to tidy little tidbits as I go.
Finally, if you have a complete homestead, you need a cleaning schedule because keeping your animals in a clean atmosphere will obviously benefit their health tremendously.
Also, if you don’t keep your homestead cleaned up, then you run into the same issues that you have with your house. You have to buy things because you can’t find them, and you have to really pump yourself up to tackle projects because of the mess.
It is just easier to keep things clean, in my opinion.
My Cleaning Schedule
It has taken me years to figure out what cleaning schedule works best for me and my family. I have tried everything from cleaning certain rooms a day, cleaning animal areas daily, and I’ve tried the weekly approach.
Here is what has worked for me:
Daily Cleaning Schedule
I have certain tasks that I do daily. That lists consists of:
- Wiping down the bathrooms and kitchen
- Emptying the litter box
- Feeding and watering the animals
- Emptying all the trash cans
- Sweeping the floors
- Running the vacuum
- Laundry (wash, dry, folded, and put away)
- Make beds
Weekly Cleaning Schedule
Then I have certain chores that I do on a weekly basis. That lists consists of:
Monday-
I work from home. I try to pick out my writing topics for the week on Monday and get all of my research for the articles done so I can easily write the articles as the week goes on.
I also do any errands I need to run on Mondays. Errands take a large toll on keeping your home running efficiently because if you don’t have what you need then it is hard to keep things running.
However, the reason I chose Monday for this is because a lot of times stores will mark down what they could not sell over the weekend. When we raised pigs this was the best day for me to purchase milk that would be out of date soon.
So then I could feed it to my pigs and pay only pennies for each gallon.
Also, since we are homeschoolers, this is also our day for visiting the library and the park.
Tuesday and Wednesday-
My days are pretty full between raising three boys, homeschooling, working, and also keeping up other commitments I have on my plate.
So I try my best to maintain through the week. I try to keep the house as neat as I can, and while I’m feeding the animals daily I try to maintain their areas. This means if the nesting boxes are dirty, I empty them.
Also, if I see that our rabbit hutches are dirty, then I wipe them out. Basically, if I see anything that is becoming dirty, then I fix it and move on with my day.
But I don’t clean certain rooms by the day because I have tried that approach. I just felt like my house was never clean because it was never cleaned at one time.
Thursday-
Thursdays are normal days around my house until night falls. Everyone is home on Thursday evenings so we all clean.
So here is where my cleaning routine became a solid routine. I stopped trying to do everything myself. If you have a family, you cannot try to carry it all. I repeat, you cannot carry it all!
But don’t give up. You need to learn to function as a family unit. What my family does is each family member has a task in the house. What was taking me 4 hours to clean, now only takes our family 2 (at the most.)
So I will clean the kitchen and bathrooms. My youngest and middle child will clean the front door and back door. They also will clean off the front porch and back porch.
Then my husband will dust the house and sweep the floors.
Finally, my oldest comes through and does the mopping and vacuuming. Then our house is completely cleaned before the weekend has even started.
And that is why I love it. I no longer try to cram everything into a weekend. Since we homeschool, and I work from home you have to try really hard to create margin. Otherwise, you are working 7 days a week, and you get burnt out. (I’ve experienced that this year.)
So this cleaning schedule has allowed me to have margin in my life.
Friday-
Fridays are my ‘wrap up’ days. This means I wake up super early these days and pay the bills before breakfast. I hate paying bills.
So any task I don’t enjoy, I make sure to get it out of the way first thing.
Then I make sure we are on track with our homeschooling and my work. If I’ve gotten off with my work schedule that week, then I banish myself to the back porch and work until I’m caught up.
Saturday-
Saturday is another big day around our house. I finish up any work I have left for the week.
Then I make sure our vehicles get cleaned inside and out. I have the mentality of ‘it’s mine, I need to take care of it.’
So I try to keep our vehicles in tip top shape if within my power.
Next, I’ll go to each animal area. I start in the chicken coop. I’ll add mulch to the deep litter method if needed. I clean off the roosts and clean out the nesting boxes.
Then I finish up by cleaning their feeders and waterers. I also try to wipe things down with vinegar. It helps deter pests.
Next are the rabbits. I clean their hutches, feeders, and waterers. Then I move on to the goat areas to make sure that they are neat and clean.
However, I also use this time to check the animals. If they need hooves trimmed, I work on that. I check the rabbits’ ears and the chickens’ feet as well for any problems. It is a great way to make sure that every animal is well cared for.
And if you clean their areas thoroughly every week (and maintain throughout the week) you’ll be sure to give each animal the best environment to thrive in. As well as, if you use this time to check your animals, no health condition should get out of hand because you stay on top of their needs.
Sunday-
I take this day off. We feed our animals (obviously), but I don’t do any other chores. I need a day to recharge and get ready for the week ahead of me.
This is what has worked for me and my family. Your cleaning schedule will probably not look like mine, though. You will have different responsibilities, time frames, and scheduling challenges.
But you can look at mine and see if anything I do might work for you. Then you tweak it until it fits into your life.
Here is a template to help you lay out your own cleaning plan.
Tips for Creating Your Own Cleaning Schedule
1. Enlist Help
I already told you, you can’t do it all by yourself. If you have family that lives in the home with you, then ask them to help you.
If you have a homestead and you are single, see if a friend or family member would be willing to help you maintain it in exchange for fresh eggs.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help if you are absolutely swamped. I know the feeling all too well.
2. Does It Really Need Cleaning?
If you have a small family or are a single person, then your home may not need to be cleaned weekly and maintained daily, like mine.
So look at your situation. Decide if you can get by with only cleaning your home 2-3 times per month. If you can, that’s great. You now have free time to work on something else.
3. Work It Around Your Time Off
I like to get as much done during the week so I don’t have to push so hard on the weekend. Whether you have a family, a homestead or both…you are working hard.
So try to spread out your work over the week so you don’t feel like it all has to be crammed into a 24 hour period.
Also, consider breaking your home down into certain rooms that get cleaned certain days. You could do the same with laundry and ironing. If you don’t have a mountain of laundry waiting on you every day (I can only dare to dream) then that might be a good option for you.
4. Give Yourself Margin
Finally, be sure to create margin in your life. You cannot go day and night with no day of rest. You will get burnt out and quickly.
Then you will begin to begrudge what you have. That is not good because, with a little rest, you’ll be thankful to have that job, homestead, and family.
So be sure to design your cleaning schedules with rest in mind.
Well, I hope this has helped you get some clarity on how to create your own cleaning schedule. I also hope that it will help you feel a little more on top of things in your life.
Because I have certainly found that chaos breeds panic and exhaustion. I’ve made it my goal to avoid those things in my own life because it just sucks the joy right out of every situation.
But I want to hear from you. What’s your cleaning schedule like? How do you get it all done around your home and homestead?
We love hearing from you so please share your thoughts with us in the comment box below.
