Household Chores That Will Keep Your House Cleaned

simplify life Oct 24, 2023

cleaning routine picture of mop and bucket of cleaning supplies

No one likes to live in a dirty home, but daily chores can be difficult if you don't have a daily chore list. It's easy to get busy with keeping your toddler out of danger, preparing meals for everyone, and trying not to let the toys take over the house! Giving priority to certain household chores will help keep your house clean without spending too much time on them. Let's talk about some of these chores that should be done on a daily and weekly basis as well as how to build a cleaning routine.

What Should You Clean Daily?

I'm not sure about you, but I'm certainly not a neat freak. I tend to try to get by with less cleaning if I can. Now, if you love a spotless house, these tips can still help you out, but when you're in survival mode, you need to get by on less. So, what should you really clean every day? Check out the list below.

Daily Chores List

What chores should be done daily? There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but a daily chore list can help you stay on top of the most important tasks. Here are some general guidelines of daily chores to keep your house clean:

-Prepare and cook meals. Keep it super simple if you have to, but everyone needs to eat.

-Do the dishes. Trust me on this. It's so much better going to bed with this taken care of, not to mention waking up to a clean kitchen.

- Wipe down your kitchen counters and stovetop daily. Well, to be totally honest, we don't always wipe down the stovetop unless it got especially messy, but you will want clean counters to work on.

- Sweep your floors, especially ones that get dirty such as the dining room and kitchen.

-Make your beds

-Pick up toys at the end of the day. Preferably, you will want to have several pick-up times throughout the day but certainly do one in the evening.

-One load of laundry. This is only for those who prefer to do laundry daily versus having one big laundry day. I personally do laundry once a week in general.

-Your weekly chore for this day. We'll talk about this more below.

Creating a Daily Chore List

Now that you know what should be cleaned daily in your home, it's time to create your daily chore list. This is a personal task list that will help you stay on top of your daily cleaning tasks. Here are some tips for creating a daily chore list:

- Include all of the most important tasks on your list, such as the ones listed above.

- Break down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. For example, having several toy pick-up times throughout the day.

- Schedule time for each task on your daily chore list. This doesn't have to be an exact time, but a time in your daily routine that makes sense, like doing the dishes right after your meal, or cleaning during naptime.

- Stick to your routine as closely as possible - but be flexible if something unexpected comes up.

Daily Cleaning Checklist

By having a daily cleaning checklist, you can be sure to get your daily chores finished. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but there are certainly some great digital options as well. I know you're busy, so you need to have something that works for you.

Helpful Tips for Daily Chores

Here are a few helpful tips for daily housekeeping chores:

- Use an app or a paper list, whatever works best for you. I love using any.do personally, but I just recently came across the motivated moms app and it looks super helpful! I'm going to give it a try.

- Use a dry erase daily chore list in your kitchen if you don't like the above options. This is an easy way to keep track of daily household tasks and can be erased daily so that it doesn't become too overwhelming.

- Keep cleaning supplies in one location, such as your laundry room or under the sink. That way you won't have to hunt down sponges when they're needed! Make sure everyone in the family knows where these items are kept so each person can clean up after themselves without having to ask where things are stored.

Creating a Weekly Chore List

Now that you know what daily cleaning tasks need to be done, it's time to create your weekly chore list! This list is the cleaning chores that need to be done on a weekly basis. Now we're all different, but find what works for you. Here are some chores to take into consideration.

- Bathrooms

- Laundry (if you're not already doing this daily)

- Dusting furniture and flat surfaces

- Vacuuming/mopping

- Emptying trash cans

Cleaning Routines

What's the best cleaning routine? Honestly, it's the one that gets the cleaning done! What works for me may not work for you, but definitely take the time to figure out what works best for you. Do you have one day when you'll tackle all the cleaning? Perhaps it will work best for you to do a little each day. That's what I do. I just don't want to spend hours at a time cleaning. By doing a bit each day, I can keep my home clean(ish).

Weekly Cleaning Routine

So, you have your list of chores that need to be done on a weekly basis. You have decided if you're going to tackle it all on a certain day or break it up throughout the week. Now it's time to put together your weekly cleaning routine. Here's an example to get you started.

-Monday: daily tasks plus sweep, mop; vacuum carpets and furniture

-Tuesday: daily tasks plus dust all surfaces; wipe down kitchen counters

-Wednesday: daily + laundry day

-Thursday: daily + emptying the trash cans

-Friday: daily tasks +bathroom cleaning (tub, toilet, sink, floors)

Saturday/Sunday off or catch up on any missed weekly tasks from earlier in the week.

Of course, there are always things that come up last minute or once a month - like changing air filters, cleaning appliances and baseboards, etc, but rotating these types of chores through a schedule will help as well.

House Cleaning Schedule Template

Now that you know what should be cleaned every day and what should be cleaned weekly, it's time for you to make your own schedule. Figure out what would be best to clean on what day and pencil it onto your template. Hang it on your fridge or other location where you will see it and work hard to be consistent. By keeping on top of these tasks, you will be able to not be so overwhelmed with the cleaning.