Simple Cleaning Schedule for Working Moms
As a working mom, myself, I’ve created a simple, and realistic cleaning schedule for working moms. This schedule works whether or not you work inside or outside of the home and can be adapted to fit your home’s needs.
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getting it all done as a busy mom video
free Cleaning schedule printable
how do working moms keep a clean home?
Working moms keep a clean home by having a system that works for them, and a routine that is attainable. A cleaning schedule designed for working moms will help you to keep a clean home.
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Daily Cleaning schedule for working moms
As a working mom, you don’t have time to spend hours on end cleaning. In just over one hour you can keep your house clean each and every day by staying on top of simple tasks. Come home to a clean house every day without feeling like you’re spending all your free time cleaning by following the schedule below.
BEFORE WORK:
- Make bed(s) – 5 minutes
- Start load of laundry – 3 minutes
- Fold laundry from day before – 5 minutes
- Unload dishwasher from night before – 5 minutes
- Clean up from breakfast – 7 minutes
= 25 minutes
AFTER WORK:
- Speedy sweep/vaccum – 5 minutes
- Switch laundry to dryer – 2 minutes
- Organize mail/school/work papers – 3 minutes
- Clean up dinner and start dishwasher – 15 minutes
= 25 minutes
BEFORE BEDTIME:
- *Cleaning challenge – 15 minutes (30 minutes on the weekends)
- Speedy house tidy up – 5 minutes
= 20 minutes
*A cleaning challenge is where you pick something you’ve been meaning to declutter, or deep clean, set a timer, and see how much you can do in 15 minutes. Make sure you pick a couple of tasks because you’ll be surprised how much you can get done! I like to use this time to get my weekly and monthly tasks checked off the list!
Weekly cleaning schedule for busy moms
Here’s an example of tasks you can get done during your evening “cleaning challenge” listed in the daily cleaning schedule. Each of these tasks can be done in about 15-30 minutes. I put the more time-intensive tasks for Saturday and Sundays, but you can change that based on the days you have more free time.
Monday cleaning task
- Dust surfaces
Tuesday cleaning task
- Wash sheets/bedding
Wednesday cleaning task
- Wipe down bathroom counters and mirrors
Thursday cleaning task
- Deep clean kitchen counters/stove/microwave
Friday cleaning task
- Vaccum, sweep and mop all floors
Saturday cleaning task
- Clean bathroom showers/toilets
- Deep clean task(s) from monthly cleaning schedule
Sunday cleaning task
- Deep clean task(s) from your monthly cleaning schedule
Monthly deep cleaning schedule
Honestly, many of these tasks don’t have to be done every single month. So, give yourself grace! If you’re in a season where you have little ones at home, much of the below list won’t be attainable every month – just do what you can, mama.
Week 1 Cleaning Schedule
Week 2 Cleaning Schedule
- Deep clean inside oven
- Wash blankets, bath mats and rugs
- Vacuum under hard to reach areas (couches, furniture, etc.)
- Vaccum dust from vents
Week 3 Cleaning Schedule
Week 4 Cleaning Schedule
- Clean inside of washing machine and dryer (vaccum the lint trap)
- Organize and declutter toys/crafts
- Orgainze and declutter office/mail
- Deep clean dishwasher (inside the trap area and wipe down entire bottom and surface areas)
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tips for cleaning as a working mom
- Get help from family – involve your children and make it fun! Even with littles, you can have them help sort laundry, etc.
- 15 Minute Cleaning Challenges – Everyday, spend 15 minutes cleaning and decluttering. Challenege yourself to get as much done in 15 minutes as possible. You’ll be surprised how much you get done in that amount of time when it’s a challenge. Set a timer, turn some music on, and have fun.
- Have a schedule – Print out a cleaning schedule and stick to it. Check off what you’ve done each day so you feel accomplished!
- Prioritize daily cleaning schedule – Houses don’t get out of hand when you’re doing daily tidy/clean ups. Prioritize the daily cleaning schedule I provided and your weekly and monthly tasks will be much quicker!
- Make it fun – Maybe you have a speedy clean party after each meal where your whole family sees how fast they can tidy up the house. Or maybe you have a day on the weekend where your family spends a hour deep cleaning something. Set out snacks, turn on some music, and make it a time for teaching your children how to keep their things nice.
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What is the best cleaning schedule?
The best cleaning schedule is one that is actually attainable. For busy, working moms, that means no more than about 1.5 hours of cleaning a day (including laundry and dishes). Further, the best cleaning schedule includes daily, weekly and monthly tasks. Lastly, the best cleaning schedule is one that builds in time for the weekly and monthly tasks into the daily tasks.
What should be cleaned weekly?
Your weekly cleaning tasks should include more in-depth cleaning of surfaces, like countertops, stove, microwave. It should also include washing bedding and blankets. Your bathrooms and floors should also be cleaned weekly. Doing these tasks on a weekly basis will ensure that they are quick and painless tasks.
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What should be cleaned daily?
Daily cleaning duties are things like tidying up and items that are being reused every day such as dishes and laundry. In order to have a perfectly curated cleaning schedule, you can build in time into each day to check off weekly tasks as well.
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How many hours a week should you spend on housework?
For busy, working moms it’s important to have no more than a total of 11 hours of housework per week (about 1.5 hours per day). This is doable if you spend a little bit of time cleaning each and every day.
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Thank you, Kyrie, for this well written and well explained article. I am definitely taking some inspiration and notes from this as my cleaning schedule has fallen wayside as my household has shifted into homeschooling. So this perfect for giving me ideas. Thank you, again!
Hi Elizabeth, thanks so much for reading! I’m glad you were able to snag some helpful tips 🙂 Big life changes definitely call for inspiration, I totally understand that.
Hey Kyrie 🙂 I just found about your blog a few days ago and read and figure out my routines. Now again, I need a few adaptions 🙂
In your plan I´m missing your times for cleaning windows and times you reserve for your grocery shopping. Is it because your husband takes care of that? 🙂 How do you manage these areas?
Right now I am in a position where i manage everything from a to z alone, and i just don´t get in to a flow with everything.
I´d be happy for you feedback 🙂 Best Regards, Sabine from Germany
Hi Sabine, thanks for your comment! The cleaning windows of time are meant to be flexible, but if you download the free cleaning schedule I provide “before work/after work” windows of time. 🙂 Regarding grocery shopping, this is in a separate category than cleaning for me, and no, when I was working full-time and managing the home I was in charge of all the grocery shopping as well. For this, I take advantage of grocery pick-up (free of charge if I ordered a certain dollar amount) and I would simply pick-up on the weekends. This took all of about 20 minutes from the time I left my house to the time I got back in the door.
The meal planning and deciding what food we needed were very quick as well because I meal plan for 6 months in advance. I teach you how to do that in this post: https://healthfullyrootedhome.com/rotating-meal-plan/
I also sell my six month meal plans (complete with meals/recipes/grocery lists, etc.) here: https://healthfullyrootedhome.com/meal-plans/
I hope this was helpful!
Where the hell is your partner in all of this? Why is all of this your responsibility? I find this absolutely absurd. This is a really great schedule to adhere to to keep your house clean, but why is it all on you? The person you share your home with should participate.
This is a schedule for the working mother who’s responsibility is to clean the house. Not everyone has the luxury of having a partner to help them with the load – or, perhaps, some partners help in other ways (farm chores, yard duty, watching the children, book keeping, working multiple jobs, etc.). It’s a very limited mindset to assume the partner is doing nothing when you read this article.
Reading this, I assumed my husband and kids would be part of this… not sure where the “husband” was not in this situation automatically.
You can absolutely delegate as you see fit!
So, firstly GREAT article? And second, why the hell are all these angry moms riding you for “not having a husband involved”? Excuse me? Lol girl bye I am 32 years old and never been married. Doesn’t mean a thing! Everyone has their own lives & their OWN way of living it. This is Kyrie’s article. Don’t sprinkle negative random, open ended questions such as “where’s the hubby in all this” etc. WHO does that!?
Peace & Blessings
Shyanne, this comment MADE MY WHOLE YEAR! haha thank you SO much for saying what I cannot 😉