How to Make a Cleaning Schedule That Actually Works with Free Printable

Keeping your home clean doesn’t have to be so overwhelming. It really can be quick and easy. In this article, I’ll share my daily chores and help you create a daily cleaning schedule for your home that you will actually stick with! Get your free daily cleaning printable and get started.

It doesn’t matter if you work from home, stay home with little ones, or work outside of the home; no matter how much time you spend at home the chores never seem to end. Today I’ll help you create a simple daily cleaning checklist that will enable you to keep up with household chores.

My Sample Daily Cleaning Schedule

Below is an example of my daily cleaning schedule. Keep in mind that I update and change my cleaning schedule frequently. For example, in the summer, the kids are home and able to help with daily chores so my cleaning schedule is much shorter. When children are helping with chores, I suggest using my cleaning cards.

• Make your bed.
• Quickly scrub and wipe the toilets.
• Wipe down the bathroom sink, counter, and faucet.  
• Put in one load of laundry. (See my weekly cleaning schedule for laundry days)
  • Wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry.
• Empty the dishwasher
• Clean up after each meal
  • Put away what you used
  • Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher or hand-wash.
  • Wipe the dining table
  • Wash kitchen counters and stove
• Vacuum or sweep any dirty floors
• Run the dishwasher after dinner.
• Tidy living areas – pillows and blankets
• Pick up and put away clutter, shoes, paperwork, etc. 

While my weekly cleaning schedule covers most big cleaning projects and gives me a plan for the week, I still need to keep up with daily chores. In this post, I will show you how you can create a daily cleaning schedule that works for you.

** Check out my list of Must-Have Cleaning Tools to make Spring Cleaning easier! Read the post here.

Prioritize Your Daily Cleaning Tasks

One of the first things you want to consider when creating your own cleaning schedule is what matters most to you. Everyone has different cleaning expectations. For some, it is important to have a super decluttered and clean kitchen. Others may need the laundry to be done every day. Paperwork and other clutter may be a point of aggravation for some people.

For me, a clean kitchen and clutter-free surfaces are my priorities. I feel overwhelmed and distracted when the house is full of clutter or my kitchen sink is full of dishes. Because these are my top priorities, I used them as the foundation for my cleaning schedule. 

Action Step 1:

Get a piece of paper and start brainstorming your top cleaning tasks. Once you have your most important tasks on the list begin to add other cleaning tasks that you want to be done daily. 

Determine How Much Time to Clean Each Day

I have a pretty flexible schedule, which can be nice but it can also make getting into a routine more difficult. I like to set aside 30-45 minutes a day for my daily cleaning. While I don’t time myself, I do find it helpful to know that I won’t be cleaning for hours every day. Some days I go under this time if things don’t need a deep clean. On other days I may decide to go over and do a more deep, thorough cleaning. Deciding how much time you want to spend cleaning is important before you create your schedule. 

You might get to this step and feel overwhelmed, thinking that your tasks will take way too much time every day. Take a minute to see if that is true.

I did a little challenge and timed myself while I did several daily tasks. Here’s what I found:

• Making the bed: 1 minute
• Wiping down the toilet: 30 seconds
• Wiping down the bathroom counters/sink and faucet: 2 minutes
• Scrubbing out the toilet (not a deep clean just a quick swish!): 30 seconds 
• Filling the dishwasher after dinner: 6 minutes
• Tidy up the pillows and blankets in the living room: 2 minutes
• Wipe down the dining table: 2 minutes
• Wiping down the kitchen counters: 2 1/2 minutes
• Cleaning off the stove top: 3 minutes

Once I realized how fast I could complete these tasks, it changed my mindset and I realized it would not actually take very long for me to do these things each day. 

Action Step 2:

Look at your list – do these tasks fit into the time you have allowed for your daily cleaning? If there are too many tasks, consider removing some or think of a way to cut back on the time that task will take. 

Decide What Time of Day Works Best for Your Daily Cleaning

I like to break it up and do some morning cleaning sessions (once the kids leave for school) and one after dinner. Having set routines for when to clean helps me not to feel overwhelmed in the middle of the day, because I know that I have a plan to get things cleaned up after dinner. 

Action Step 3:

Now that you have your basic list complete, think about your days and look for blocks of time that you can use to do some quick cleaning tasks. Mornings might be quieter for you or you might be like me and want to break up your tasks into two chunks of time each day. On your printable, I have 3 time slots, Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. Place each task in the time slot that works best for you. Keeping this step simple is the best way to be flexible with yourself so you stick to your plan.

Here’s how I break up my Daily Cleaning Schedule

Morning:

• Make the bed.
• Do a quick toilet scrub and wipe.
• Wipe down the bathroom sink and faucet.
• Put 1 load of laundry in the wash, if needed.
• Empty the dishwasher – I like to do this while my breakfast is cooking.
• Clean up anything used for breakfast.
• Wipe down the dining table.
• Wipe down counters.
• Fill the dishwasher (have the kids help).

MidDay

• Tidy up living spaces
• Quick vacuum the living room and kitchen, if needed
• Clean up any hot spots that have clutter (table tops, counters, etc.)
• Move clean clothes into the dryer, if needed.

Evening  

• Fold clean clothes (You can do this while relaxing in the evening after dinner)
• Fill the dishwasher with dinner dishes.
• Do the dishes. Dry them and put them away. (Don’t leave a pile of clean dishes out)
• Wipe down the counters, stove, and sink.
• Clean off the dining room table.
• Check the floor and sweep if needed.
• Empty the garbage and recycling, if needed.
• Do a quick tidy of the living room (fix pillows and tidy).
• Finish filling the dishwasher if needed and run it.

Get Your Free Daily Cleaning Schedule Printable

Are you a busy mom who just wants an easy way to get started? Print out my basic daily cleaning schedule. This schedule covers the most basic daily chores and is a great way to get started. Use the extra lines to customize your daily cleaning schedule. Pair this with my weekly cleaning schedule to help you do a more deep cleaning throughout your house each week.

You should receive your file(s) link via e-mail within the hour. Be sure to check your spam or promotions folder if you cannot find the e-mail. If, after an hour, you have not received anything, contact me and I’ll help you figure out what happened. For personal use only. Please do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission. Classroom use is permitted.

Instructions on how to print and resize your printable to fit your own planner can be found here.