Did you know that a good cleaning routine can save you money? It’s true! Keeping your home clean and clutter free can lead to many more benefits than just the look and feel of a clean home.

When your home is clean you want to be there more often. No more running to Target and spending impulsively just to get away from the mess.

When your sink is empty, making dinner becomes ten times easier. The dishes and cookware you need are already clean and ready to use. The coffee pot can be prepared in advance so you don’t have to go through the drive thru in the morning.

There are many benefits to a clean home, but how do you actually keep it clean? The answer: a good cleaning routine you can actually enjoy. Read on for a few tips on creating your own cleaning routine.

1.) Choose Your Must Do’s

What are the must-have elements of a clean home for you? Is it making sure your bed is made every morning? Keeping the laundry under control? Making sure the dishes are done daily?

Decide on the top cleaning priorities that make you feel at peace in your home. This way, even if only the bare minimum gets cleaned every day, you won’t feel totally out of control.

If you don’t know where to start, here are the areas I suggest you focus on as top priorities:

• The kitchen sink. Make sure your dishes for the day are all washed and put up, or at least cleaned in the dishwasher to unload in the morning.
• The laundry room. Try not to let the dirty laundry pile up all over the floor. Sort the dirty clothes into your hampers to wash on laundry day.
• Your bedroom. This is your area of oasis, so be sure that you aren’t living in chaos here. Keep clothes and shoes off the floor, nightstands de-cluttered, and the bed made.

2.) Learn Your Peak Times

In order to create a cleaning routine you’ll actually enjoy and stick to, it’s important to make sure you’re working with your strong suits and not against them. This means that you should schedule your time to clean during the hours you know you’ll feel energetic and be able to get up and get going.

Some people already know when they operate best. If you already know you’re a morning person, then you can schedule in a good hour or so to dedicate to cleaning after breakfast. Feel good in the afternoons? Then that’s a safe time to set your chores for.

If you don’t know when you operate best, experiment with a few different times of day for a few weeks until you learn what feels right for your body.

3.) Gather the Right Tools

Are there any cleaning tasks you’ve been putting off because you simply don’t know how to do them? For the longest time my stainless steel appliances didn’t get a good cleaning because I didn’t know what cleaning products were safe to use.

It wasn’t until I cleaned an office building as a side job that I started using various kinds of cleaning products and discovered the magic of stainless steel cleaner.

Think of the different areas of your home that need cleaned. Are there any you’ve neglected because you’re missing the right tools or knowledge? A quick Google search will tell you how to do the job right for those difficult cleaning tasks on your list.

4.) Experiment with Different Methods

One of my favorite cleaning routines is assigning a different task to each day of the week. This works so well because you’re only spending a few minutes a day cleaning, yet everything gets done consistently.

Once you’ve decided on your daily must-do’s, add in one extra cleaning task a day. You could do bathrooms on Mondays, vacuum on Tuesdays, etc.

Another popular cleaning method is what I consider “batch cleaning.” With this cleaning method, you save all those big cleaning tasks for one day of the week. On your cleaning day you spend a few hours getting the house cleaned from top to bottom. People like this method because they feel like they get a break from cleaning the rest of the week.

Experiment with these different methods until you find which way you like best. Then schedule your cleaning for your peak times and make it your routine!

5.) Get Some Help

Some days even our best efforts won’t get us as far as we’d like. There’s only so much one person can do, and for those tough cleaning jobs it can be best to enlist some help.

If you have kids, teaching them how to clean a home can be a great learning experience for them. And I’m sure that if you can find a way to make a game out of cleaning, they won’t even complain too much about it.

If you are married, get your spouse involved. You both live there and make the mess, so keeping the home in shape should be both of your responsibility. If you’re usually the one doing all the cleaning, understand you may be hit with some resistance at first. Once you explain to your spouse that the less time you spend cleaning the more time you can spend together, he’ll surely jump on board fast!

6.) Use Resources

There are many different cleaning challenges, planners, chore charts, etc. available at our fingertips. A quick Pinterest search will leave you brewing with ideas for your next cleaning project!

Next time you need a little inspiration, search for some pretty printables online. You could even create your own simple checklists in Word or Excel. If you’re one of those people who love to check things off a to do list, this can be a very helpful way to make your cleaning routine a habit.

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To Sum Up..

If you love the idea of a clean home but you’ve never taken the time to create a good cleaning routine, follow the steps listed above to get started today. Just think of what a blessing a clean and organized home will be to your family!

By choosing your must-do’s and learning your peak energy times, you’ll be well on your way to establishing a good routine. Gather the right tools, experiment with different cleaning methods, and get some help to further increase your chances of success. Use printables and different resources to keep you on track until your cleaning routine becomes habit.

I fully believe in you and I know that you can do this. Be sure to give yourself grace while you figure out the right cleaning routine for your schedule. You’ll be so glad you stuck with it. 🙂