Tuesday, May 21, 2013

55 May Mini-Challenge: A Cleaning Plan for our Clan

How has the cleaning been going this month?  I was struck with the flu so things slowed down a bit this last couple of days, but I still have big plans to get things done within the last 9 days in May!

Although I have shared bits of this in the past, I figured there was no time like the present, given this month's challenge, to share another super quick cleaning tip!

Create a cleaning plan!


I have plans to go into much more detail on how we work together as a family with our chores, in an upcoming post, however, I thought it was worth popping in to share a high level version today.

We have tried every reward system and chore chart system in the world.  And nothing really stuck or worked until we placed all of our daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual cleaning tasks, in a single happy home.


Here's the deal.  Our home doesn't always sparkle.  We are not living in a magazine ready home and it is very loved and lived in by five crazy folks and two furry pets.  That said, if I don't give myself and my clan some sort of cleaning plan, the house goes downhill, and fast!

The process to create a cleaning plan was quite simple:

First, I started out by going through the rooms in our home and jotting down on a scrap sheet of paper, the different cleaning tasks that should take place within each.

Second, I assigned a frequency to each task.

Third, I categorized each task by frequency, on a more streamlined cleaning checklist.  With so many items I want to tackle each day/week/month, having them on a single checklist ensures I remember to wash our linens and cycle clean our dishwasher.

Fourth, we are a clan that works together so we can play together.  Rather than having separate chore charts for each kiddo, they actively use the family cleaning checklist as well.  Each chore is assigned to a member of the family to take ownership of.  That way, no one person is left managing all of the household tasks, and everyone can find a routine. 


Fifth step is to pop that checklist into a nice big frame.  The glass front acts as a dry-erase board so that we can clear the checklist each day/week/month, etc...  Since I have OCD list making tendencies, this method prevents me from writing and re-writing our tasks.


Final step is to dedicate a spot in the house for the frame to be mounted.  I try to keep fridge clutter to a minimum, but the frame keeps it looking more polished.  And the side of the fridge isn't all that visual from other areas in the home, but it's a nice little nook to dedicate to our lists.


The frames are mounted with Command Picture Hanging Strips, and can easily be removed down the road if we should need to.

The other frame you have spotted above, is our nightly routine and schedule.  It is just a simple way to keep the fam on track with time management and prioritizing simple daily habits {such as helping with chores, doing homework, reading and brushing teeth}.  Because we have learned the hard way, without schedule help, our days slip away fast!


Do we stick to our schedule every. single. day?  Nope.  We like to live on the wild side and skip a day from time to time....  Of course no day is predictable and things come up and life gets crazy busy with school events and play dates, but the checklist is a simple way to keep us on task and ensure our home gets some love along the way.

Anyone else use a checklist to stay on track with cleaning and household chores?  What's your favorite cleaning task {mine is cleaning glass}, or how about your least favorite {that would be toilets, ew}.


 
Pssst!  For a limited time only in the spirit of the monthly challenge, you can snag your free cleaning checklist printable here!  You can also purchase a customized version from my Etsy shop here.  Love y'all!

55 comments:

  1. I love to clean in general even though I don't stay on top of it. I should have a checklist just like you created. P.S. I had the flu a few weeks ago and it was awful!!! Glad your feeling better.

    Christine

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    1. Love that you love to clean too! I thought I was the only one... :) Something so refreshing about a clean house though!

      xo!
      Jen

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  2. I'm so impressed, Jen! I've been brainstorming ways to keep up with cleaning (my least favorite task) in our apartment, and this is brilliant! Love it!

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  3. Great idea! My favorite task is vacuuming. I also don't mind wiping down the kitchen. I enjoy rinsing off the patios with the hose also. My least fave is blowing out the garage with the gas blower. It's the quickest way to 'dust' the garage, but I can't do it without immediately jumping in the shower after. It makes me feel dirty, plus I like to wash off that exhaust smell. In the winter I use the blower for the patios also. Spring, summer & fall (we live on AZ desert) I use the hose 2xs weekly & I always get my feet wet and splash myself to make it runner, LOL. As for blowing out the garage, using the blower forces me to pick up any trash, toys or clutter first. Although its not a household task, the worse chore is cleaning out my car!

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    1. Vacuuming is a close second for me too! I have to do it daily because the pups shed and the kids like sand and dirt! :)

      I have been looking into those blowers, I have heard they are quite handy for outdoor chores.

      xo!
      Jen

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  4. I've always loved your cleaning lists and found great inspiration from them! I recently created a checklist just to keep track of our bed sheets being cleaned. We wash them on a bi-weekly rotation but seem to have reasons to wash individual ones at other times (someone is sick, leaky diaper, etc.) and now I can keep track of when and who's sheets have been changed. With seven of us in the house this is the only way that I can guarantee that our sheets stay clean and still save us from washing sheets that might have recently been washed.

    ~Sarah

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  5. I'm working on creating the same kind of thing in our home. It's just the hubby and I and the 2 pups so we don't have any kiddos to help. But, I've found when I start this project, I start to kind of draw a blank. Can you maybe post your actual cleaning task list? It might help with my brainstorming. :)

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    1. I will definitely touch more on the specifics of our actual tasks within one of the next posts. :) Stay tuned...

      xo!
      Jen

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    2. Yea! That was my question. I cannot express in words my love of the pretty frames to make it discreet/visually pretty!

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  6. Love the organization! I was just wondering how did you color code everyone's chores? Were the little circles stickers? With a family of five I know how it can get confusing fast and I just love that idea!

    Thanks!
    Melissa

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    1. Hi Melissa!

      I assigned a color to each family member when I was whipping up the printable, and then I just used those colors within the chart itself {graphics/printed}. Stickers could work too though!!

      xo!
      Jen

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  7. Jen,
    I didn't see the Nightly Routine in your Etsy shop? Any chance you are going to be providing that to your faithful readers?? Or putting it in your Etsy Shop? With 5 boys, I'd love to have it!
    Angela

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    1. Hi Angela!

      It is currently so specific to our family, I am not sure there is an easy way to offer it without it needing to be customized differently for everyone. I will totally brainstorm on that though!

      xo,
      Jen

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    2. Jen,
      I also love the nightly routine checklist. Maybe you could just do the categories at the top with columns and leave everything else blank for the individual to personalize. With your gorgeous colors and the categories and columns set, it would be perfect to help organize the nightly routine. I know that I'd love to have it!
      Stephanie

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    3. I definitely agree with Stephanie- categories at the top of the columns and everything else blank for us to fill in and customize :) Would buy it in a heart beat- I already purchased your household binder and planner and love your use of colors and fonts! THANKS! Maritza

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  8. Guess I'm not the only "freak" as my dear hubby puts it, that likes to clean. Everything has a home, so why not put it where it belongs, right? Right? My hubby's friends are so immature, umm I mean funny, they will specifically move something to see how long it takes me to put it back in it's proper place. A clean home makes me happy and a happy wife = happy life. When will hubby learn, lol

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  9. You are a LIFE. SAVER! Seriously, creating a cleaning plan and a routine for our family is two of the biggest things that need my attention right now. I've tried a home management binder, but it doesn't really work for me. I kept thinking I need something a little more visual {i.e. not hidden in a binder... You know, "out of sight, out of mind"}. So... Thank You for this! I'll definitely be putting this idea into practice soon.

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    1. Thank you! I still love my household binder for a lot of items I need to reference, however, I agree that I need things in plain site for them to be more effective! :)

      xo!
      Jen

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  10. These are all awesome ideas. We have six in the house too and it seems I do almost all of the work. Love this. Can't wait to read more details. I love the sheet one!! that's AWESOME!!!

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  11. Love it, as usual! Do you still keep your cleaning checklist in your home management binder though, now that you've framed it up?

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    1. I do have a copy in there, but the boys kept pulling out the binder so up on the fridge it went. Much easier for us since we reference it so frequently.

      xo!
      Jen

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  12. Thank again Jen for another great organizing tip! Can't wait to try this system! Is your schedule printable available on your Etsy shop? Would love to have a copy!

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    1. Hi Maritza!

      The schedule is currently so specific to our family, I am not sure there is an easy way to offer it without it needing to be customized differently for everyone. I will see what I can do though!

      xo,
      Jen

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  13. I really love that little nook you have for your checklist and mail! Really cute!

    I also follow a cleaning chart and would be lost without it. It really helps keep me on track and breaks down chores into manageable time frames. Mine might be a little more broad than yours - today was dust and vacuum living areas and wash wood floors. But it works! My chart is a white board in the laundry room that doesn't really change, I also keep my "laundry schedule" on there. Will be excited to see more of your tasks!

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  14. we just started using chore sticks, which i found while perusing pinterest, i love them!!!!! my kids even keep telling me they wish i had found them years ago because it just makes things run so much smoother and makes for a happier mommy. i do need to have a chart for the weekly and monthly/yearly chores though so i will be working on those. my favorite job? laundry. true story. least favorite? sweeping.

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  15. Am I missing where I can print these??

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  16. Oh! Iove! We are moving this month and I want to keep it pretty! Cannot wait to see the checklist! I need to find an editable template!
    And I love to sweep outside! I despise most everything else!
    Rachel
    The tattooed teacher

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  17. Hi Jen,

    If you had any idea how many times in the past 18 months (since I became one of your readers) that I have revisited your post called "You asked: Squeaky Clean" you would belly laugh! I made my own checklist and I love it. I need to update it and incorporate the family though---Too much for just me these days! I look forward to hearing more about your family's participation. Thanks Jen!
    Anita Y. in Southern California

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  18. I super love this!!!! What an amazing idea!!!!!

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  19. Did you make printables of these chart available?

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  20. I have a similar checklist for our cleaning. We've only been using it a short while but it's been working great! As a list lover I like nothing better than ticking off completely tasks :-) I also have dates in for bi-annual tasks to remind me when we last completely that particular little job.

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  21. I love this Jen. We have a cleaning chart that is very similar but your routine one is amazing. As for best and worst chores, I love to clean (crazy I know). Bathrooms are my favorite, and if I had to pick a least favorite it would probably be mopping (our whole house is tile so it is a huge job). Great post xo

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  22. I would love to purchace both of those schedules!!! Are you going to put them in your etsy shop?

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  23. Love it Jen! Would you mind sharing where you found your sorter system?

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    1. Hello!

      It is the daily system from Pottery Barn, I purchased it a few years ago, but I believe they still sell it, and put it on sale from time to time. Otherwise, I have seen similar options at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. :)

      xo,
      Jen

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  24. I searched your etsy shop for you family cleaning checklist and couldn't find it. Any chance we could purchase it?

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  25. Such a great idea - I'm impressed with everything you do !

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  26. Where did you get the wall mounted white file/paper holder? Love that idea! thanks for your blog!

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    1. Hi Becky!

      It is the daily system from Pottery Barn, I purchased it a few years ago, but I believe they still sell it, and put it on sale from time to time. Otherwise, I have seen similar options at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. :)

      xo,
      Jen

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  27. where did you find the frames for the charts i love them!

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    1. Thank you! They are from Target and I sprayed them with a champagne gold spray paint. :)

      xo!
      Jen

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  28. Hi Jen,
    I follow your blog regularly, but I have been OBSESSED with it this month and have been so inspired by your Spring Cleaning theme! I LOVE your printables, and I think your nightly routine/schedule is GENIUS. Wondering, though: what do you use the right-hand side of that printable for (with the days of the week at the top)?
    Thanks!

    Amanda

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    1. Hi Amanda!

      We added that section to check off tasks for the kids when we first implemented the schedule. Now, they are pretty use to the routine, but it's nice when we need a refresher. :)

      xo,
      Jen

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  29. I just found your page and I must say, I so love the schedules! I don't really care for cleaning (no one in my house does for some reason) but I think if we would make a list of everything that needs to be done and set the tasks to specific people (hubby, my brother and myself) we might even happily do some housework. ;-) I definitely downloaded the free schedule. Thank you so much for that. I read this in previous comments and I too loved to be able to purchase the hourly chart. I've seen your etsy page and I think it could work if you can just select how many columns are needed for "who" and leave the rest blank (like the babysitter info page you offer). But even if that won't work out for you, I'm grateful for the cleaning schedule, for sure.

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  30. Found this post from today's entry (6/3/13) and wondered . . .where did you get the clear knobs to hang stuff on in your nook?

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    1. It was a DIY project from about a year ago. We just found some clean knobs at a local home improvement store and attached them to a board. :)

      xo,
      Jen

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  31. Dear Jen:

    You are such inspiration!!!! I am from Chile, but I met your blog while We live in the Philippines And really has help me a lot!!!! I love all cute and I am a mom of 3 boys !!!
    Thank you for all your help!!!!!

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  32. Thanks for all your sharing, Jen! Much appreciated. :) I think I'm reading a few people kind of have the same question as I do about your cleaning list. I just bought it and I'm trying to find out if there's a tip or trick to somehow typing chores on there, since my handwriting sucks. I want to make clear (just in case) I'm in no way trying to break any laws or anything (not sure if what I wanted would be heading that way or not -- yikes if so! //rambling. sorry!) :) I was thinking though, I try my best to clean our home (so-to-be of 5 :) ), I've got no direction or clue. I figured your list could be a really good guidance. SO-- what about printing up your blank copy we've purchased, and using a label maker to fill it in?? Not sure if anyone else thought of that, but it beats my handwriting! That's for sure! (Again, sorry for the ramble. thanks Jen!)

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  33. Hi Jen,
    Not sure if you'll see this since this post was so long ago, but I was wondering what program you did your nightly schedule in? I love the circles:)

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    1. Hi Amanda!

      I use Microsoft Excel and used the shape function to add the circles. :)

      xo!

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