Cleaning house – ugh! So overwhelming right? Especially when you do not have a cleaning checklist or plan of action to get your house clean AND keep it clean.
Today, let’s talk cleaning checklists that are realistic and will actually help you organize your cleaning tasks and chores WITHOUT overwhelming you so you can easily GET your house clean and maintain it.
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I recently received an email from a Decluttering Your Life reader looking for help creating a cleaning checklist that would work for her “real life”. She found other cleaning checklists to be too complicated and not realistic for her at all.
Here’s what the email said:
First off, I LOVE all the cleaning and organizing tips in your emails – so helpful! I’m reaching out to you today because I could really use your expertise in making home cleaning less overwhelming. I’ve always struggled with creating a cleaning checklist that doesn’t feel like an additional source of stress, and I believe your insights could really help me out.
My main goal is to find a way to keep my home clean and organized without feeling like I’m constantly playing catch-up. I’m looking for practical tips on how to prioritize tasks, manage my time effectively, and incorporate cleaning methods that work for different areas of my home.
It would be amazing to learn how to create a checklist that’s actually realistic for “Real Life” – do you have any house cleaning lists to share to help me create me own?
Thanks in advance!
Grace W.
First off, thank you, Grace, for your email!
What a great topic to talk about today!
Below I will share a few Real Life cleaning checklists from other readers that I think will help you out a lot!
Before I jump in…
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Alrighty, let’s look at some simple cleaning checklists that make cleaning house look totally do-able AND easily repeatable.
That’s the key, right? Finding a list you know you CAN do… AND that you will CONTINUE to do.
10 Step Speed Cleaning List
First off, how about a really simple 10-step Speed Cleaning checklist, like this?
What I LOVE about this reader’s checklist?
It’s only 10 steps – and 10 EASY steps to do over and over that WILL help you maintain a clean home.
However, it’s basic cleaning with the tacks being very minimal (ie, not CLEANING as much as “tidying up”.
Once you have deep cleaned your home, that 10-step list is perfect to keep it that way and to not let the clutter creep back in.
✅ Here is a Deep Cleaning Checklist, if you need it.
Saturday Cleaning List
This next cleaning checklist only has 13 steps and is broken down into the time it takes to do each task – she calls it her “Saturday Cleaning List”.
I love the “time it takes” concept – another way to look at is the amount of time you are ALLOWED to do that cleaning task (ie, beat the clock… I love quick 10-minute declutter challenges like that!)
To create your own cleaning checklist like in the picture above, quickly list out 10-15 specific tasks you want to accomplish, then actually TIME YOURSELF doing them.
Funny side note about that: When you actually TIME yourself doing a cleaning task, you will find they take WAY less time than you think it does!
It’s amazing how much you can declutter in 15 MINUTES!
I try and “beat the clock” ALL THE TIME.
If something is cooking in the microwave, I’ll try and empty the dishwasher to clean a counter BEFORE the microwave is done.
Or, I’ll run around and do some quick tidying up while my coffee is making.
ALL those simple things I used to put off because they’d “take too long” actually only take a few MINUTES!
Room By Room Cleaning List
Now, if you’re someone, like ME, that needs a cleaning checklist to be broken down by ROOM, this next room-by-room checklist is very realistic and totally do-able.
What I really love about the cleaning list above is that it starts with “trash” – ie, DECLUTTER that obvious stuff FIRST… THEN get to cleaning.
Now, that checklist IS a bit more involved so it might be too overwhelming for some, however, if you love to check things OFF a list, that cleaning plan is really solid and many will find it easily repeatable as well.
Printable Checklists
If you want PRINTABLE cleaning checklists, here are 55 pages of cleaning and organizing worksheets to print and use.
So whatcha think? Any of the above cleaning checklists more realistic and better for “Real Life”?
As I receive more checklists to share, I’ll add them here.
Again, Grace, THANK YOU – what a great email that inspired this (hopefully) very helpful blog post!
My House Was a MESS!
And my anxiety was through the roof!
I needed a plan to get it together - it was all pushing me over the edge.
Thing is - we LIVE here... I never had the fantasy that my home would ever look "Pinterest perfect".
I simply wanted more control, less clutter and much less anxiety.
I finally found something that worked for ME.
- My house is now easier to clean - I can now clean it in minutes, instead of hours.
- I can now actually FIND the things I'm looking for.
- I learned some simple decluttering systems that make me much more efficient every day - and I'm more relaxed and less overwhelmed all the time (finally)
- My house now looks pretty darn good almost all the time.
- Best of all - I no longer stress about guests unexpectedly showing up.
This is how I did it.
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