Cleaning House: The Chore Chart*

You guys, I have a confession to make… my house is a disaster. Pretty much all the time.

Since Hank’s arrival, I’ve found it challenging to try and find a delicate balance of meeting the needs of a newborn and toddler as well as attempting to keep my house in order. There are days when remembering to shower and brush my teeth feels like a major accomplishment, never mind vacuuming or cleaning my windows.

Thinking about all the cleaning I have to do to keep up my house is sometimes really overwhelming… so I started thinking about ways I could break things up to make it seem more manageable. I’m a very visual person, so I thought that some kind of organized chart could help.

So, I did what any desperate housewife would do: I searched Pinterest.

I actually haven’t been a huge Pinterest fan until quite recently. Seeing all the beautifully decorated houses and perfect mothers doing cute crafts with their seven children was a little depressing, and really, who needs that.

However, I recently discovered their recipe section and I am hooked. So, I thought I would give it a whirl and see if anything came up. As the page loaded, I scrolled through so many neat ideas others were using to manage their daily tasks. After seeing a few that I liked, I spent a precious nap-time hour organizing my daily tasks and playing around with a document until I had it just the way I wanted it.

It ended up looking like this:

I tried to divvy up my big chores and spread them out across the week. You’ll notice that there is only one big chore for each day, as well as small tasks that I try to keep up with every day. I didn’t include basic things like doing the dishes as those things get done anyway.

Rather than print a new chart each week, I found an idea to make one sheet reusable… and I could have it in a location I’d see all the time. I went to Dollarama and picked up a cheap 8×10 picture frame and some dry erase markers. I inserted the chart, and… voila!

I hung my chart in my kitchen, above the counter where I spend the most time preparing food or putting away dishes. The frame + dry erase markers allow me to adjust the dates each week, and check off my tasks as I complete them. It’s just a simple, silly idea, but being able to check something off and actually seeing that I’ve accomplished something each day feels really good.

That being said, I also don’t beat myself up if I’m not able to finish a task. I’m getting better at cutting myself some slack, and if I don’t get my kitchen floor swept at the end of the day, I know I can always try in the morning. It just makes cleaning feel so much more manageable. Instead of staring at an endless mountain of jobs, I like knowing that I have one or two “big” jobs to try and get done each day.

The best part? This project cost me a whopping $2. Win.

If anyone is interested, I would be happy to email the chart… it’s easy to move tasks around, or delete them all and insert your own! Just shoot me a message on Facebook or leave me a note here and I’ll send it your way.

How do you stay on top of your cleaning? Any tips for me?