Set Realistic Expectations: The ‘Clean-Enough’ Mindset
Maintaining a clean house when you have a full time job can feel like an impossible task. When you’re exhausted from a long day, the last thing you usually want to do is pick up a mop or start organizing clutter. But here’s the truth: a clean home doesn’t just look good — it’s a sanctuary that helps keep your mind calm and your stress levels down.
Over the years, I have been everything from a single working person to a stay-at-home mom to a mom working full-time outside the home, a mom working part-time outside the home, and now an empty-nester working full-time from home. Each situation brings unique challenges for keeping a clean home, but I can say from experience that most of the time it’s possible to keep a clean enough home without an overwhelming amount of stress.
Many of my readers are overthinkers who have a difficult time with organization and, well, just keeping life on track every day. So… before we dive into routines and schedules, let’s get one thing straight: perfection is not the goal here. We’re talking about a ‘clean-enough’ house.
Establish a Simple and Effective Cleaning Routine
When you’re working full time, creating a realistic and manageable cleaning routine that fits into your busy schedule is key. A well-planned daily and weekly home cleaning schedule will help you stay on top of household chores without feeling like you’re constantly playing catch-up.
Daily Non-Negotiable Cleaning Habits
These clean and tidy home habits take just a few minutes but have a big impact. Be sure to evaluate which ones are the most necessary for your own home. None of these tasks should take more than 2-10 minutes – maybe 15 minutes for the final kitchen cleanup if you have to do dishes by hand.
Quick sweep or vacuum of high-traffic areas: Focus on the places where dirt and dust accumulate quickly. Here’s the thing, though… your home may not get that dirty. If nobody is home during the day, you have no pets, and you take your shoes off at the door, this may not be a daily task for you.
Make your bed: A made bed instantly makes your bedroom look tidier and sets a positive tone for the day.
Deal with the kitchen: After meals, give your counters and sink a quick sanitizing wipe to prevent grime buildup. Unload the dishwasher in the morning, then load it during the course of the day and run it every night. No dishwasher? Make it a rule to do a quick sinkful of dishes after every meal – and keep your dinners simple to avoid an abundance of meal-prep dishes.
Spot clean the bathroom: Wipe down the sink and quickly swish the toilet with a brush. This keeps the bathroom fresh enough between deeper cleanings.
Keep up with the laundry: When I work full time, I keep a routine of doing a load every day. There are several ways to schedule this into your routine, but one that always works well for me is to start a load in the morning before work, switch to the dryer when I get home (or on my lunch break if I’m working from home), and take care of the dry clothes while waiting for dinner to cook or before bed.
Daily 10-minute tidy every evening: Spend 10 minutes putting things back in their designated spots and cleaning up any mini-messes that you notice along the way. This small effort can prevent overwhelming messes later.
Weekly Tasks: Break It Down, One Day at a Time
Tackling bigger chores throughout the week can help your home stay clean without devoting your entire weekend to cleaning. But even ‘bigger’ chores don’t have to take very long – aim for about 10-15 minutes each day for these tasks. Here’s a simple weekly plan (feel free to adjust as needed for your own needs):
- Monday: Wash your bed sheets – remove, wash, and put them right back on the bed to start your week fresh. Vacuum and dust.
- Tuesday: Wash the living room blankets and sanitize the remote controls, then give a little extra attention to vacuuming and dusting the living and dining rooms.
- Wednesday: Kitchen day. Clean out the refrigerator and expired pantry food, wipe down appliances & cabinets, take out trash (this may or may not need to be a daily task for you), sweep/mop the floor. This day is probably the biggest time commitment at about 20 minutes.
- Thursday: Fully clean the bathroom.
- Friday or Saturday: This is a good time to rotate slightly deeper cleaning. On different weeks, you can spend 10-20 minutes doing tasks such as extra declutter session, file papers, cleaning walls, baseboards, doors, deep clean appliances if they need it, clean any room that might need some extra help, or wash windows and blinds.
