The Simplified Working Mom Cleaning Schedule

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Let’s be real, the last thing we want to do after work is clean our house, but it has to get done. To avoid long hours cleaning your home, I created a simplified working mom cleaning routine so we can spend less time picking up and more time enjoying our free time!

In my time as an adult, who is responsible for the care and cleaning of her own living space, I have spent the majority of that time in careers that take well over 40 hours a week of my time. I have also been married for about 90% of my post-college life, which means another person to care for and consider. And from the day I became a mom, I have always been a working mom.

There really is no way to do it all and do it all well. This is why my little family started using a maid service 3 months after we bought our first home. Without our bi-monthly visits from our fairy godmother (because that is the role our housekeeper actually plays in my life), our house would be an absolute wreck. Because mopping, sweeping and vacuuming are things that I have decided I would rather trade for more time with my kids or time to work on my hobbies.

And while our maid service really does the heavy lifting around cleaning our home, there are still things that I have to take care of on a routine basis to make sure my house is functioning well. At first, these tasks were a little overwhelming to me. How was I going to keep up with all of the little things that need to be done to keep a house running AND stay focused in my job AND not feel like I was running myself ragged?

Enter – my working mom cleaning schedule.

I realized that if I could break down our household needs and put them into a routine, it was easier for me to keep up with what we needed to do and when. And since we have implemented this system in our house, things seem to run a bit more smoothly.

Now we rarely ever have days where there are no clean sippy cups for our toddler, and our bathroom is (usually) stocked with clean towels. We certainly aren’t perfect, but sticking to a cleaning schedule has helped this working mom manage her household to the point where it has reduced stress greatly in all of our lives!

None of the tasks that I am outlining below take more than 15 minutes at a time. I do not have the time (or at all enjoy) cleaning for 30+ minutes a day. And to be honest, if it is going to take me that long, I probably wouldn’t do it.

I am all about quick actions that add up to a big impact. Sound like your kind of plan too?

Working Mom Cleaning Schedule

Monthly Cleaning Checklist

There are a lot of things in my house that need to be cleaned out or touched up monthly and it can be hard for me to remember to check these things off my list since they aren’t a part of my daily or even weekly routine. This checklist helps me tick off these small tasks that don’t need to be done quite as frequently.

I find it is helpful to try and do all of these on the same day each month so that it feels a little more routine. I put this list in my planner on the first of the month so that I am much less likely to forget!

Clean Washing Machine – we have a front loading washing machine so this is pretty important. But I just toss in an Affresh tablet and let it run on the self-cleaning cycle.
Clean Dishwasher – Same thing, just toss in an Affresh Dishwasher tablet and run it on the self-cleaning cycle.
Change Air Filters – We order our air filters through Amazon Subscribe and Save so when those show up on our doorstep, I know it is time to change those suckers.
Replace Lightbulbs – If a lightbulb goes out in our living room, we usually change it immediately, but we don’t always eat in our dining room so I am less likely to notice when a bulb goes out there. Do a quick walk of your house and see what bulbs need to be changed. Then order replacement bulbs on Amazon so you won’t ever be without a backup when it goes out again!
Clean Kids Toys – We have a little one so our toys do get little kid gunk on them. I take the Seventh Generation Disinfecting Spray and give all our toys a once over to disinfect them. This spray rocks because you don’t have to wipe it off once you spray it. All of our toys are cleaned within 5 minutes!

Weekly Cleaning Checklist

Clean out your fridge – I would recommend doing this before trash day. Get rid of those leftovers. You know you aren’t actually going to eat them. If you are always throwing out food, try some basic meal-planning tips!
Clean out your car – Take 10 minutes to look in your car and clean out any sippy cups or Chick-Fil-A bags that have been left there. I like to do this on Saturday mornings since we usually aren’t as rushed as we are on a weekday.
Fold blankets & Reset Couch – You may prefer to do this daily, but I keep it on my weekly list. I take a few minutes to fold all of our living room blankets and push all the pillows back in order on Friday nights. We don’t spend a ton of time watching TV during the week, but it is nice to have the living room looking fresh for Saturday when we tend to spend more time at home.
Wipe down and clean off countertops – During the week, our kitchen clutter tends to build up. So while our weekly Saturday Cinnamon Rolls are in the oven, I wipe down countertops with Weiman Granite Countertop Wipes and put away any pantry/snack items that have been left sitting out (usually by me).

Daily Cleaning Checklist

Put toys away – If your kids are old enough, have them help with this! Our two year old helps put her toys away and it is a good way for her to start learning to care for her things and our house.
Pick up stray items – We have a laundry basket that I use to make a pass around our home each evening to pick up stray socks, shoes, whathaveyou. I don’t always empty that basket each night, but at least those items aren’t laying around hour house.
Go through the mail – Paper clutter is huge for us. We try to go through the mail daily and toss the stuff we don’t need and file what we do. When we skip this, it ends up being a much longer ordeal when we finally decide to face it.
Empty the dishwasher – In the morning, take 5-10 minutes to load the dishes from the day before. I do this before work. Usually, we fill up the dishwasher every day or every other day. I set it to run while we are at work and then I empty it right before dinner.
Laundry – Aim to do one small load of laundry each day. Start a load before you leave for work. Move it to the dryer when you get home, and then fold and put it away right before you go to bed. When I get behind on laundry, I move it to a weekly task and my husband and I pick a movie to watch while we fold and hang all the clothes.

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Like I mentioned earlier, it is hard to keep it all together, and as a working mom, it is important to streamline all of the “must do” tasks so that we can spend the majority of our free time enjoying the things in life that bring us joy! I love this simple cleaning schedule and find it pretty easy to keep up with. If you want a copy of the monthly, weekly and daily cleaning checklist, you can download it via the form below!