Housework schedule or as and when it needs doing?

[Worriedmom123]

Current situation is I've gone back to work after maternity leave and struggling to keep on top of chores.
Can't afford a cleaner.
Husband works long hours but helps when he can.

So currently I have a 2 week schedule where I clean the kitchen, bathroom, polish all surfaces, doors, ornaments, skirting boards, hoover house top to bottom and mop all floors. To do all of this with a 1 year old around normal daily life takes around 5 days.
I find myself getting really stressed and trying to fit it all in. I'm aware I need to keep on top of kitchen and bathroom but just wondering about the polishing, hoovering etc do people do it when they see it needs it or have a schedule?
After some new ideas to make me less stressed and an easier life. I never hear any of my friends say they've got housework to do.
Thanks in advance..

I don’t have a schedule as such. But I look at my shifts for that week and whatever else I’ve got going on and then book it in like an appointment. So for example today I got on top of the laundry by getting 2 loads out on the line. And gave the kitchen a ‘proper’ clean. Wednesday afternoon I’ve got a date with upstairs, bathroom and en-suite. Saturday morning I’ll be doing all of downstairs.

Not sure if any of this helps but thought I’d share.

I prioritise kitchen, bathroom, toilet, staying on top of laundry and hoovering. The dusting doesn't get done very much, only when I get the chance or if DH helps out. Sometimes the DC will "help" with dusting.
I think as we're all outside so much at the moment as the weather's good it's not building up too much.
I tried using that 30 minutes cleaning a day app to help me keep on top of it more but it just made me stressed so I deleted it. I think you just do what you can when your children are very young. Going to get a cleaner as soon as I can afford it.

I tried The Organised Mum Method earlier this year. You never do more than 30 or 45 mins a day. There are daily everyday jobs, bigger daily jobs and once a week deep clean jobs. My house had never been so clean. Have fallen by the wayside and can see the difference. Yes, it takes a bit of discipline, but it does mean your home is always guest ready, which does reduce stress.

I always struggle to stick to schedules for cleaning, I've come to peace with the fact life is too short to live in a show home. Dusting of rarely looked at areas/ wiping down skirting boards /inside of windows/ the upper areas of walls are jobs which get done once in a blue moon. I prioritise keeping on top of laundry, dishes and keeping the bathroom and kitchen reasonably presentable.

I will say robot hoovers have been a game changer for me. I have one for downstairs and one from upstairs and start each day by setting them going. This also encourages me to keep the floors clear of clutter, which instantly makes the house look tidier.

As and when! I’ve recently returned from mat leave and now have one year old twins and a three year old. I barely scrape together time for the basics tbh so it’s really as and when. I find most stuff does eventually get done before it gets too bad but I lowered my standards significantly when the twins were born. That definitely helps.

Yes yes yes to robot hoover. She helps a lot.

I do have a routine but I work 2 days and dh has compressed hours. 2 kids are at school and it's only the baby home with me on my non working days.

I hoover daily, usually in the evenings. I clean toilets daily and the bath after it is used(usually evening). I dust once a week including skirting boards. I clean the fridge once a week and wipe down kitchen cupboards. I clean the kitchen as I go along and use the dishwasher. Cooker gets a wipe down once a day in the evening. I clean the microwave as and when it needs it. I do laundry on set days (Wednesay-Friday) as I hate piles of clothes around the house and I do prioritise folding and putting them away. Bedding and towels get done once a week on a Friday. Bins are emptied as and when needed. I don't do any gardening as my dh does it.

I clean my windows (on the inside) at the start of spring and then just before autumn starts. I do a deep clean of the oven maybe once a month, otherwise just a quick wipe down as part of normal kitchen cleaning routine. I've said I a lot but these are just our household chores and dh does them too but its probably 60:40. I haven't included stuff that we do for the kids.

My bathroom routine has saved my sanity.

I wipe down the loo, sink and shower after every use anyway, but after my evening shower, I clean one more thing. Be it bath, radiator, door, floor, windows, one wall, never all four together. Adds 2 mins max.

I have a stash of ecloths in the cupboard, just use water mainly, and chuck them in a lidded bucket to be washed once a week.

Hated cleaning the bathroom, but it's a doddle now.

And my mums tip, was wear an apron and carry a duster around with you. I resisted for years, but now, well, I have a few aprons😁

Have to say my kids are older now and when the kids were young I preferred to spend my time with them, and met people out of the house. 😁 Be kind to yourself. Life changes all the time, enjoy what you have.

I spend 2.5 hours a week, in one go cleaning. I try and do it 7 days from when it was last done, usually on Friday afternoon. This is cleaning the bathrooms (3) kitchen, dusting and hoovering. Don’t usually have time to mop too so that's done another day (when I can be bothered)

I keep on top of the kitchen in between cleans and hoover most days, but I don’t do a lot with the bathrooms between cleans other than chuck a bit of bleach down the toilets.

I keep it tidy each day (or try to, it’s a constant battle with a messy DH and DC) and find that if it’s tidy and hoovered, it ‘feels’ clean even if it’s been a good week since it was last cleaned.

I've always had a sort of schedule, even when the children were at home. They've all left now but I still try and keep a schedule. For example, Monday is downstairs, Wednesday is bathrooms, Sunday is bedroom and putting the washing away. If for some reason it doesn't get done, like a bank holiday, it doesn't matter as it's been done recently and will be caught up with next week. Washing I do when I've got enough.
When I feel like it I do big jobs, like washing the windows or pulling out a room but I've got to be in the mood!

I've made the intervals between tasks longer since baby number 2 and return to work etc. So only wash bedding every three weeks instead of every two. Bathrooms and kitchen cleaned every 10 days instead of every week. Hoovering once a week or when it needs it. I try to let all standards slide 😂

Yes to TOMM! I've been doing it for 5 weeks and my house has never been so.clean and tidy! You spend 30 minutes a day in a different room, as well as doing something laundry related and something in the bathroom each day.

I really, really recommend her Rock the Housework Patreon. It's £3.60 a month and it's guided cleans, she calls it a personal trainer for housework. It sounds a bit weird when saying it but honestly it's been life changing, I recently started working 5 days a week instead of 2.5 but my house is in a much better state!

TOMM and a robot hoover.

I have a robot vacuum, it’s life changing. I set it to go on three times a day. I use the mop function weekly.

I don’t keep ornaments and my dusting consists of a slightly dampened cloth and wipe over.

This is literally what I do but only have the one bathroom 😕

I try and dust, clean, hoover every Friday afternoon after I get in from work. I love having a clean and tidy house for the weekend 😊 I can't relax until it's all done!

I'm tidy. So much gets done as I go along but things of course build up, dust settles and clothes / towels /bedding and so on don't clean themselves.

It's not perfect but these are my five levels:

One: The 15 minutes. This is as every day as it can be. I call out 'fifteeeeeeen minutes' and the three of us DO STUFF for 15 minutes. It might be to five three minute songs. It is at the put away, throw away, recycle, tidy, bag, clean the whatever level and has an impact. Toys? They have boxes and those stuffed animals need lining up on a shelf or they are unhappy.

Two. End of the day. Dishwasher on and I tidy / prepare one thing that will not now bug me in the morning.

Three. Things that get done / cleaned once a week. There's a rota with things to be done over five days, starting on Sunday. Things can slip because we might be off somewhere for instance, and if they do slip a day slides into the Friday / Saturday, but you don't want to happen if possible.

Four. Things that get done every other week, and might get a once over in the alternate weeks.

Five. The monthly / seasonal things that get scheduled in advance and come around eventually but are not a surprise.

OP mentions polishing. Interesting concept. I'm more into dealing with dust and grime. Skirting boards? Yes, just checked, we have those. Ornaments? Hmm, difficult. Put some things away and rotate what is 'out'.

Nobody is to touch my pile of current books. I'll straighten those.

I tried hard to not turn into my mother, but realised I had inherited all of the worst parts of being her with additional red lines of what is tolerable at home that nobody dares cross me over now.

my daily tasks are laundry and cleaning kitchen; as well as putting away things in their place (the kids are trained to do this now) . Bathroom/mirrors/mopping/windows/surfaces (with a wipe) and hoovering is weekly. Tho to be fair I have zero clutter so that does help.

is skirting boards and cleaning doors really a fortnightly job? Would be lucky if I do them every few months 😬

polish all surfaces, doors, ornaments, skirting boards wouldn't get done every fortnight.

I always had a cleaner until Covid. Then I got used to doing it myself, which isn't always very thorough but good enough. I thought about getting someone back in to do the heavy tasks but now I can't
justify the cost.😑

What robot vacuum do you recommend?
Thanks for replying

Looking around at the people I know (so not a scientific sample size!) the families that do housework over the weekend only seem to live in perpetual chaos. The house is clean and tidy for a day or so maximum and the rest of the time it looks like a slightly grimy hovel.
The others that do housework in smaller chunks daily are mostly on top of things, so my advice is don't let things become a 'big job' before you do them.

@TidyHomeTidyMind
Perpetual chaos <> grimy hovel

It seems common for people to have some anxiety, at differing levels on the scale, about their house not being in perfect order. I don’t and won’t fall into that way of thinking. And my house is pretty chaotic. But that doesn’t mean it’s a “grimy hovel”.

I have a Roborock S5 Max. It’s really good. There are later model ones now that are self emptying but I’m happy with mine.

@ReeseWitherfork sorry if I have offended you, like I said I am going off the sample of my friends and family!
My house is no show home, 2 dogs make sure that isn't happening! It is clean and tidy enough that if unexpected guests call by I am happy to host knowing the place is never grubby.
I know people that only clean at the weekend, even if the loo gets shit streaks on a Monday morning it doesn't get touched again until the following Saturday/Sunday....that way of doing things wouldn't be for me.

I only clean when it kooks like it's needed doing for a while. Kitchen surfaces get a wipedown daily, a pretty cursory one, everything else is cheerfully haphazard. Bathrooms once a fortnight roughly. Less if we gave more interesting stuff on