How to Create the Ultimate Bullet Journal Cleaning Calendar
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Cleanliness is a Virtue
One thing that I’ve always wanted to be was a tidy person. I love the idea of a clean home that is as inviting as it is lovely. Unfortunately, the reality for me is far from that fantasy. I’m a horrible housekeeper. It’s just never been something I excel at, and this trait has frustrated me for a long time. So I decided to tackle it by creating the ultimate cleaning calendar to keep me on track!
Materials Used
- Leuchtturm1917
- Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Watercolors
- Loew Cornell Palette
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens
- Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens
- Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens
Creating a Cleaning Calendar
A cleaning calendar is basically just a cleaning schedule. It is a structure that you can put into place that tells you what chore you should do on what day for an optimal cleaning routine. The reason a cleaning calendar is so useful is that if you follow it, you shouldn’t ever really have to do a panicked deep clean when people are coming over. Instead, you can complete your daily chore and maintain a beautiful home relatively stress-free. Let me walk you through how I set up my cleaning calendar.
Daily
There are a few simple chores that can be done on a daily basis to help keep the whole home looking tidy and clean. For me, I divided these chores into morning and evening. During my morning routine, I want to habitually make the bed because it can seriously make the bedroom look 10x more put together. I also want to spend 10-15 minutes every morning just picking up the random stuff that tends to get messy or out of place, like throwing laundry in the hamper or putting papers in their appropriate organizers.
In the evening, I want to do the dishes and wipe down the kitchen counters. Nobody likes waking up to dirty dishes in the sink, and ever since we moved to the new apartment with a tiny kitchen, it’s more important than ever.
Weekly
The next step of the cleaning calendar is the weekly chore. This section is where I assign certain chores to each day of the week (except Saturday). The chores range from laundry to cleaning the bathroom to vacuuming. The final day, Friday, is simply designated as a catch-up day in case the week went off the rails – which I anticipate will happen quite a lot.
I also have one day a week that is set aside for my monthly chore, which will vary week by week. I want to try and keep Saturday as a sacred no-clean day so I can wear sweats and be lazy. After all, everyone needs that every once in a while!
Monthly
In my monthly section of my cleaning calendar, I have four assignments for the four weeks in a month. These chores need to be completed on a regular basis but don’t need as much regular attention as the weekly chores. For example, I have “wipe down appliances” for the first week of the month. This is basically where I clean out the inside of the microwave, so it doesn’t become gross, and I wipe any grease off the stove that may have accumulated.
I also wrote dust as a monthly chore instead of a weekly chore. While I could certainly benefit from dusting once a week, I know myself well enough to know that ain’t happening. So instead of trying to fit myself into a cleaning calendar that I know I won’t follow, I decided to create the schedule with my own limitations in mind. And, just like the weekly section, one of the monthly chores is set aside for a yearly chore.
Yearly
The final section of my cleaning calendar is my yearly chores. These tasks are bigger and more time consuming but do eventually need to be dealt with. For example, I have “clean out car” as one of the tasks and “organize storage closet” for another. These are tasks that need to be addressed but are hard to find the time for. I hope that having them scheduled ahead of time will make it easier to tackle these much-needed projects when the time comes.
Cleaning Calendar Printable
If you want all the joys of having your chores organized neatly but you don’t feel like drawing out this whole spread, then grab my free cleaning calendar printable! The printable is heavily based off of this spread. Just print it out, slap it in your binder or bullet journal, and fill it out to suit your needs. Click the image below to grab it now! If you want access to an A5 version of this printable plus a ton of other free bullet journal printables, lettering worksheets, and more, then make sure to sign up for the Fox Den Resource Library here!
Something to Remember
If you want to make yourself a cleaning calendar, then there are a few things you can swap out with the chores I have listed to better fit your needs. I live in an apartment, so I have no garage, storage shed, garden, or yard to maintain. If you live in a house with an outdoor space, you’ll probably want to create your chores with that in mind! Mowing, cleaning out the garage, and taking care of outdoor appliances like a lawn mower are all things to remember as you create your cleaning calendar.
The End Goal
I don’t expect this cleaning calendar to change my life. I will not become a cleaning guru in a few days because of a few pieces of paper. However, I am trying to set myself up for success by creating a structure that I can operate around. Just like anything else, cleaning is a habit that needs to be grown, nurtured, and maintained to achieve victory. I have a long way to go before I have an effortlessly clean home, but I’m remembering my mantra as I look at my cleaning calendar – slow and steady. Every step I take is progress, and hopefully, in a year’s time I’ll have some positive cleaning habits in place and I won’t sweat bullets when we invite friends over. After all, isn’t that all a girl can ask for?
Making a calendar makes it well organize.Thanks for sharing this article.
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. A cleaning calendar really is a powerful tool!
This is a wonderful idea! Can’t wait to try it out. 😀
I love your spreads! They’re so beautifully crafted! And I always look forward to your articles!
Also, just a thought, but if you haven’t already, you should check out The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It’s a book but I think there’s also an audiobook available. That really helped me get my stuff in order so I just wanted to share it with you. It’s a fun read too!
I hope you have a beautiful day!
p.s. I just realised this was a post from 2017. Oh well. 😛
That is one we have heard of for sure and it works great for some. Thanks for reading Ayisha!
I love your writing style! Haha! Thanks for the tips. I’m a full time working mom of four and all of them have different activities. It makes my brain hurt to have a less than a tidy house. I get so frustrated about being the only one who seems to care. I’ve tried so many schedules, apps, and other plans and things go great for about two weeks and then start to fall apart. I think because I try to do too much and it isn’t sustainable.
What a sweet compliment Gertrude, thank you! I hope you find this works for you as well.
Amen sister, change is tough, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying just because it’s hard. Thanks for the reminder, the encouragement, and the great spread idea.
Thank you for being here with me Suzanne!
When my children were babies I used to have a similar schedule and it did help me keep on track with the things I really didn’t like doing. It was a breakdown of the day so I could fit everything in that I wanted and needed to do around the demands of three small children (I had three kids under 4). However, when I went back to work when my youngest was 3 I forgot to change my daily tasks and the house really shows it after so many years of neglect. Now that my kids are older teens/early 20’s and my husband only works part time I’ve left most of the household chores to them but sadly they don’t see it needs doing and I am still left with all the housework.
Thank you for this post as it has prompted me to get out the old to do list and look at it again, though it may be a wee while before I put it into place as we are moving house shortly (which is an excellent time for sorting, tossing and cleaning). But once we have moved into the new place and I see what my new job is like I can get my daily task list sorted out again – and it will be hung on the fridge with loud prompts to my menfolk that these chores aren’t just for me to do and that I expect they will do their share of the chores since they are a good part of the reason those chores need doing!
It really is a good way to help stay on top of it all! Best to you during your move and getting those household tasks sorted and delegated Annette!
I’m like you. I hate it. I can talk myself out of cleaning very easily. I’m in a funk lately so that makes doing ANYthing nearly impossible. I think having it written down and visible will make a big difference. Might make me more accountable, even if it is just a piece of paper. Thanks for the inspiration. Hope to see that little kitten in a post one day soon. 😀 Since you’re new in town, if you don’t have a vet I might be able to do some recommendations for your furry little friend. 😀
Deanna
It really does help to have it on paper, Deanna!
I LOVE this because it’s all on one page and like you, I don’t need the garage or outside stuff that so many premade ones include. Also, right now I look at my fridge and cringe with the various cleaning schedule papers. One for weekly, one for monthly, one for yearly, etc. They are pretty on their own, but soooooo much clutter and to be honest, I try to tune them out because of it which does no good.
This may be the first one I try to make from scratch on my own, thanks!
It may just be what does the trick Gewn!
I have been looking at a lot of planning sheets and organizers this past week. Your cleaning calendar is, IMHO, the best – I love it !!! Am going to try and make one for myself but is your template available?? Thank you
It’s not currently available Barbara. However, there are lots of different layouts you could use if you are looking for something easier to create.
This is so useful. I am exactly like you. I am relatively clean but not the tidiest person around. So your cleaning schedule is motivating me to do the same. I won’t go as far as yearly, but definitely daily and weekly – slow and steady shall we say?
Thanks Shelby for this very actionable doable motivation!
Slow and steady for sure, Shantha 😉
I always used to say the only reason we invited people to our house was so that I would clean. That method is stressful, to say the least. I’ve adopted a similar schedule, but like you said, it will differ based on a person’s abode. I have a 2,400 SF two-story Colonial with a yard and pool, so the cleaning is a bit more involved.
Currently, I’m decluttering the whole thing in anticipation of selling it in a few years. Every day I allot 15 minutes to declutter a drawer, closet, cabinet, whatever. Most of the time it goes over 15 minutes, but that’s okay. My goal is to fill our garbage barrel every week with junk; good stuff goes to a charity.
I found that if you do a real solid cleaning and then stick to a schedule, life is much easier and you’re never caught unaware if the doorbell rings.
Here’s a tip I use to get dusting into a weekly habit: use one of those wand dusters with the fluffy, disposable dust catchers (no product endorsement here) and dust while you’re on the phone with a casual phone conversation. I did this when I chatted with my Mom and could do the whole downstairs in 10-15 minutes.
Thanks for sharing the dusting tip, MaryAnn!
Seriously, that is why I invite guests over, it’s the only motivation for me to do a real clean, even in my tiny condo!
I use a similar duster that I can throw in the wash, so it’s hopefully, it fits my environmental values. I bought a spare, so I don’t have to wait for the wash, no excuses!
Guests are a good reason to clean Gwen!
Structure makes all the difference! When I became a homeowner, I was overwhelmed by all the tasks – cleaning, decluttering and maintenance! I created a rotation similar to this, but since it’s a bit longer, it’s mixed up a bit differently. Yours looks beautiful and I think this is a great system for anyone 🙂
Thank you Brennan! It really does help a ton!
This spread is so cute!!!
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Thanks for the amazing idea!! I am definitely going to incorporate this in my 2018 set-up (after a few alterations to better suit my needs and my house). Thank you, Shelby, for being a constant inspiration!!!
So glad to hear this was helpful for you, Jenny!