How To Create a Simple Weekly Batch Cleaning Schedule

Why batch clean?

I prefer to have one intense day of cleaning so I can have more freedom the rest of the week. By doing all the cleaning at once, I avoid task-switching and getting distracted.

I can get everything done more quickly because all my cleaning supplies are already out, and I can tackle multiple zones, one after another.

Besides, doing one cleaning task per day seems exhausting and unappealing. Why not do it all at once and be done?

So, I clean on Thursdays, not using my precious weekend time. (Weekdays are for working.)

Weekly Batch Cleaning Tasks

There are certain tasks I take care of each week that keep my home clean enough. There are no cleaning police to tell you what you have to clean or else. There are some things you really should clean often, and other things that bother me enough to make me clean them often. 

Here are the tasks I do weekly:

• Vacuum and mop all floors
• Clean bathrooms
  • counters
  • toilets
  • tubs
  • shower
  • mirrors
• Dust furniture
• Clean door handles & light switches
• Wash & change sheets
• Clean kitchen appliances

NOTE: Batch cleaning goes faster because we have a daily cleaning rhythm.

Cleaning Zones

We start the day by stripping the beds and doing laundry. I have my home broken into zones, and throughout the morning, I work my way through cleaning each zone.

Here’s how I’ve broken my house into zones:

• Office
• Playroom/Homeschool room
• Kitchen
• Living room
• Hallway & Laundry room
• Kid/guest bathroom
• Kid room
• Master bedroom & bathroom

Since my house is small, I can finish cleaning in less than 2 hours. It’s worth noting that, depending on the size of the house, it might be wise to break this into 2 days.

Here are more tips on simplifying your cleaning routine.

Getting help

Now that my daughter’s older, I give her simple tasks that save me a little bit of time. Here’s what she does (and gets paid for it, as mentioned in this post):

• strips sheets & bedding from her bed
• tidies up her playroom & bedroom
• dusts all rooms
• wipes baseboards
• wipes handles & light switches

It’s necessary to equip my daughter with the skills she’ll need when she gets older. She needs to know how to clean a house, so this is a slow, easy way to teach her.

Keeping on task and staying motivated

So that I stay motivated and get the work done, I catch up on podcasts or put on some fun music. I also give myself a little reward at the end …usually a cup of coffee and some reading time!

I always mark my batch cleaning day in my planner so that I make space for it to get done. Now that I’ve been using this schedule for so long, this rhythm has become a normal part of my week. In other words, my week would be thrown off if I didn’t do it.

There are definitely days when I don’t feel like doing any of this. So I take it easy on myself and do just a little bit. I’ve found that when I start with doing something small, it avalanches so I can get it all done.