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How to Create Your Perfect Housekeeping Task List

Following a carefully designed housekeeping task list each week will help keep your house clean and your family’s life organized, without important necessities falling through the cracks.

I have an aunt who is a housekeeping expert.  And when I say expert, I actually mean ninja. She does not have a speck of dust anywhere in her house, not even under the furniture in the spare bedroom.

Because she physically moves the furniture and vacuums under it. Every single week. No joke.

See? Ninja. She’s an eighty-something-housekeeping-ninja-warrior.

A woman smoothing out the blanket to make her bed with the words "how to create your perfect housekeeping task list"

I am not like my aunt.

She enjoys obsessively cleaning her house and keeping every single inch of it in perfect condition. I, on the other hand, do not enjoy cleaning any inch of my house. I never have, and I probably never will.

My silverware drawer will never be completely free of crumbs. My tile floors will never be without a little bit of dirt and paw prints.  And I will never vacuum underneath the furniture every week…or maybe ever.

It’s just not in the cards for me.  Not gonna happen.

But my real problem is that I like having a clean house just as much as my aunt does, even though I don’t have the natural skill or desire to make it happen.

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“You should see my house right now. Thank you so much for everything!!” – Carly

The fact is, when the house is messy and the dirt starts to show, I get overwhelmed by it all and stop feeling the peace that I really, truly long for. Then, once I’m overwhelmed and behind, the clutter just piles up, and I feel more and more frustrated. It’s a vicious cycle.

It is impossible for me to do what my aunt does, but I also can’t let myself give in to my natural tendencies to ignore the grunge until I can’t take it anymore.  That’s no way to live!

To protect me from falling into a homemaking hole, I use some basic lists that keep me moving in the right direction.  The two main lists that keep my home and life looking like I have the cleaning and organizing skills that my aunt possesses in her little finger are my Morning Routine and my Weekly Housekeeping Task List.

Both of these lists are printed on my Simple Everyday To-Do Lists that you can get right HERE. These routines help me look much better than I really am. Seriously.

a desk with calendar and reading glasses

Elements of an Effective Housekeeping Task List

Cleaning Tasks

Include the cleaning tasks you want done every week. Even if you don’t have the time to complete every item each week, seeing it written on the list will remind you to tackle the missed chores next time.

Your list might include things like vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, and spray-cleaning the fronts of your kitchen appliances. While some people see a dirty floor and simply get out the vacuum, if you tend to procrastinate the basics until you’re embarrassed to open your front door, then having them on your list will give you the kick you need to keep on top of the dirt and clutter.

Dreaded Chores

Everybody has certain chores they absolutely hate to do.  For me, it’s mopping…and cleaning the bathrooms…and organizing my purse…and, well, lots of things.  Be sure to write down even the chores you dread the most.  Having them stare back at you from the list week after week might be the incentive you need to use a timer and simply get the job done.

Easy-to-Forget Necessities

A Weekly Housekeeping Task List can contain much more than cleaning tasks.  This is the perfect list for adding items like “balance the checkbook” or “trash out on Monday.”  It’s also a good spot for reminding yourself to make next week’s menu, perform treatments on the pets, and look at your calendar so nothing falls through the cracks.

Regular Errands

It’s easy to forget things like picking up the dry-cleaning and dropping off the library books. Having these errands on your list will keep your husband in clean shirts and your library card from accruing ridiculous fines (I speak from experience on this one!).

Sample Weekly Housekeeping Task List 

Some things you might want to include:

  • Calendar planning
  • Menu planning
  • Grocery list + Shopping
  • Clip + File coupons
  • Finances + Paperwork
  • Vacuum
  • Mop
  • Dust
  • Bathrooms
  • Appliance fronts
  • Trash + Recycling
  • Clean purse 
  • Library returns

Additional types of tasks to pencil in:

The possibilities are endless and will be unique to you and your family.  But, please, don’t keep trudging along, trying to carry all those regular responsibilities in your head.  Get them written down and then just set your mind on “repeat” each week.  I promise that you (and your sanity) won’t regret it!

Get your FREE Simple Decluttering Cheatsheet!

Start feeling at peace in your own home! Learn how to pick the best spot to start decluttering AND step-by-step how to tackle the mess in any room in your house. PLUS get my best tips right in your inbox…and it’s 100% FREEEEE!

Your email is safe with us. We wouldn’t dream of sharing it with anyone else!

“I keep every email you send out. You are so spot on with your advice.” – MaryLou

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6 Comments

  1. Amy, these lists are great. I am totally a list maker for weekly to do items but I have never thought about monthly items like you suggest (probably because I want to ignore those items). I will be using these and will be delegating a number of items on the weekly and monthly list to other members of my household.
    Thanks for sharing some simple tools to make us all feel less overwhelmed.

    1. I’m glad you like the lists, Kendra. I like to ignore the items on the monthly lists, too…and the weekly list…and the daily list (if I’m being honest). I guess that’s why I have to print out a list each week to keep me motivated into action! 🙂

  2. Adrianne Thornton says:

    I have not been able to get and download the free cleaning lists even though I have subscribed.

  3. Am I mistaken or you not simply repackaging Fly Lady’s info?

    1. Haha! This made me chuckle a little because several of my clients have told me how much they appreciate the differences between my easy-going methods and FlyLady’s system (not that there’s anything wrong with FlyLady – it just isn’t for everyone…and neither is mine 🙂). However, I’m sure there’s some overlap between most homemaking/decluttering/organizing systems, since most successful homemakers’ secret sauce is some combination of routines, lists, and the right perspective (and coffee, lots and lots of coffee).

      My personal “Weekly Housekeeping Task List” was originally based on the list of weekly cleaning chores my mom handed off to me when I was about ten or twelve years old. Every single Saturday morning until the day I graduated and moved out, I was responsible for doing the “weekly housecleaning.” When I got married and had kids of my own, I realized my mom had been hiding her Super Woman cape under her blouse the whole time, and I would need to do things a little differently in order not to drop all the balls (and a couple of the kids) I was supposed to be juggling. So, I’ve spent the past twenty-nine years as a full-time wife and mom trying to overcome my own shortcomings by using my personalized variety of lists and routines (and coffee, lots and lots of coffee). And for the past 15-ish years, I’ve been teaching others how I do it, too, so they can learn from my personal trial and error…hopefully with a lot fewer “errors”.

      So, to answer your question, perhaps there’s some similarities between my systems and FlyLady’s and the dozens of other homemaking gurus out there. After all, there really is “nothing new under the sun.” But my biggest goal is to offer encouragement and hope to women who feel overwhelmed, just like I used to, and to give them a simple way to have the home they’ve always dreamed of.

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