My Home Cleaning Routine | A Simple Time Blocking System
Keeping a home clean can feel like an uphill battle. There’s always more laundry, more dishes. The trash seems never-ending. And even when I finally get things in order, there’s an adorable toddler pulling toys out again and saying, “play, Mommy!”
We moved into our house in September 2024 and it’s taken quite a few iterations of a cleaning routine to find something that works. Now that we’ve been through all seasons once (plus Christmas twice!), I’m happy with the system I’ve created.
My goal wasn’t to be constantly cleaning, nor to feel like I can’t live in my home because I’m too worried about messing things up. But I also didn’t want to neglect things for so long and then feel like I needed to do a full deep clean to fully reset.
I needed a system that was consistent, manageable, and actually kept my home clean. And I think I’ve created just that!
Below, I’ve outlined exactly how I keep my home clean using time-blocks and chore lists. And I also included a screenshot of my current Homemaking Routine and my Chore Lists, organized by day and time.
This works for us now, but I know once we add more children to our home and other life-changes happen, my routine will need some adjusting. Until then, I’m going to rejoice in a simple cleaning routine that works for me and my family.
Here’s how I keep my home clean with a simple weekly cleaning routine, using time blocks and daily chore lists. :)
What is Time Blocking?
Time blocking is a time management method where you split your day into time slots and assign each slot a task or list of tasks. I’ve loved it for my homemaking and cleaning, because it’s often easier to focus on entire rooms or batch smaller tasks together.
Time blocking also provides me with a ton of flexibility in my homemaking. Rather than keeping a strict schedule, I block out time in the morning, afternoon, and evening designated to chores and cleaning. Then I look at my chore list and see what needs to be done that day.
With this method, every day can look as similar or as different as I need it to. Some weeks, keeping the simple cleaning routine and checking things off easily is necessary. And other weeks, I need to do deeper cleans or larger home-organization projects that don’t need to be done as often. Having the time block provides me with consistent, allotted, planned-for time to get done what I need to get done.
Time blocking is something I remember doing in college with my classes and studies. Outside of the “strict” schedule of classes, I would “block” my time out for work, studies, and friends. It was extremely flexible, but it also provided “built-in” study and play always on my calendar.
That’s the goal behind time blocking my cleaning. I know that every day of the week, I have a block for cleaning. No matter how much one day gets thrown off the “schedule,” I know there’s another time block coming the next day. There’s always “scheduled” cleaning time, so my home never gets (too) out of control.
This schedule is also easy to jump in and out of! When we have travel plans, family visiting, or events scheduled, I just “pause” the time blocked schedule and jump back in later.
Here’s a few snapshots of my weekly homemaking routine (with the cleaning time blocks highlighted) and my chore lists. There’s a more detailed description of what I do each day below. You can download a copy of my weekly homemaking spreadsheet and chore lists by clicking the titles!
Homemaking Cleaning Routine
Here’s what my chore blocks look like in my weekly homemaking schedule! Click the link to download your own copy!
I print a few of these checklists out and keep them in my Homemaking Binder. You’ll notice I don’t have a separate list for afternoon and evening chore blocks - they both fall under the “PM Chore Blocks” section, since it changes daily what I have time for. Below is a more detailed overview of how I get it all done. :)
Here’s a more detailed weekly breakdown:
Sundays - Sabbath Rest
Sundays are for Sabbath rest. I try not to do any cleaning “work” on Sundays, but I still do typical “maintenance cleaning,” like loading/unloading the dishwasher, folding laundry, and putting away toys. This often just looks a few 10-minute-tidy’s throughout the day.
My goal for Sundays is to just maintain my home’s cleanliness level, rather than try to change it. If it’s kind of messy by Sunday, I’m not going to spend my Sabbath deep-cleaning my home. But if we made more messes on Sunday in the midst of our rest, I try to maintain what I can without overdoing it.
This takes both diligence and restraint: sometimes I don’t want to do anything and other times I want to do too much. Stewarding the Sabbath well means not falling into either extreme. I’m still working on that balance. :)
Mondays - Reset Days, Main Living Spaces
Mondays are my reset days. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are time-blocked similarly: morning chores, afternoon chores, and evening chores. On Mondays, my chore list hits every single room in our house, except for the bathroom.
Morning Chore Block: In the morning, I spend about an hour cleaning our living room, playroom, and dining room. Right after breakfast, my toddler and I do a quick pick-up of everything on the floor in these rooms. If the rooms need to be vacuumed (they usually do!), then I’ll do a quick vacuum of the playroom and living room as well. Since I do the evening 10-minute-tidy’s, this usually doesn’t take long at all. Finally, I’ll tidy and sweep (and sometimes mop, if it needs it!) the dining room.
I’ll also usually start a load of laundry at some point in this time block. By 9am, I’m done with the first morning chore time-block!
Pro-tip: If your child is old enough to help, let them help! My toddler is great at putting her toys away and putting trash in the trash can. I just put on some fun music, tell her we’re cleaning up, and let her wander around me while I clean. Much more often than not, she’s so helpful!
Afternoon Chore Block: My Monday afternoon time-block is during my toddler’s nap. This is the perfect time for laundry. I put her down, grab a finished load of laundry, and plop myself in front of the TV for some folding and movie time. I usually wait to put it all away until she’s done with her nap, since opening and closing our dresser drawers usually wakes her up.
Also in the afternoon, I’ll spend some time in the kitchen, prepping lunches for the week and cleaning whatever needs attention. Sometimes it’s the fridge, sometimes it’s the floors, sometimes it’s a deep scrub of our oven (I do another kitchen-deep-clean-day later in the week!). If I didn’t get to it before naptime, then I mop the dining room (and sometimes the living room and playroom, too!).
Evening Chore Block: Monday evenings are pretty easy: clean up after dinner, load the dishwasher for the night, take out the trash, and do a 10-minute-tidy of the living room and playroom. Since we spend most of our evenings in the winter playing in these rooms after dinner, they need another tidy before bed if I don’t want to wake up to a big mess. ;)
Tuesdays - Bathrooms
Tuesdays are work days. I work part-time at a daycare and part-time from home for a ministry on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so these days only have one chore time block: evenings. Of course, I’ll try to clean as I go while I make breakfast and pack our bags for the day, or unload the dishwasher before we leave, or put things away when we get home from daycare. But generally, my only cleaning time is in the evenings.
Evening Chore Block: My evening chore list includes cleaning the hall bathroom and more laundry (if needed). Bathrooms are my least favorite thing to clean, but I know they need it often. If I’m not doing a full deep clean, I’ll at least wipe down the surfaces, give the toilet a quick once-over, and take out the trash. If it’s a deeper clean, I’ll do more scrubbing and mopping. I just kind of eyeball how things look.
Wednesday - Bedrooms
Wednesday is similar to Monday, with morning, afternoon, and evening time blocks.
Morning Chore Block: I focus on the master bedroom and my toddler’s bedroom. This means general tidying, but also vacuuming, wiping surfaces, putting clothes and shoes away, etc. Some weeks, our floors need to be mopped as well.
Afternoon Chore Block: I’ll focus on our master bathroom. I’ll do the same as I do for the hall bathroom - either a quick wipe-down and trash-empty, or a full deep clean, depending on what’s needed.
Wednesday is also a general full home vacuum day. I like to schedule this because some weeks, I need to vacuum multiple times a week (hello living with a toddler!). But other weeks, I didn’t need to earlier in the week and now that we’re in the middle, it’s time. Having certain tasks on my task list multiple times ensures the task gets done when it needs to be done. If I didn’t get to in the morning time block, I’ll get to it in the afternoon or evening one.
Evening Chore Block: The final time block of Wednesday includes a longer full home tidy. I take between 20 and 30 minutes to fully tidy my home: every room gets a pass through, every rogue item gets put away, every surface gets cleared. It’s a great mid-week reset!
Finally, I’ll also spend time on Wednesday working on my meal plan and grocery list for the following week. On Mondays, I start the planning process - an idea here, an item we’re running low on there. But by Wednesdays, I need to actually sit down and get everything planned out. This gives me plenty of time to finalize my list before Friday’s grocery trip.
Check out my blog post on how I meal plan with a simple spreadsheet! It includes a free download of the exact spreadsheet I use every week. :)
Thursdays - Laundry, Trash
Thursdays are work days, as well. I clean as I go before we leave the house for the day, and I don’t have a cleaning block until after dinner.
Evening Chore Block: I keep things simple: laundry, trash, and load the dishwasher after dinner.
Fridays - Grocery, Meal Prep, Kitchen
Morning Chore Block: Fridays are grocery days, so my morning chore time block is fairly small. I just tidy the kitchen, so it’s ready for my grocery haul, and finalize my grocery list.
Afternoon Chore Block: I spend more time putting my groceries away and deep cleaning the kitchen. This means cleaning out the fridge and pantry, sweeping and mopping, and deep cleaning the oven and sink. If I have time, I’ll also start some meal prep for the following week of meals.
Evening Chore Block: I do another 10 to 15 minute full home tidy and load the dishwasher.
Saturdays - Catch-All Days
Saturdays are my catch-all days and my meal prep days. By “catch-all,” I mean that I’m trying to prepare for the Sabbath well. I want to knock out any chores that may have fallen through the cracks throughout the week, but need to get done before Sunday. I also want my meal prepping to be complete before the Sabbath, so the only thing to do on Mondays is prep lunches for the week.
Morning Chore Block: My Saturday morning time block includes meal prepping, laundry (mostly to make sure my husband has at least one uniform ready for Monday morning), and general home tidying after morning playtime.
I don’t have an afternoon time block, since I like to dedicate Saturday afternoons to being creative and resting.
Evening Chore Block: In the evening time block, I’ll vacuum and mop as needed (usually our entryway and hallway, since those don’t have specific cleaning times), or finish deep cleaning my kitchen. Then before bed, I make sure the dishwasher is running and that’s it! I’m ready for the Sabbath and a new week!
Coming up with this cleaning routine has taken lots of trial and error, and I’m sure it’ll need updating whenever the Lord blesses us with another child or other big life changes. Until then, I’m trying to be faithful with these little chore lists. I hope this encourages you to do something similar with your home. May the Lord find us stewarding well!
Do you have systems or routines in place to keep your home clean? I’d love to hear about them!
Happy stewarding. :)
