by C. M. Erickson

Created on: May 10, 2008   Last Updated: November 17, 2008

Life is fast, complicated, and busy, with many things competing for your attention. If you can barely find time to fit in all the things you enjoy, how will you find the motivation to do something almost no one enjoys, like cleaning the house? That motivation can be hard to come by, and the best house cleaning plan will quickly fall flat without motivation and determination to follow through.

Just as a schedule can keep a busy life in order, a cleaning schedule can keep a busy house in order. You must develop a realistic schedule that keeps your house clean and does not add excessive stress to the rest of your life.

Your first step is to determine what is important to you with household cleanliness. Go through each room of your house and make a list of what you want done to keep it clean under each room's heading. For instance, your kitchen could have: wipe down counters daily, empty dishwasher in morning, clean oven once a month/year, mop weekly, clean out fridge once/twice a year, clean cabinets once a year.

Your room lists should have tasks to be done daily, weekly, monthly, or perhaps yearly. You must then look at your calendar for the month and year, and schedule these events when they are most convenient for you. Do not schedule annual cleaning activities during Christmas or family vacation, and try to avoid weekends as much as possible.

The list of work needed to keep your house clean may seem daunting at first, but you can take steps to make cleaning easier on yourself. Train yourself, your spouse, and your children to clean up after themselves, and your house's cleanliness will greatly improve. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and every time you teach the people in your house how to reduce mess and clean up after themselves, the less you have to do to keep your house clean.

People tend to ignore things they don't want to do (like clean the house), so you must put your cleaning checklist in a prominent place. One idea is to use a dry-erase board posted in the kitchen to list out weekly chores and assign them to individuals. These chores could include: clean the bathroom(s), vacuum, mop, mow the yard, do laundry and change the sheets. Include a box next to each chore that the person checks when it is complete. Rotating chores ensures all people know how to perform all tasks necessary to clean a home and prevents accusations of favoritism.

An adult should always check a child's work to ensure it is up to standard. While you can offer initial

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