Routines are something you do repetitively.  Some routines are daily, some are weekly, and some are monthly. Whenever you establish a routine, you save time. For House Routines, let’s start with cleaning. 

Do you have a regular cleaning day?  The same day each week? 

My mother didn’t work, and her cleaning day was Mondays.  I happen to think it’s good to clean the house on Saturday mornings, in case we have weekend company.   My mother went to the beauty shop every Friday for the same reason – to look good on the weekend.  So I never understood her Monday cleaning day. Since it would take her all day to clean a bi-level house, she couldn’t do that on beauty shop day.   I guess she figured it was good to clean after having company as the adults on our block would get together on weekends. The women played mahjong, a Chinese tile game, while the men played cards.

Even cleaning itself is a routine. Before you wash or vacuum the floors, you want to dust so excess dust lands on the floor. You can even use a routine to clean the whole house. Mine is to start with the kitchen/family room (one room), then living/dining room (one room), bedrooms and finally the bathrooms because bathrooms means changing cleaners to glass and bathroom cleaners.

Sometimes there’s preparation. And that too can be a routine.  To wash the floors, I pull out couches and move some items off the floor (grandkids Lego blocks, small book rack, and kids’ small table and chairs). It took me a number of times before I had a set pattern to move the couches, toy box, exercise bike, grandkids’ train table, and kitchen counter chairs in the kitchen/family room. Now I know what moves where and when.  

Here’s my pattern to wash the floors where furniture needs to be moved:

1. Wash half the family room floor with couches pulled out.
2. Wash half of the living room floor with couches pulled out.
3. Wash the other half of the family room floor with couches moved back.
4. Wash the other half of the living room floor with the couches moved back.

When you do the same things, in the same order, it goes faster.  You don’t have to think about what you are doing. It’s a routine. do you have one for cleaning?

It’s almost spring/fall cleaning time–a twice a year routine. I created a Spring-Fall Cleaning Checklsit where each room is a full separate page.  There is also a page for all over the house like lights and fans as well as outside the house.  Take a look at it in my etsy shop.  It’s just $10.  https://www.etsy.com/shops/PrintablesForAllAges/