I have never seen an obituary that praised how clean the deceased’s floors were nor how her windows sparkled.

You clean, I’ll drink wine, and then we will write your obituary.

When I was working, I made a “schedule” that covered each cleaning task. I spent 15 minutes each day, no more, on just that one task. This didn’t include the daily tidying. So on Day One, I would clean the guest bath. Day Two, the master bath, etc. Maybe something like that would be helpful?

When we were both working we would come home Friday after work and we would clean the house. Then we had the rest of the weekend free to do what we wanted. Three times we tried a cleaning lady and weren't happy.

I'm in a lot of homes and can tell you that people vary in the degree of clean they'll tolerate.

I hear you. We moved into our just built home ten years ago and I was so freaked out about keeping it “pristine”. While now I’m retired, I still love the feeling of a “just cleaned” home. I’ve come to realize though this is our home, not a magazine shoot. We live here, and I allow now myself a great deal of leeway to enjoy the place we’ve built to do just that - enjoy. It wasn’t easy, but I decided I didn’t want to get caught up in a “picture perfect” home to which I was always working to keep clean.

I have to a schedule and I know what you mean!! Big cleaning like glass tv and windows whatever once a week. Coffee table wipe when needed and areas you use daily. Living area daily or if you are just two adult you can do it twice a week even.

Bedroom tidying each day like making the bed etc. big clean once a week. I leave last two days before weekends with light tidying only- gives me time to do other stuff. Other rooms not being used once a week and if being used, quick tidy daily and once a week good clean depending.

Assign a room for each day ( for once a week clean)

Laundry, I never mix laundry with other members clothing so assign a day for each and iron the previous lot . Put in closets immediately so no piling of laundry. I assign two less days of the week for given appointments etc so I don’t have a heavy load that day- I arrange these Appts to be given on specific days where possible and if not I just swop the schedule around for that week.

If you can’t get a major task done , don’t worry about it just tidy up and get it done when you can,

Outdoor or patio sweeping are usually kept for afternoon time.

Try to get most housework done in the morning then you don’t have those chores in afternoon to do.

I do things like not wearing shoes inside and not eating outside of eating areas to keep messes down.

Also watch cleaning inspo videos on YouTube. You might pick up cleaning tips and new found motivation.

“ You need to come to my house and show me what you mean.” 😂😂 I died when I read this.

So, I like a clean house. I work full time and spend 2 hrs a day commuting (ETA: I leave the house at 6 am). I would spend every Sunday AM cleaning the house. My son would help as part of his chores, but it was still me 98% of the time. (Hubby could help but I’m pretty particular).

You know what I did, FINALLY? Hired a cleaning team, a local group, not one of those “Merry Maids” businesses. They come once a month and we do weekly touch-ups. Totally and utterly worth it. They have 4 women who come and they spend and hour or more. That’s the equivalent of me spending 4 hours! And I live in a ranch with a basement (I only have them clean the top level)!

You all have been so helpful! Thank you for the insight into what you do & for the laughs. It helps a lot. It's nice to know that others have routines too, I'll implement the tips into my cleaning!

I work full time and have 2 kids. I like to do these daily: wash breakfast dishes, wipe down counters, sweep kitchen before I leave the house in the morning; evening before bed: fold throw blankets/pillows in family room, clear off dining/side/coffee tables of clutter, put away any dishes that hubby washed after dinner, wipe down counters/clean (not scrub) sinks. I don’t look at kids’ rooms/bathrooms, but cleaning lady comes weekly. Hubby does all the laundry-including folding/ironing-on Sunday.