How I Manage My Quarterly Housekeeping Checklist

 

This month marked the halfway point of the year and the beginning of the third quarter of 2023.  It is hard to believe we are here already, but as they say, time flies when we are having fun.  As most of you know I’ve been on a very large decluttering journey that I began at the first of December in 2022.  After becoming an empty nester last summer it seemed like the next obvious step for me and I can say now, I’m really, really happy I did it.  It was six months of really hard work and a lot of decisions were made, some harder than others, but in the end, well worth it.

 

I keep my lists in my home management journal

I pulled out a fresh copy of my quarterly housekeeping checklist for this quarter and put the other one in the trash.  Not everything got done and that is completely fine.  I don’t need to finish every single task on the list within the three month timeframe because I can always to it in the next quarter.  So here it is.  The next quarter.  No shame, no guilt, no beating myself up for all the things I didn’t get done, but loads of pats on the back and atta girls for all the things I did complete.  Yay me!

 

I always try to start the new checklist by completing the tasks I didn’t get to last quarter so they don’t completely get away from me.  Some tasks on the list are pretty quick and simple, only taking a few minutes to complete while others, like washing walls, are a little bit bigger.  I break it down in smaller pieces so I’m not overwhelmed by those projects.  Last quarter I washed the living room wall where my fireplace is and the sections behind the TV all the way over to the door.  This time I washed the rest of the wall from the door to the corner, washing the window and cleaning the track and sill while I was at it, and then the wall behind my sofa and recliner.  Why only this far?  Because I set a timer for 15 minutes and then my time was up.

 

I took the curtains down and put them in the wash so they could run
while I washed the walls and cleaned the window
After they were dry it took only minutes to hang them back up

Last quarter, in the dining room, I washed all the wainscoting and the trim (in preparation of fresh paint) and then this quarter I washed the upper half of the walls and dusted the newly painted wainscoting.  My dining room isn’t huge so each time it took me less than 15 minutes so I also cleaned the exterior of the cabinets each time as well.  Next week I plan to wash the dining room window and clean the light fixture.  You see, I don’t need to do the entire room at once because I have three months to get it all done.  And I don't work on it every day either.

 

Tackling my checklist in bite sized pieces makes it more manageable and much more enjoyable.  My goals is to keep my house clean year round, eliminate the need for spring cleaning or any type of marathon cleaning and to get it done easily and quickly.  I’m not interested in making housekeeping into a career by any stretch.  I have other things to do.  By sticking with it I find it gets easier and easier as each quarter passes.  Decluttering helps a lot too!

 

I’ve handed out a lot of these working checklists over the years and I do hope they are helpful.  If you happen to be one of the many that have one I do hope you will use it, but only as a guilt-free guideline to help you along and be sure to set those timers.  Give it your all for 15 minutes, 30 at the most, and then move onto something else.  Once thing I do know about housework is it will wait for you.  I’m fine with that.