Here’s my take on a template for a chore chart / cleaning checklist: google sheets, xlsx, numbers

I found this incredibly useful after moving into a new place with my partner to make sure we truly enjoy our space together. It has a full list of chores split up by time interval, and it’s perfect for pairing with a whiteboard or just keeping stuck to the fridge.

Note: originally adapted from Martha Stewart’s Home Cleaning Checklist, but now in an easier to use format

Why use a chore chart?

Reduce mental burden: less thinking, more cleaning

Keep a tidy house: avoid forgetting the small things; no more waiting until something is so dirty it sticks out to clean it

Divide and conquer: avoid duplicating tasks between all housemates, only do what is necessary

How to Use

The primary use of this sheet is to help remind (and gamify) the experience of house cleaning so that you have a cleaner home with less mental effort. The way I use it is more as a framework rather than requiring every box be checked every day; don’t sweat if you miss something, just make sure to catch it before it goes too long without cleaning.

Tabs: primarily there’s suggested cleaning schedules for daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual. There’s also an in-between for tasks which should happen every other week.

What is daily x4? if you don’t have a whiteboard setup, use the daily x4 tab to avoid printing out a new sheet every week.

Customizing

Use this as a starting point! Some suggestions:

Change up the template fit your home; go over it with all housemates, and add/remove what you think is necessary. This list is tailored to apartment living, so if you own your home you may want to add related maintenance tasks (such as changing your furnace filter, cleaning out gutters, etc.). Add to the list if you find anything you need to for the first year of use.

Use a whiteboard template to avoid having to print out new sheets. Totally optional, but reduces waste (otherwise just use a magnet to put the existing template on the fridge, and use a version with multiple check-boxes, or erase it every week). I chose to put my daily and weekly tasks, and will print out new monthly/seasonal/annual sheets as necessary, but you could get two of these and eliminate all paper waste.

Add other one-off home related tasks on there (I put some home improvement tasks for example)

Misc

Here’s some general tips/suggestions you might find helpful!

Stick to using a smaller set of cleaning products, and when possible use concentrates which you can then dilute (to save on space and reduce packaging waste). I personally use an all purpose cleaner solution of about 4% each of castile soap and IPA (isopropyl alcohol) diluted with tap water and then put it into some nice sprayers. (I got this tip from this tiktok video, which also has some other helpful cleaning tips and tricks)

Robot vacuum cleaners have dropped in price a lot in the past few years; I definitely recommend getting one to cut down on daily vacuuming. Just turn it on whenever you leave the house!

To help make cleaning a daily habit, design your experience to make it as enjoyable as possible, and hard to forget to do

• set a daily reminder on your phone; even 5 minutes a day really helps avoid clutter and keeps things getting dirty too fast
• audiobooks and podcasts really help with longer tasks. I love to zone out and listen to a good book while tidying
• keep cleaning products organized, accessible, and close to where they’re used to make cleaning quick and easy