Room by Room or Task by Task?

Some cleaning dockets set up the week by task. On Monday you dust; on Tuesday, you do the floors.  The advantage of doing the work this way is that you only have one set of tools out at a time.  On Monday, all you need is your duster.  On Tuesday, your broom and mop or your vacuum. I think this way of cleaning is better for after you hit a maintenance level of clean in your house.

Even once I hit that level, though, I will prefer my room by room method.  Room by room cleaning means that every room has its day to be cleaned.  I clean my rooms from top to bottom - declutter, dust and then the floors.  I have a handful of tools I use - I keep it to a minimum so that I'm not overwhelmed with them.  I use a wool duster, a broom and dustpan, a mop and a bucket.  That's it. Nothing complicated.  I have tile floors throughout my house, so the broom and mop work well for me.

When I clean my home, I know it will take a week to hit the main rooms. I don't clean my kids' rooms for them, unless they really need the help.  I will also skip some rooms, such as the sun room or the utility room if I want to or I need a couple of free days.  (Right now, I keep skipping the sun room and it is in bad shape!)   Since I know it will take a week, I can plan accordingly for big events.

This week, we're having a birthday party at our house.  I'm not panicked about the house being clean enough for guests for two reasons. One, I've been keeping up with my cleaning for the past several weeks and the house just needs some touch ups today to be ready.  Two, the room I was most spazzing about - the living room, which is the first one people walk into - finally got cleaned up this week.  Before it had been cluttered and full of piles of junk.  Some of it needed to go to the thrift store.  Some of it needed to be pitched.  And some just needed to be put away.  Regardless, I finally made it happen.  I wish I had taken before and after pictures!

I'm sure task by task has similar benefits - in that every task has its day to be done.  I just don't have the wherewithal to clean all of my floors in one day!  At least with the room by room method, my body experiences different movements as I clean, rather than the same movement over and over.  My back suffers less this way.

In the end, you have to pick which method suits you best.  Try them both and see what works for you.