Cleaning schedule template
Most homes and small offices are not dirty because nobody cleans. They are dirty because the quarterly jobs have no owner. This sheet splits the work into four frequencies and gives each one a minutes total, so you can see what a week actually costs before you promise it.
Before you set it
- Decide who owns each frequency
- Pick the day the weekly block happens
- Put the quarterly block in a calendar, not a memory
Once it is running
- Tick the frequency, not the individual task, once it is habit
- Move a task up a frequency if it is always bad by the time you reach it
Every day
- Dishes cleared, sink emptied and wiped6 min
- Counters and hob wiped down5 min
- Floors swept where it shows6 min
- Bins checked3 min
- Beds made4 min
Every week
- All floors vacuumed and mopped35 min
- Bathrooms cleaned through40 min
- Kitchen appliance fronts and microwave15 min
- Dusting, high to low20 min
- Linen changed15 min
- Bins washed out8 min
Every month
- Inside the microwave and toaster12 min
- Skirting and door frames20 min
- Mirrors and interior glass15 min
- Fridge shelves20 min
- Shower head descaled10 min
Every quarter
- Oven interior35 min
- Extractor filter20 min
- Window tracks and interior glass30 min
- Under and behind the heavy furniture30 min
- Mattresses turned and vacuumed20 min
Choosing the right frequency
A task belongs in the frequency where it takes the least total time over a year. Descaling a shower head monthly is ten minutes; leaving it a year is a replacement head. Wiping a hob daily is five minutes; leaving it a week is a degreaser and a scraper.
When you are unsure, run it at the shorter frequency for a month and watch how much work is left on the surface each time. If there is barely any, drop it back.
Using this as a crew schedule
For a cleaning business the daily column is the client's job and the weekly column is yours. Print the sheet with the daily block visible anyway: it tells the client what falls outside the service, which is the conversation that prevents the 'you missed the dishes' complaint.
Bill the monthly and quarterly blocks as separate line items. Absorbing them into a weekly rate is the most common reason a recurring residential round loses money by month four.
The office version
In a commercial building the same four frequencies map onto nightly, weekly, periodic and annual. The nightly block is what the contract prices; the periodic block is where the margin is, because it is quoted separately and scheduled when the building is empty.
Keep one sheet per zone rather than one per building. A zone is what a person can be given, walk, and sign for.