Tackle everything on your daily household chores list with a basic cleaning checklist that works! Our daily chores list is free, easy to use, and can help you get a handle on everyday tasks with ease.
Practicing Daily Maintenance
Tackling daily household tasks is the easiest way to keep your home clean.
For example, if I didn’t regularly practice daily maintenance and encourage my family to do the same, our house would become a disaster zone fairly quickly.
It seriously doesn’t take long, you guys!
While I could probably sit here all day and debate the difference between what I consider to be chores and maintenance tasks, I instead want to offer a little helpful tool, in the form of a daily chores list, for all you list followers, like me!
In this post, I hope to help you personally discover which home tasks need to be done daily so you can create a more peaceful atmosphere within the walls of your home and experience more downtime!
What are Daily Household Chores?
While I don’t typically use the word chores lightly, I know this term is more widely known, so for the time being, this is the representation I’m going with.
So, what are daily household chores anyway?
Daily chores (or home maintenance tasks) are the things you need to do every day to keep your home in its current state of cleanliness.
For example, if I washed the dishes, swept up dirt my kids tracked in, made my bed, put away items I used today, and gave a quick wipe-down to my bathroom sink, my home would primarily stay in the same state it was the day before.
However, if I choose to mop all my floors, wash all my linens, scrub down both bathrooms, do some organizing, and deep clean the pantry, my home would then be in better form than it was the day before.
So, naturally, tasks like washing the dishes, cleaning up messes, and making my bed are all a part of my personal daily chores list.
These things don’t necessarily get my house any cleaner, but they do help to keep it in a more manageable state.
Make sense?
That said, not everyone’s daily chores list looks the same.
For example, sweeping and vacuuming are part of my daily household tasks.
We live in a rural area, so dirt and pine needles get tracked in daily.
Thankfully, we have a no-shoes-in-the-house rule, so most of that stays put in the entryway.
However, if I didn’t sweep it up on the regular, it would definitely get tracked through my entire home over the course of a few days.
Plus, with 5 humans and 5 animals living under the same roof, the amount of dust, dirt, and hair I sweep up in the rest of the house every single day is astonishing!!
However, if you aren’t home often and you have no pets, you may only need to do this task 1-2 times a week — meaning it has no place on your daily chores list!
That’s why you must look at your lifestyle, the number of hours you spend at home, who is living in the home, and assess your daily chores based on your personal needs.
Daily Household Chore Ideas
If you are struggling to figure out what your daily household chores list should consist of, no worries.
I’ve got some helpful ideas to help you get your home clean quickly and keep it at a manageable level all year long!
Daily household chores should make daily living easier and help cut down on the need for excess chore-heavy days.
That said, these are the tasks I think most people should be focusing on, no matter how much time they spend at home or how large their family is.
- Picking up as you go
- Clearing surfaces
- Picking up floors
- Straightening cushions and blankets
- Making beds
- Putting dirty clothes in the hamper
- Cleaning high-traffic floors
- Wiping down kitchen counters
- Doing the dishes
- Checking trash levels
- Doing a quick pickup before bed
Realistically, if you are following the above chore list every day, this should take you no more than a few minutes here and there, maybe totaling up to an hour overall (if you are home all day) when it’s all said and done.
Honestly, I don’t track my time when it comes to this, but when I spend a minute here tossing something in the dishwasher and 2 minutes there cleaning up after my current task, it truthfully doesn’t feel like much time at all.
Just keep in mind, the more you are home, the more messes you will create, the more you will need to do.
Also, the reason I think everyone should do a quick pickup before bed is that the quick 5-10 minutes you spend fluffing the couch cushions, putting your nightly tea cup in the sink, and picking up the dog toys off the floor ensures a cleaner house in the morning.
There isn’t much that feels better than a clean house first thing in the morning.
As a night owl, I take my mornings very, very slowly.
So, waking up to a clean space where I can sip my coffee slowly is super refreshing, you guys!
Creating Your Daily Chores List
While I keep using the term chores here, I truly view most of the things I’ve mentioned so far as daily maintenance tasks.
That said, creating a daily chores list to keep track of those important home tasks + some of the extra chores that pop up, is a great way to keep your house in order!
The truth of the matter is, no matter what you call them, chores or daily maintenance tasks, these are the daily tasks that keep your home tidy and running smoothly day after day.
So, when it comes time to create your own daily chores list, you truly need to sit down and walk through an average day in your home.
Think about how much time you spend at home, what your typical routine is like, when you most commonly have a little free time, and what tasks seem to pile up the quickest.
For example, if you are home a lot, you can easily plan to tackle your daily chores throughout the day in little bursts, utilizing that free time for your larger cleaning tasks.
However, if you are home less, you may need to get a little creative.
Just make sure you focus on the tasks that pile up the quickest, first.
In our home, those tasks would be the dishes, the surface clutter that gets created from being home all day, and the floors.
If I tackle all three of these on the regular, our home stays in tip-top shape, you guys!
Find your 3 (or 5, or 12) and make sure you focus on those above all else.
That said, other simple things that don’t necessarily pile up, such as making beds, can make a world of difference to a home’s appearance when done daily as well.
Printable Household Chores List
Ready for some printable help to lean on so you can get started on your daily chores list?? I’ve got you!
This printable household chores list comes in 2 formats, you guys!
I consider this a basic cleaning checklist for those who just need a reminder of the important daily tasks that keep a household running smoothly.
One is a premade version that is pretty generic, focuses on the important areas to tackle, and can work for most households.
The second version is a blank slate.
This one is for those who need something less generic and more unique.
For this one, you can simply write in your own personalized list of daily chores!
I also created some additional space for you to track your weekly chores, some monthly tasks, and random extra tasks that pop up.
While I follow a pretty strict list of daily chores, I also have a secondary list of weekly items I always try to tackle as well, you guys!
For example, I clean windows in my home every Wednesday.
That said, I take a quick glance around the house, only focusing on the worst 2 or 3.
Why? I tackle this chore in this manner because it only takes a few minutes out of my day, and it keeps my windows looking fresh and clean for the most part.
Then, of course, I do a huge deep cleaning every spring, following my spring cleaning checklist, and tackle all the windows thoroughly over a weekend!
But you know what? Because I kept up with it through the winter, most of them really aren’t that bad come spring, you guys!
All that said, if you run an in-home day care where sticky fingers meet windows every day, you might ned to consider adding window washing to your daily chores list instead!
Either way, you can get your hands on this freebie below!
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More Home Helps
If you loved this article, I encourage you to check out our entire home organization and cleaning page here on Life + Homeschool!
I’ve been sharing lots of fun spring cleaning and organizing ideas all March long.
From minimalist organization ideas to using the basket method for a quick cleanup.
Check back often for more home helps like cleaning and organizing ideas for busy moms!
Happy cleaning, you guys!!
