Last Updated on July 29, 2020 by Keri
Spring Cleaning is a big undertaking, and every year, I look for more ways to be organized and accomplish all of my cleaning tasks in a timely manner.
This is my first year using a Bullet Journal in the Spring, and I was very eager to plan my Spring-Cleaning in my little notebook! I created several layouts that will help keep me on track, and accomplish all of my tasks and today, I want to share those layouts with you!
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Setting A Goal
One of the best things you can do before you start planning is setting a goal. How long do you plan to take to accomplish all your cleaning tasks? To help you come up with a timeline, I have a couple questions below that you can ask yourself. Hopefully, the answers to these questions will help you come up with a time frame!
- How many hours a week can you dedicate to cleaning?
- Do you have anyone who can help you with the cleaning?
- What size of home do you have? Ballpark how long it would take you to clean each room, and add it up!
The less time you have to dedicate to cleaning every week, the longer your time frame needs to be.
This year, I have given us three months to clean our house. In our circumstance, we have several things pulling us in different directions. We both work full time, plus I put in full-time hours on this blog. We also hike a lot and have a lot of social events this year. I took all of these considerations when I set our goal!
Once you have set your goal, it is time to decide how you want to tackle these projects!
Task-Batching
If your time frame is a lot shorter than mine, you may wish to complete all your Spring-Cleaning tasks by batching them together.
Simply put, this means if you were washing walls, you would wash every single wall in the house until you were done. Then you would move onto the next task.
This works really well and is how I have done it every year in the past.
Room by Room
If you are not able to get all of your Spring Cleaning done in a few weeks, you may want to consider accomplishing your tasks on a room by room basis.
This is my first year doing it this way, but I am eager to find out if I like it!
Basically, you are going to plan out all the tasks you need to complete in each room and you aren’t going to move onto another room until every task has been completed!
There is no right or wrong way to clean your home, but it is important to know which tactic you want to use before you begin planning. This way, you can ensure you have set a good plan that will actually help you accomplish your goal!
Other Considerations
If you are planning any big projects, such as painting a room, you may wish to include this in your plans! This way, you will only have to do things once!
Lets’ say you wash your walls in April, and then decide to paint the room in July. Well, you are going to have to wash those walls again. So, if you know you want to do something, you may want to include that in your plan.
What Does A Good Cleaning Plan Consist Of?
1. Declutter and Organize First!
The best advice I could possibly give you is to declutter and organize your house first! This will make cleaning so much easier! It will also make it easier to maintain house cleanliness through the year with less effort.
If you have not read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, I HIGHLY recommend you do!
I have always been a big believer in decluttering my home. Every year, I go through my home and clear out the things we don’t have a use for anymore. The Marie Kondo method takes my love of decluttering to a new level by giving it rhyme and a reason!
2. Have Your Supplies Ready!
Having your cleaning supplies ready to go will make it easier to jump right in!
Make a list of all the supplies you will need to organize and clean your house beforehand, and plan a day where you can go and get everything you are going to need.
For me, this includes things like different cleaning products, rags, sponges, organizational bins, extra garbage bags, etc.
Now that you are ready to start planning, I am going to share how I planned all of my Spring Cleaning in my Bullet Journal!
If you don’t actively Bullet Journal, feel free to use any notebook you have tucked away in your drawers! The purpose of this is to get your plan down on paper so that you have a way to hold yourself accountable, and track your progress!
Bullet Journal Supplies
To create your Bullet Journal layouts, you do not need many supplies! My layouts are very minimal and were created using just a couple of supplies.
This notebook is what I am currently using for my Bullet Journal! If you want to learn more about my thoughts on this particular notebook for Bullet Journaling, be sure to check out my review article here!
Of course, any notebook you have will work. My first Bullet Journal was in a lined notebook that I got from the Dollar Store! Use whatever you have available to you!
Obviously, we need something to write with! Feel free to use whatever pen you like!
On my layouts, I used a Sakura Pigma Micron pen. I love these pens, and are what I use on all of my Bullet Journal layouts!
This is optional, but I love using highlighters to separate certain things on my layouts. They can also come in really handy if you plan to batch your tasks!
I love and use Zebra Mildliners. I have 15 different colors which make it easy for me to label the different tasks with different colors!
Layout 1: Breaking It Down Room by Room
Since I am tackling Spring Cleaning on a room by room basis this year, my layouts are set up for this purpose.
If you are using task batching, I have a couple of suggestions below on how you can still make this exact layout work for you!
When I started my layout, I was not sure how much space I needed to leave on the page to plan for each room of the house. So, I decided to create this entire layout room by room.
I started at the top of my house and worked my way down. My hope is that if I work my way around the house this way, I can have all the supplies I need nearby without jumping around too much.
Plan Your First Room
When creating my list, I decided to start at the top of my house and work my way down. Based on the layout of our house, this meant starting in the Master Bedroom for me!
I wrote a little header: Master Bedroom, and I used a blue highlighter to help it stand out from the rest of the writing on the page.
Each room then has two sub-headers which are highlighted with a purple highlighter.
- Marie Kondo – While I am still following the steps to decluttering in the Marie Kondo method, I am doing it room by room instead of doing the whole house. I speak more about this after I walk you through my different layouts.
- Spring Cleaning – Here is where I list out the different cleaning tasks I need to complete in that room.
Between each sub-header, I write out the different tasks I have to complete to finish a room.
To keep my checklist neat, I used a checklist from this 20 Stencil Pack from Amazon!
Continue Planning Each Room
Work your way around your house planning the tasks that need to be completed in each room.
Be sure to include hallways, stairwells, and any miscellaneous closets, drawers, etc.
Once filled in, you should have a spread that looks something like this.
Supplies Needed
Once I had completed planning each room, I wanted to create a list of supplies I will need.
There was some space left over on my third page below the rooms, so I decided to add this here.
I created a header named Supplies and highlighted with the same blue highlighter I used on the room headers.
Using the same checkbox stencil, I created a checklist. Now, I can check off each item as I purchase them!
Layout 2: Creating a Schedule
To ensure I am staying on track, I wanted to create a very basic schedule! To keep this as simple as possible, but still have some sort of plan, I decided to breakdown what rooms I wanted to complete each month.
Now, this may be too loose for you. For me, this allows me to be flexible with my schedule but will keep me disciplined enough to still complete it.
You know you best, create the schedule that will work for you!
How I Am Incorporating The Marie Kondo Method With My Spring Cleaning
Every year, a big part of my Spring Cleaning is decluttering and organizing my home. Every year I have tackled different organization projects, such as organizing my shoe closet. So, while the decluttering and tidying aspect is not new to me, I really wanted to incorporate the joy philosophy in Marie’s method.
I have never actively thought about what possessions bring me joy and happiness. And, when I am decluttering, I have never thought to be mindful of saying thank you for the joy that item once brought me.
Since I am going room by room, I decided to follow the 6-step process, but on a room by room basis. I know this is not the way you are supposed to complete the steps, however, I am modifying based on my needs this year! I am confident it will still work!
Are you ready for Spring Cleaning? Do you like to pre-plan these big projects? Be sure to share your spreads with me in the comments below!
Until next time!