Learn how to create a simple but effective homemaking checklist, so you can remember ALL the things AND get them all done, without going crazy!
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I love to-do lists. I am admittedly a crazy to-do list girl who will spend my FREE/FUN time making lists.
Some of my favorite lists to create are homemaking checklists. I love brainstorming all of things that I could get done to make our house beautiful, clean, and functional. And then, figuring out a way to schedule all of those ideas into my calendar in the best way possible.
If you’ve been feeling like you need to get a handle on all of the things that need done around your home, then making lists and scheduling it all in could be your perfect solution.
Creating a homemaking checklist can help YOU to remember all of the things you need to get done as well. And then you can schedule them in to your daily, weekly, and monthly routines in a way that works for you!
Homemaking can be overwhelming and things can slip through the cracks if you don’t have a few systems in place. Creating different homemaking checklists can be a great way to organize and keep track of all of the to-dos…. so you can get them all DONE!
I’m excited to share with you how to brainstorm all of the things that need done around your home. Then I’ll share some ideas for creating a schedule around your to-do list! But first, lets take a big picture look at what a homemaker actually does.
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Activities of a Homemaker
I’m sure you already know this by know, but there is a LOT that goes into homemaking. Especially if you’re passionate about doing it well!
We can always give ourselves grace when dinner is a box of mac-and-cheese. BUT there’s nothing quite like a from scratch meal, a clean, tidy, and comfortable home, and a budget that’s on point.
Something to strive for! When you’re working towards being an excellent homemaker, there can be a lot on your plate.
That being said, listed below are some of the activities that a homemaker is responsible for. Depending on your home and your family dynamic, you may be doing just some or all of the activities listed below.
- Meal Planning (including grocery shopping)
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Organizing/Sorting
- Laundry
- Budgeting/Bill Pay
- Errand and Appointment Management
- General Household Management
All of these can be broken down into very small activities that will be on your homemaking checklists. These are just the big picture, large category activities.
What Should be on a Homemaker To Do List?
Now that we have a good idea of what a homemaker does, its time to make your homemaking checklist. What needs to be on it?!
Your homemaker to do list should include all of the things that need to be done to keep your home and family running smoothly.
BUT it needs to be a little organized and separated out. Because if you put every last thing you need to do as a homemaker on to one list, you’d probably get VERY overwhelmed. I can’t even imagine looking at one list with ALL THE THINGS.
A great way to organize is to start with the big things, and then narrow everything down. For example, all of the homemaking activities we listed above can be our BIG categories. We’ll break those down into smaller activities, until they’re small enough to add in to our daily/weekly/monthly routines.
Breaking Down Your Checklist
Let’s break down the bigger categories into smaller ones! This is what makes sense for me and my home, but feel free to add or take away as you see fit for your own home and family.
I suggest making your own list! Start with the general categories and break them down into everything you can think of that may need to be done in that category. Use mine as an example. Just do a brain dump!
Meal Planning:
- cleaning out fridge and pantry
- making grocery lists according to what’s on hand and what the budget is
- planning healthy, wholesome, and delicious meals
- grocery shopping
Cooking:
- feeding sourdough starter
- preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
- after meal clean-up (including this here instead of in the cleaning section)
Cleaning:
- Daily tidy-up
- take dirty laundry to laundry room
- put things back where they go
- make beds
- wipe down countertops
- do dishes
- take out trash
- vacuuming
- Deep cleaning by room
- kitchen (washing floors, cleaning outsides of cabinets, countertops, sinks, and windows, appliances, light fixtures)
- living room (deep cleaning floors, windows/doors, dusting, light fixtures, fireplace and curtains)
- dining room and entryway (floors, windows/doors, dusting, light fixtures, table and chairs)
- bedrooms (floors, windows, dusting, light fixtures, bedding)
- Outdoor cleaning
- cleaning laundry room
- sweeping out garage
- cleaning off patio
- picking up trash & tumbleweeds
- cleaning out car
Organizing/Sorting:
- sorting, organizing, and purging clothing
- sorting, organizing and purging cabinets/drawers/closets
Laundry:
- washing/drying
- folding and putting away
- washer/dryer maintenance
- making homemade detergent, DIY stain remover, dryer sheets, etc.
- sorting clothes
Budgeting/Bill Pay:
- keeping, recording, and organizing receipts
- recording any expenses
- reconciling accounts
- paying bills
- assessing budgets
- sorting and filing paperwork
Errand & Appointment Management:
- calling and scheduling appointments
- recording appointments on the calendar
- running errands
General Household Management:
- keeping up with appliance warranties and maintenance
- schedule household maintenance (furnace filter replacements, sewing line cleanings, chimney sweeps, etc).
- weeding and gardening outside
How to Create a Homemaking Schedule That Supports Your Checklist
Now that you have everything listed, you can decide how to schedule them in to your life in the best way (aka, everything is getting done, WITHOUT too much overwhelm).
You can do this by listing next to each detail how often it needs done. This is personal to your own home! Jot down if the activity needs done daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.
Now this next part is very simple: add it all into your calendar and planner accordingly! Its so much easier to remember things when you have them written down.
For example, some things that I would categorize as daily tasks include meal prepping breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, daily tidy-up, a load of laundry, etc. I like to record my receipts for purchases once per week, and I pay bills monthly.
Since I know how often those need done, I jot them down in my planner accordingly.
Side note: I approach my deep cleaning and organizing/sorting in the same way. I spend 15-30 min Monday – Friday doing some sort of deep cleaning and organizing. This way I’m consistently chipping away at it. I choose one room to focus on each week.
So in my planner I jot down one deep cleaning and one sorting task to do mon-fri.
If you’d like to know more in depth about this and how else I create homemaking schedules and routines for my old-fashioned lifestyle, check out my ebook HERE!
When you’re first creating your homemaking checklist and schedule, it’ll take more time. For example, you can go around your home and jot down maintenance notes for appliances and other things around your home. This is probably something you’d only need to make note of and schedule once a year!
You can keep your master list somewhere handy.. like on a sheet tucked into a folder in your planner so its easy to refer back to.
Depending on your personality you may want to schedule as much as you can in all at once. OR take it week by week or month by month. I suggest at least doing a week at a time! This will give you a little more of a plan.
Side note: if you don’t already, try to make a habit of using a planner and being diligent about looking through your daily/weekly/monthly tasks and anything that may be coming up. Planners and schedulers can be so helpful in being a more productive homemaker, without overwhelm.
You don’t have to schedule in every last detail if that doesn’t fit your personality and it causes more stress for you. Create a checklist and scheduling system that works for you! Know how you function best. Be more flexible with it if you need flexibility and more rigid if you tend towards letting homemaking tasks slip through the cracks.
Best Planners and Notebooks for Homemakers
If you’re ready to get started making your homemaking checklist and schedule, you’re going to need something to write it all down in. Of course, any old notebook or sheet of paper will work. BUT if you’d like to try something cute and functional and not too expensive, then I have a few suggestions!
THIS is my absolute favorite planner I’ve ever used… and I’ve been through quite a few (planner and to-do list lover over here, remember?!)
I love the size of this one. Its not too big and not too small. I also love how the weekly pages and days are set up. Each day has a narrow, long strip (almost the length of the notebook) to plan in. This makes it super easy for daily to-do LISTS!
As far as notebooks, I love ones that are similar in size to the planner above, spiral bound so they’re easy to open and leave open, and cute of course! HERE is an option for one by the same brand as the planner.
I am SO EXCITED for you to give this homemaking checklist a try. I think it will do wonders for your home and also your sanity! It will feel amazing to know you’re staying on top of all of the things around your home, and you have a schedule that works great for you.
I’d love to know in the comments below if you have any questions or any other tips of creating homemaking checklists and schedules. Happy homemaking!
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