Stop Cleaning on the Weekends — Do My Brilliant Swap Instead

Deep-cleaning my apartment can feel like the most insurmountable task, which is why I tend to avoid it at all costs. On top of work, a busy schedule, and life in general, when I do finally get a break I certainly don’t want to spend my weekends deep-cleaning. That’s where a set cleaning routine can help by breaking the project into smaller tasks. Let me introduce you to what I call “sprint cleaning week” — something my partner and I do at the end of every month that makes cleaning our apartment easier to achieve. 

In corporate settings you might hear about “sprints,” usually week-long periods of achievable, predetermined goals designed to break up bigger projects into clear, concise tasks to make them feel more attainable. That’s how I now approach cleaning my apartment, and it’s been a lifesaver as someone who loves to put it off.

The success of the routine lies in how I structure my “sprint cleaning week.” During the last week of every month, depending on what’s piled up, I assign two to three days mid-week where I have to accomplish at least one major cleaning task, like dusting, vacuuming, or scrubbing. The tasks generally stay the same from month to month and room to room for the most part, and when my apartment is in especially disorganized shape I stack a few room sprints into a single week.

Let’s use my living room as an example for how I might apply this method. Let’s say I start on a Tuesday and want to end my sprint on a Thursday, so I’ll set up a daily schedule I know I can accomplish before or after work. Here’s what it might look like:

• Tuesday: I dust all my surfaces: coffee table, credenza, shelves, lamps, clocks, etc. I like to do what feels like the most work on the first day of the sprint, so I can set up the other days to be light and easy. 
• Wednesday: I vacuum my rug and couch (or any other seating I have), do a quick sweep of the floors and under my couch and chairs, wipe down the windows, and mop the floors. 
• Thursday: Add final touches and reorganize if need be, like washing and refolding any blankets, reset any decor or storage that got moved around throughout the month, and give a final walkthrough of anything I might have missed. 

All of a sudden, it’s Friday morning and my living room has been cleaned and refreshed, and the whole weekend is mine to relax and enjoy my time off instead of vacuuming or dusting. This is a perfect method for people who feel easily overwhelmed by the idea of deep-cleaning an entire home in one day (or weekend). It’s also easily adjustable depending on what you have going on week to week. Need to do it a week in advance? No problem. Want to tackle the entire home over the course of a month? Spread it out mid-week for a month. 

I find that sometimes when I start cleaning and organizing, I want to keep the momentum going and get several tasks done in one go. If I’m planning to do it mid-week, I’m naturally looking forward to not having to do it on the weekend, and it creates built-in motivation. By setting a monthly schedule where I don’t have to get everything done in one day, I feel less overwhelmed and ready to take on the tasks that will leave my apartment ready for the next month.