I like my Saturday mornings slow. The kids and I stay in our pajamas, have breakfast, and watch a little TV while I enjoy my coffee. Getting my weekly cleaning done on Friday helps me have that kind of morning.
My Friday reset routine happens throughout the day, with meals, laundry, and family life happening right along with it. Over the years, I’ve figured out an order that works for me, including which jobs to get out of the way early and which ones make more sense at night.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to keep up with the little everyday messes while I’m working on the bigger jobs. Otherwise, I finish cleaning one space and have a whole other mess waiting for me. I’ll get to that, because it has made such a difference in my home.
How I start my Friday reset routine
Before I do anything else, I wash up, shower, and get dressed in comfortable clothes and fresh socks. This is a habit I had to build over time.
I know myself. If I stay in my pajamas and go straight to the coffee maker, I can end up on the couch scrolling for hours. Getting ready first helps me actually get moving.
Then I strip my bed before I leave my bedroom and get the bedding into the wash before I have coffee. By the time I sit down with my cup, the washer is already doing some work for me. I love that.
My laundry system goes from worst to best
I do my laundry from worst to best, meaning I start with the load I enjoy the least and work toward my favorite. Here’s my order:
My bedding
The kids’ bedding
My clothes and my husband’s
The kids’ clothes
Towels
Bath rugs and the hallway runner
My bedding is my least favorite, so I always start there. The bath rugs are my favorite because putting them away is so easy. I just take them out and put them where they belong. And yes, I wash my bath rugs and hallway runner weekly.
Laundry keeps moving throughout my Friday reset routine. Whatever else I’m doing, I stop to switch a load, fold it, and put it away. The washing is only one part of the job, and I want the putting-away part finished too.
Breakfast gets going while I make coffee
Once that first load is started, I head into the kitchen, open the door and curtains, and make coffee. While it’s brewing, I start the kids’ breakfast.
I’m a big air fryer person. The kids usually have bacon or sausage, so that goes in first. Then I warm up homemade pancakes or waffles that I’ve already made and frozen.
A little tip from our house: Henry loves crunchy food, and putting his pancakes or waffles in the air fryer gives him that crunch he likes. It’s one small change that works for him.
While breakfast is cooking, I sit with my coffee and work on my laptop or scroll my phone. Once I’ve finished my cup, I check the laundry and switch it when it’s ready.
I am a big, big fan of multitasking. Sometimes a little too big. Even when I sit down to read, I’ll put on headphones and a book background music playlist from Amazon Music because doing just one thing can feel difficult for me. That’s something I want to work on. Having the washer running is helpful; feeling like I always need to do more can wear me out.
I clean the bedrooms first
After breakfast and coffee, I start dusting, wiping things down, and vacuuming. I always begin in my bedroom.
My bedroom
I wipe down the dressers, clean the TV, vacuum, put anything out of place back where it belongs, and take out the trash. Then I open the curtains.
I don’t have much decor. Too much of it overwhelms me, and it feels like more stuff to clean. Keeping things simple makes this part of my reset pretty easy.
A simpler room for Henry
Next, I open Henry’s curtains and do the same thing: wipe everything down, vacuum, and put things back in place.
Henry is autistic, and I organize his room around our day-to-day needs. He sometimes smears stool, and having fewer things in his room makes those cleanups more manageable.
I also like white furniture because it helps me see where something needs cleaning. That includes sticky little fingerprints and bigger messes. If something needs attention, I want to be able to see it.
Penelope and our homeschool supplies
Penelope’s room is a very different story. It’s her playroom and our homeschool headquarters, so it holds a lot of toys and school supplies.
I keep our homeschool things there because I can lock the room when we aren’t using it. Henry has pica, and things like play dough, crayons, chalk, and paint go into his mouth. Keeping those supplies out of reach is part of how I organize our home around his needs.
I dust and vacuum Penelope’s room, then check the laundry again. As the bedding is ready, I start putting my bed back together. By this point, I’m also getting lunch started and keeping an eye on the kitchen and living room.
How to Clean Your House When Overwhelmed
The little tidy-ups that changed my cleaning routine
This is probably my biggest tip: keep up with the everyday messes while you’re doing your bigger cleaning jobs.
It took me a long time to learn this. If I’m cleaning out a closet or going through dressers, I stop in between to load the dishwasher, pick up the kids’ things, or do a quick vacuum where it’s needed. Then I go back to the job I started.
The mess will not wait for you, Mom. Rain or shine, that mess is happening.
Cleaning out a closet doesn’t stop anyone from needing lunch. There will still be dishes and little lived-in messes. If I ignore all of that until I’m finished, I end up with another space that needs a big cleanup.
Those little check-ins usually take me ten minutes or less. They keep the mess from piling up while I’m busy somewhere else, and that has made my cleaning days so much easier.
The bathrooms finish my daytime cleaning
We have two bathrooms. I clean the sinks, mirrors, toilets, and showers, take out the trash, and refill the toilet paper and hand soap. I also collect the dirty towels for their turn in the laundry.
Once the bathrooms are done, I’m finished with the bigger cleaning jobs until evening. I’ll still keep the laundry moving and handle the ordinary messes as we go through our day.
I finish the kitchen after dinner
The kitchen and living room get their full cleanup last. We’re using those rooms all day, so trying to keep them finished while everyone is still eating and playing would have me going in circles.
After dinner, I do a light fridge clean. I throw out old food, refill drinks, and get things back in order. Then I empty or load the dishwasher, depending on whether the dishes inside are clean or dirty.
I clean the sink and countertops and polish the dining table. The air fryer gets cleaned too, along with the microwave and glass cooktop. Keeping up with the microwave each week usually means it only needs a quick wipe-down.
Then I wipe down the coffee makers and refill their water tanks. Yes, coffee makers. I have a Nespresso and a Keurig. I told you I like my coffee.
I use stainless steel cleaner wipes on the stainless steel surfaces of the stove, fridge, dishwasher, microwave, and trash can. I also clean our dog’s food and water bowls. Her name is Girl, and she’s a Bichon Frise. Yes, her name really is Girl.
The dining table helps me tidy the living room
Our kitchen, dining area, and living room are all in one open space. As I pick up the living area, I put anything that belongs somewhere else on one side of the dining table.
Once I’ve gathered everything, I take it back to its proper home. That keeps me from walking into a different room for every little thing I find.
The living room itself is pretty simple. I wipe everything down, fluff the pillows, and put things back where they belong.
The floors and bath rugs come last
Bath time is part of our evening too. Once the kids have finished their baths and are in bed for the night, I do the last round of floors.
I vacuum throughout the house and then mop, including the bathroom floors. I use a steam mop. For your own routine, check your flooring’s care instructions before choosing how to mop.
By now, I’ve usually reached my last laundry load: the bath rugs and hallway runner. I’ve been switching, folding, and putting away laundry throughout the day, so the timing works out well for me.
Once the floors are dry and the rugs are ready, I put them back where they belong. My favorite load is finished, and so am I.
Saturday morning is why I do it
After all that, I put on my pajamas and climb into my clean bed. The next morning, I can sleep in and have a slower start with the kids.
We stay in our pajamas, have breakfast, and watch TV. I enjoy my coffee. There are still dishes to wash and everyday things to pick up over the weekend, but the weekly cleaning is already done.
It took me years to figure out what helps me get started, which order I prefer, and when to leave a room until later. This is the routine that fits our home now, with all the interruptions and little messes included.
By Saturday morning, the beds are fresh, the bath rugs are back down, and I get to sit with my coffee and my kids. That’s what I want from my Friday reset routine.
What’s the one weekly job you’d love to have finished before Saturday morning?
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