The Eisenhower Matrix can be a visual tool to plan out your chores.

To begin, walk around every room in your home with a notebook or clipboard. Write down everything that needs to be cleaned. Go from top to bottom. Sit on the floor and look around.

For example, in the office:

Dust ceiling fan

Dust walls

Dust bookshelves/ desk

Dust and clean window

Vacuum floor

Once you have your “brain dump” list for the whole house, write each task on a sticky flag (color code by room), or each room and all of its tasks on a sticky note, depending on how much and to whom you delegate. If you may be delegating certain chores to children, you may want to use sticky flags so you can do the trickier tasks (or the ones dealing with breakables). 

On the other hand, maybe you’re preparing to have guests over soon, so you may prioritize cleaning certain rooms first (kitchen, guest bathroom, living room). The office can wait to be dusted. In that case, I would use 1 sticky note per room. 

Print or draw a copy of the Eisenhower matrix and sort your stickies by category (Do, Schedule, Delegate, Delete), and go from there! 

Start with the Do category (Urgent + Important). 

On a weekly basis plan to spend 10 minutes on your “Schedule” tasks (set a timer with your Important + Not Urgent tasks).

Using the Eisenhower matrix is a great way to sort out what must be done ASAP, what can wait (perhaps indefinitely), and what cleaning tasks can be delegated.

For more ideas on chores, check out my post: Using Chores to Teach Time Management.

Thanks for reading!