The pace of life never seems to slow. Families are running in different directions from practices to lessons and back again.

House cleaning can fall by the wayside as you’re getting everyone where they need to be. It’s not easy, but you can stay ahead of dirt and clutter. We’ve got some tips to help you keep your house clean and tidy despite your busy schedule.

You can’t stay on top of things if you’re not clear on what exactly needs to be done. Walkthrough your home and make a master list of all the cleaning tasks.

Include everything from cleaning the microwave to wiping down the bathroom sink. Make sure to add things like wiping down the doors of the kitchen cupboards and organizing the pantry.

You may not do them very often, but you don’t want to forget.

Separate the chores on your list into daily, weekly, and monthly lists.

You’re breaking this down because you’ll handle chores differently based on how often they need to be done.

For example, cleaning the fridge takes a bigger chunk of time than a dusting but you only have to do it every couple of weeks.

For the standard cleaning jobs, create a weekly or monthly schedule and divide out the tasks based on availability.

If you have Wednesday afternoons free, schedule laundry and bathroom cleaning. If your children are all home Saturday morning, do a general deep clean while everyone is home to help.

Some people work best if they do all the cleaning at once while others are more successful if they can do it a small chunk at a time. Know yourself, your family, and how you all work together.

Create a chart every week so everyone can see what needs to be done and when. It will take some reminding at first, but stick to it. It’ll become second nature before long.

Your work or your families’ activity schedules may change from month to month or even from week to week.

Be flexible and get ready to make adjustments based on who’s available and what cleaning tasks need to be done.

Now that you’ve got a good idea of what needs to be done and how often, it’s time to bring in the rest of the family.

Establish a few family rules to help reduce general clutter and cleaning.

For example, everyone has to put away their shoes as soon as they walk in the door. It’ll cut back on clutter by entryways and reduce the dirt that gets tracked into the house.

A few other ideas are:

• Have everyone carry one item to put away whenever they leave a room
• Put dirty dishes in the sink (or even better, in the dishwasher) as soon as they’re done using them
• Put away toothpaste or makeup after it’s been used
• Get a basket or bin to hold remotes and magazines in the living room
• Establish boundaries for play areas

A clean home doesn’t happen by accident. Plan ahead, make adjustments and be ready to work side by side with your family.

Your schedule may be crazy but your home doesn’t need to be!