Today's tip is about organizing housework in a way that works for me.
Lately, I've been going through a phase where everything in my life is overwhelming to me- work, housework, keeping in touch with family and friends, tweaking baby's schedule for the beginnings of weaning... somehow emotionally (and probably hormonally), I've just been feeling a little bit overwhelmed. So last week, one day I finally decided to sit down and do something about it- to get organized...at least in the housework area... :)
Before I had Z, I used http://www.flylady.net/ as a jumping-off point for organizing my housecleaning. This website is very helpful, but very detailed. Just the thought of getting back into it was overwhelming me. But finally, I had to do something. So I just sat down and made a list of all of the chores that need to be done each week, and then organized them into lists of what I should do each day. Following is an example of my weekly plan:
Monday: Relax with hubby (Monday is his day off)
Stay caught up on dishes & laundry
Water Plant
Tuesday: Microwave
Fridge & Freezer
Vacuum
Clean Both Bathrooms
Wednesday: Weight Loss Group
Store, Library & Post Office Errands
Thursday: Sweep All Floors
Wipe Kitchen Floor
Thank You Notes
Wash Sheets/Towels
Friday: Dust
Cobweb
Wipe Down Bathrooms
Scrub Tub
Every day I do dishes, laundry, and sweep the floors, in addition to my daily cleaning. I take Saturday off, since I'm usually working at camp all day, and Sunday off for church, and Monday pretty much off because of my hubby's day off being Monday. Wednesday morning is always crazy, getting ready to go to weight-loss group, and I work in the afternoons, so Wednesday is sort of a 'buffer day' that I can use to get extra cleaning done if I end up having time.
I was dreading getting back into a schedule, because then I'd be bound to it & feel guilty if I didn't get it done, but I'm actually finding that it's easier for me now that I have a schedule. Because if one week, I don't have time to dust on Friday, I know it'll get done the next Friday for sure, or I use my weekend as a buffer zone to get it all finished.
Before I had a schedule, I just had this impending sense of doom, a cloud hanging over me saying, "your house is dirty...when was the last time you dusted/scrubbed the tub/etc....do you even know?" And now I do! :) So I guess having a housework schedule works for me!
Head on over to Shannon's place to see some more Works-for-me-Wednesday tips!
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6 comments:
You are so smart to take it easy on your hubby's day off. I used to stress both of us out with chore lists and errands before I got wise and remembered what the real priority was on our together day.
sigh... I need to get a regular schedule... but I'm in that "my house is dirty, do I even remember the last time I cleaned?" phase. I'd love to hire someone to clean the whole house to get me started... that'd be nice, right?
I have a hard time with this, too -- I'm a perfectionist, wanting to do it all exactly right, so I never do it in the first place! No one would ever know I'm a perfectionist by looking at my house. :)
Thank you for the encouragement to get a schedule in place!
I made a schedule for housekeeping. It worked really well for two days. Then I stopped remembering to look at the list.
I met up with online friends thru IM conferences and "drill" together. It's great, time passes quickly and before you know it the whole house is clean
I do this myself and it does help you not feel so overwhelmed or wondering "when you last"...My kids chore list is even geared in this manner...they clean their toilet/sink every other day and vacuum their rooms the days they don't clean their toilet/sink.
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