The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Sharon at Mom of 6.
Happy New Year OrgJunkie readers! Did you set some goals this year to become more organized in the New Year? To tackle some of those decluttering projects? To clean out a closet or two? Well- awesome! You’ll find tons of tips here to help you accomplish those goals! But the New Year is also a perfect time to take a look at the routines we use around the house and make some tweaks in order to make them work better for us. So I ask you:
You know, it’s not really so much that I like to clean and organize my house… it’s just that I like to live in a clean and organized house! And way back when I became a full-time stay-at-home Mom, I needed to find a way to stay on top of all of the housework without incurring the cost of a weekly house cleaner, and find a schedule that made me feel as if I wasn’t spending the better part of my day cleaning the house! Because honestly, after 60-90 minutes of house cleaning chores- I am DONE! So over the years I have put together these tips and tricks for cleaning my home. Maybe they will help you to make some changes to your weekly cleaning routine this year:
Declutter Your Home Daily
Most of the time it isn’t the dirt that is making you nutty… it’s all of the school paperwork and mail and toys and kids clothes that are scattered everywhere that are driving you up the wall. So if you make a plan to declutter your kitchen counters and get the kids to clean up their toys and shoes and clothes for 15 minutes each evening before starting your bedtime routine, the weekly house cleaning becomes so much easier!
Break Your Tasks into Manageable Bites
My life is too busy, and cleaning isn’t one of my soul-fulfilling activities… so instead of cleaning my entire house top-to-bottom in just one day, I find it much more appealing to break down all of my cleaning chores into smaller tasks to work on over the course of a week. Here is how I break it down:
Mondays:
- grocery shopping and run errands
- clothes laundry
*and yes, this does take me more than 60-90 minutes, but at least I can get some other things done between loads
Tuesdays:
- wash towels
- empty trash cans throughout the house
Wednesdays:
- clean the bathrooms
Thursdays:
- dust, vacuum, and mop the upstairs areas (bedrooms)
Fridays:
- more laundry (I do have 6 kids!)
- dust, vacuum, and mop the the downstairs areas
- water the plants
Weekends:
- change bed linens (remind me again why I thought that having bunk beds would be such a great idea? Because they are a pain in butt to strip and re-make!)
- coupon clipping / menu and grocery planning
How do you tackle your housecleaning? All in one day (just focus and get it over with), or in smaller chunks? Please leave a comment and share!
If you get a chance, I hope you’ll stop by to see me at Momof6 – a place where I write about organizing your home, using a family calendar, creating household routines, hosting at-home birthday parties, and making meals that kids will actually eat!
Anna says
Good tips! I added 15 minutes of decluttering to my daily to do list. I have assigned each area/room to a day of the week so I eventually get around the whole house. 🙂
Sharon at Momof6 says
Good for you! That’s a great plan!
jen Schreiner says
Great Tips. You know, I love being able to have a day dedicated to cleaning a room or doing a few tasks it really breaks up the cleaning.
Sharon at Momof6 says
I just don’t have the energy or the desire to do it all in one day!
CTY says
Divide and Conquer–small chunks. My schedule (took a while to master): One load of laundry (wash, dried, folded & away) everyday, except Sunday. Mon. groceries & errands: Tues. bathrooms; Wed. Vacuum whole house: Thurs. mop kitchen floor, Fri. dust, clean all windows & glass: Sat.quarterly job & vacuum whole house again (thanks to the dog). Kitchen is cleaned as it is dirtied; strays go away & clutter gets tossed after dinner. Quarterly jobs rotate: things like outside of windows, air filters cleaned, ceiling fans, pantry etc.
The laundry breaks down like this M-whites, T- lights, W- darks, T- Linen, F-Linen part 2, S-towels.
Sharon at Momof6 says
I am glad you figured out a routine that works for you! Personally- I only tackle my laundry on two days of the week, even though it means multiple loads, because it is one of my least favorite chores- and the idea of fang it every single day would make my batty!
mindy says
I have never thought about how hard it would be to make up the top bunk in a bunk bed. Maybe this thing I used to do with the crib would work. I would put a mattress pad between 2 layers of fitted sheets, so I can just take of the top sheet and the mattress pad and have a set of clean sheet already there. that way you only have to put the sheets on every other time. This saved me time in the middle of the night when the sheets got wet.
Sandi says
Great post! I find I need to change up my routine as the kids get older and my daily schedule changes or sometimes just because I’m bored with it. You mentioned bunk beds and I had a great idea when my kids had bunk beds. I put on the normal fitted sheet then bought an additional flat sheet, cut it to the size of the top of the mattress, sewed Velcro strips on the corners that wrapped around the bed post. Then when I changed the sheets, I could leave the fitted sheet alone and change the top sheet and homemade bottom sheet! Soooooo much easier!
Sophie Green says
I am so glad that I’m not the only person who takes almost 90 minutes to finish one load of laundry! The first month of this year has been a crazy one, and my house is seeing the results of how chaotic my life is right now. Having a schedule is exactly what I need in my life, and I think that something like this could really help improve my daily life. Everyday I come home from work dreading seeing the condition my house is in, and I think that breaking it down day by day could help keep things a little less overwhelming. And your idea to do the grocery planning on the weekends is genius, Sharon!
Sophie Green | http://www.cleaningservicesbeaverton.com/hillsboro-cleaning/
DeAnn says
We are both semi-retired. Since I can’t vacuum, he does the vacuuming the first of the week. I get the dusting done with three levels, one day at a time. Also declutter at the same time. Our library has gained quite a few books over the last two weeks. Closets are almost done as are chest of drawers. Now hopefully, we can keep this up so our kids won’t have so much to do. I try to leave afternoons free to do my fun “stuff” that I dreamed about as I worked.
Ellen Gibson says
A few years ago I picked up book written by two sisters called Side Tracked Home Executives (Or something very close to that). It was the best purchase I ever made. My house is now clean and organized and takes minutes per most days.
I love being so organized.