Many of the questions posted from moms in Facebook groups or on Moms blogs are related to how to keep up with cleaning and organizing. Being far from perfect in keeping my house ready for company at all times, it has made all the difference in having set routines to help with organizing my cleaning and chores. I have worked on cleaning and keeping up my home, but organizing my life to help with my chaotic schedule has made the biggest difference. This helps to ease the stress of a cluttered house. Now let me help to show you how you can start organizing your life with simple changes to help with daily and weekly chores.
Organizing Your Cleaning
There is always something to do! First acknowledge that, and realize there is only so much you will be able to do in one day. I will walk you through my weekly routines, which will help you to form your own routines. Cleaning has never been my favorite home task, I have always preferred to cook. So the simpler the better and the more likely things will be to get done. I have found keeping things simple and taking some scheduled time each week to clean (even if it is just 1-2 rooms) can make a huge overall difference.
I schedule in cleaning time every Saturday morning, sometimes it’s 30 minutes and sometimes it’s 60 minutes. This is enough time for me to clean our bathrooms, kitchen and vacuum the floors. Once every month or two I schedule in additional time to dust and do more detailed cleaning. Having this set time and schedule I don’t feel like I am taking away from other things. My husband and little one understand that just like with my workouts this is a scheduled task that is designated for this time frame. Granted sometimes things do get thrown off by special events then it is easy to move it to a different time during the week. Read my post here about scheduling in time for fitness and sleep.
Also make sure you have a stock pile of your cleaning supplies, you don’t need big expensive cleaners usually. A floor cleaner, counter top cleaner, bathroom cleaner and glass cleaner. These will do the trick for a majority of your cleaning needs. You don’t want to run out of your cleaning supplies when you have designated time to clean, this will hurt your motivation!
Organizing Your Laundry
Laundry can be tedious and time consuming for many families. I find for us it is easier to not do laundry on a specific schedule (except for sheets which usually get done on my Saturday morning cleaning days). After a few years of trial and error I came up with a great plan to tackle our laundry that has worked for the last two years. It did take me years to finally figure out this strategy. With multiple job changes and working different shifts we never got a rhythm with doing laundry on set days. After finally finding a plan that works with any schedule, it needs to be shared!
I start with watching our laundry baskets. Once I have one that is full I start our laundry at night on the delay schedule to be done around the time I get up to workout in the morning. The laundry gets switched over to the dryer in the morning, warmed up when we get home from work and put away that evening before bed. Doing only one load at a time seems less overwhelming and I am more successful in keeping my clothing put away this way.
Organizing Your Kitchen
Keeping your kitchen clean and tidy can be a challenge especially when you have kids. I find it is easiest to try to keep up with kitchen clutter as it comes in, which is easier said than done. I take 5 minutes nightly to go through the kitchen and tidy up. This allows junk like unwanted mail, papers brought home from school that day and miscellaneous things that appeared to be sorted out daily.
I am grateful to currently have a dishwasher so I run it every night when it is full. Then empty it in the morning prior to leaving for work. It really only takes about 5-10 minutes of your time in the morning and helps to keep things on track and less stressful when you get home from work and are trying to get dinner around. I often use the time while my little one is eating breakfast or we are waiting for the bus to do this.
As you can see I do a few simple things each day that don’t take long, but can make a difference in my overall view of the week. By doing small amounts of cleaning each week, doing laundry as it builds ups, and keeping the kitchen clutter down nightly it also allows me to have a more relaxed a clutter free home. Adding in small tasks to your weekly routines can help to make your life overall more organized and less stressed. Join me in organizing your life and making set schedules for your chores to give yourself more time for the things you love!
