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When I was still new to the full-time homemaker business, I quickly found I had a strong need for routine, some order. I had a baby girl to take care of, and that kept me busy, but I still felt the need to be able to list my accomplishments for the day. I realise that sounds bad. Listing "loved and cared for my baby" all day as my accomplishment should have been enough for me, but it wasn't. I wanted a longer list! So, I came up with a daily list for myself. Each day a different room was thoroughly cleaned. Monday-Saturday a different room, or rooms, was assigned, and Sunday was my "play day". Tuesday was "kitchen" for example. This worked very well for me because it was realistic-do-able with a baby. I didn't put down how much to be accomplished in that room-just that the kitchen was the room that would in some way be improved that day. As you can imagine some days were better than others. Sometimes the floor would be mopped, cupboards wiped down and garbage can disinfected. Other times the dishes would be done and...well, that was it. That schedule really worked well for me though. It gave me a goal for the day and helped me keep a somewhat tidy house.
I don't use that type of schedule any more now because the children are just a little older and easier, and I've become more disciplined in my housework. I do have a general chore list that is kept on the side of our refrigerator that I try and stick with. Sometimes it works, others it doesn't but it's a good guideline.
Here it is:
Daily Chores:
-Pick up clutter
-Dishes
-Put away clothes
-Wipe down counters after use
- Take out trash
Weekly Chores:
-Laundry
-Vacuum carpets or sweep floors
- Dust
- Mop kitchen and bathroom floors
- Disinfect kitchen and bathroom surfaces (counters, fixtures, toilet bowl, etc)
- Change bed linens
- Spot-clean visible wall smudges
Monthly Chores:
-Clean refrigerator shelves
-Disinfect indoor garbage cans
Quarterly Chores:
-Wash windows
-Clean baseboards
-Vacuum and rotate mattresses
-Dust or vacuum ceiling fans, air vent covers and smoke detectors
Twice a Year:
-Shampoo carpets
-Clean inside of oven
Generally I do try to do certain things on a regular day-like laundry is always done on Mondays for us, but in having a weekly chore list and not dividing those chores into specific days, I give myself more flexibility.
Us neat freaks have to stick together:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I am good at making schedules but horrible at keeping them. How do u get the motivation!! lol when my son is napping all want to do is sit and relax.
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ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Well, I'd be lying if I said I maintained this chore schedule! But, I do find it motivating to have a list I can check off. I keep in on my fridge and kind of consider it as part of my "job", because well, it is. How do I stay motivated? Two different things-one sometimes we'll invite company over, and that's motivation enough those weeks! But the other thing is making sure you do have your time to relax. I don't know how old your son is, but if he's little, it's more important that you're 100% there for him than you having a home that sparkles. They're only so little once, and after that you'll have tons of time to get that schedule perfected! So, give yourself some fudge room.
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