This is the 2nd installment in a series of articles chronicling the multiple ways one can keep organized with routine home maintenance needs.
In the quest to get routine home management tasks organized, it can be quite tempting to try to adhere to a system or routine that seems to work well for someone else. However, you must take care to intentionally select a path that is right for you in the season of life you are currently in. Additionally, be willing to try a new path of maintaining order if you sense your family lifestyle is shifting or possibly taking on a brand new shape.
There are often MANY options that will lead you to a desired result.
Consider the recurring need your home has for routine cleaning and clutter control. It’s an irritating fact that your home will continually need to be cleaned and tidied up. However, depending on the season of life you are in and the additional responsibilities you have, choosing an intentional approach that works best for YOU and your family could help you not feel so overwhelmed and/or exhausted by all that needs to be done.
Just to clarify, I’ll be talking about cleaning tasks that are ideal to be addressed on a weekly basis.
It’s my recommendation to attempt to tend to a few routine household chores {like the dishes and wiping counter tops as well as sweeping floors etc.} at a regular time each and every day.
1) Assign a ‘Cleaning Day’:
Just like the first option of the Laundry article, focus on completing all household cleaning tasks only once a week on one assigned day of the week.
If you work full-time, assigning all your house-hold cleaning to one day will free you up to enjoy your evenings or other time off of work with your family or just kick back and relax.
This is the particular method I grew up with. My mother is the founder/director and lead teacher of her own successful preschool. I just knew that Saturday mornings would be dedicated to cleaning house. As a youngster this meant I got to enjoy a few extra cartoons, but as I grew in maturity and need for spending money, I took on more cleaning responsibilities alongside my mom and was minimally rewarded for my contributions. I appreciated how she was available to attend my extra curricular activities throughout the week as well as just being present if I needed some special attention from her at home after school.
If you are home during the day, and also like the idea of batching your laundry on one day, it’s easy to combine cleaning tasks in-between loads. Then, all your heavy home needs are covered all at once and you can focus on other things throughout the week! If you are home mothering small children and would like to attempt this option but feel limited due to time requirements, find another like-minded mama to trade up child care with. While you take care of your home needs on one morning she can watch all the kiddos, then you can return the favor on another day!
2) Assign Individual Cleaning Tasks to Specific Days of the Week:
If you have a fairly predictable schedule during the week this is an ideal approach for many a home manager especially if there are a lot of other responsibilities to juggle in your world. Being able to compartmentalize when home needs are taken care of helps free your mind and your days to keep the whole house in tip top shape even if it’s just one day at a time. Here’s a few examples:
http://pinterest.com/HeidiLeonard/family-manager~cleaning/
3) Plot out a cleaning plan on a week-by-week basis depending on your schedule:
If you have an irregular and/or unpredictable schedule this is the best approach to help you feel as though you are putting your best foot forward to ‘do what you can, when you can’
http://www.operationorganization-mn.com/2011/10/daily-weekly-monthly-cleaning-routines.html
This is my current approach. While I would realistically prefer to assign one task per day, it’s just not realistic in our particular season of life. I attempted the assigned days for a while but usually wound
up feeling like a failure when it didn’t get done and then prone to ‘punish’ myself by forcing myself to get ‘caught up’ all in one day, nor, did I want to spend large amounts of ‘free’ time cleaning. So every week I spend a few minutes planning out when I can squeeze in the home maintenance cleaning in the following week around my business and our family personal commitments.
Consider what’s best for you. Take care not to adopt a particular method out of reflex. Intentionally choose a path that works best for the season of life you are in, and be willing and ready to make necessary adjustments as dynamics or demands in your life ebb and flow. It doesn’t matter HOW you make it happen, just that you have a PLAN for it to occur, and you’ll be on your way to an organized cleaning routine!
