Organization Operation: Day 4

Thursday: Living Room & Dining Room

Todays assignment: Make a cleaning schedule. I know, but trust me. Just write it down. You don't have to actually do it today.

My schedule looks like this (inspired by a much loved friend):

Monday: Bathrooms

Tuesday: Kitchen

Wednesday: Bedrooms

Thursday: Living Room & Dining Room

Friday: School Room & Office

Saturday: Outside

First of all I will tell you that I do not stick to this schedule %100. I wish I could, but I have 5 children and a life outside of maintaining a perfect home (contrary to popular belief). I believe that you can have a clean organized home WITHOUT being a slave to it. Clean and organized DOES NOT mean perfect!

Now as for how my schedule works - the zone of the day gets our attention. For instance - if it is Monday we clean the 3 bathrooms, top to bottom. The children help. Note to parents: This does take longer, but really not that much, and our goal here is to raise children with a strong work ethic. Don't make it miserable. (honestly, I do most of the work, the children help out where they can, doing more as they get older. The point is they are there, with you, helping, learning. Make it fun, or at the very least pleasant by your attitude. Nothing is quite as contagious as a mothers attitude)

In rooms like bedrooms, living areas ect. we tidy, dust, wash sheets, and whatever else needs doing. Once you are organized these rooms are fairly quick and easy to do.

In the kitchen, we wipe down the cupboards, clean out the fridge ect. This sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't if you keep on top of it. We don't empty every cupboard and wipe them all out every week or anything like that. Those kinds of big jobs would be a 'spring cleaning' kind of job and be done once or twice a year.

Office and School Room gets done at the end of the week so that I can organize the work the children have done all week long, and in the office I file papers, pay bills, ect.

Saturday is outside day, for projects, weeding and whatever else we need to do because that is the day Darren is here to help.

I will repeat - I DO NOT follow this schedule perfectly every week. So you miss a week, so what. When you have a schedule you will know where to pick up next week. Or you may even go into a zone and decide that it is fine and doesn't need to be done (or maybe even that you don't want to do it that week (that is o.k. too!). But I try to keep on top of things and having a schedule helps make my life a little easier and the children know what to expect. And we do not spend hours a day cleaning - 45 minutes, 1 hour at the most is usually all. You get use to the schedule and it gets more efficient every time You do not need to be a slave to your home. If you cannot find 45 mins than it is probably not a priority and I can't help you. We get up a little earlier in order to have it all done first thing in the morning and we are usually done by 9 am. In the beginning it is helpful to post your schedule where you can see it until it becomes a habit Don't follow mine exactly, make one that works for you. Maybe that means you do a zone a week instead of a day or maybe half the zones one week and the other half the next week so that you are on a 2 week rotation. Find what works for you. Remember that it can be changed and modified until you have just the right schedule. Sometimes it takes some tweaking. You can't always tell how something is going to work, until you work it and find out. Always get ready for the day. This means do your morning routine before you start. Whatever that is for you. If I don't read my scriptures, pray, exercise and groom, before I get on with the day, it doesn't seem to happen. If you take anything away from this post, I hope it would be, just do something. Everyday.

For us and our large family, I cannot get away with doing laundry only once a week. Our new laundry schedule is working so well. I fold everything when it comes out of the dryer, put it into the proper basket. The children come twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) and put their laundry away then return the basket to it's spot.

Vacuuming is also something that I do not schedule. It needs to be done all of the time and so I do it or the children do it whenever it is needed. You may be able to do laundry and vacuuming once a week. DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU! But do something!

DAILY TIP: If you have multiple bathrooms it is helpful to have the cleaning supplies in every bathroom or at least a set on each level of the house. We have little ones, so safety is an issue. Put things up where they cannot be reached by little hands, use 'safe' cleaning detergents, put a lock on cupboards and if that just won't work for you to have the actual detergents in the bathrooms, you can at least store the toilet brush (out of sight), rags and paper towels or whatever else you need and just grab the cleaner on the way. If the supplies are there, it makes it easier and you are more likely to do it. I don't use paper towels. I have designated rags for the bathrooms. After they are used they go into a bucket and usually into the washer right away. You don't need many things to clean a bathroom. I use a toilet brush, rags and an environmental cleaner - That's all!

In the kitchen as well, I use white cloths, I put them into a bucket I have under my kitchen sink when they are dirty and I wash them when needed. I don't want smelly rags in my hamper mixed in with my clothes. I prefer to do a separate wash for them. As for them smelling up my kitchen, I don't let them sit in there too long and so far no one has told me that my house smells. By the way friends, Please tell me if it does. Like having something in your teeth, I would honestly rather know!