As I stated last time, I love lists, and I make a weekly list for myself each Sunday so that I am prepared for the week. I have a list of things that I need/want to do each day. Last time I talked about how I add things to my list for my meals so that I am prepared each day and I don’t have to think or worry too much about it.
This time I want to address chores. I love a clean house, but I HATE cleaning. I guess hate might be a little much. I strongly dislike doing chores, especially thinking about getting them done, and I really don’t want to spend my entire Saturday cleaning the house and doing other household chores. Because of that, I divide up my weekly chores by day and put them on my weekly to-do list.
I know this sounds crazy to some people. Some of you probably have someone come in and clean or maybe you want to do all your cleaning chores all at one time to get it over with. I get it. At least that way you have a completely clean house all at once. That is the downside to doing it the way I do. The whole house is never completely clean at one time, but I do know that it is getting a good cleaning weekly – just in stages.
Because I like to clean this way, I put my daily cleaning chores on my to-do list. It’s not that I don’t know what I am going to do each day. I pretty much do the same chores on the same days. However, it does motivate me to get it done and check it off, so that is why it goes on the list!
I will share with you how I divide my chores up just as an example. You have to do what works for you based on the size of your house, the size of your family, and how much others in the house help out. Once again, my OCD kicks in here as I like things cleaned a certain way. I know I need to let some of that go, but why change now??!! You can definitely make a list that is for everyone. When the kids were growing up, they also had a daily list of things to get done when they got home from school.
Anyway, here is how I divide things up:
Sunday – clean the bathtubs – this also includes wiping down the doors and cabinets in the bathrooms – you know, hairspray!!
Monday – clean the shower (I really despise cleaning the glass shower door, so this is why it gets its own day)
Tuesday – clean both bathrooms – toilets, counter tops, sinks, fixtures
Wednesday – sweep and mop both bathrooms
Thursday and/or Friday – clean the kitchen – wiping down cabinets and doors, cleaning and wiping down large and small appliances, countertops, sink (Sometimes I divide this up over the two days.) This is a deeper cleaning than what I do each evening after dinner.
Saturday and/or Sunday – vacuum the bedrooms and living room rug; clean the ceramic floors with my Bissell floor cleaner
I dust every other week, so when I need to dust, I break this up as well. I think dusting is my least favorite chore. I usually do it over about three days so that I can do one or two rooms at a time. I know I can use a swiffer, and I do sometimes, but usually when I dust I actually pick up and move items and use Endust on everything and the flat surfaces. That’s why I only do it every two weeks.
I also try to do at least one load of laundry every day. I still do a few loads on Saturday, but by doing a little throughout the week, I don’t feel overwhelmed by a huge pile of laundry. If you have kids, you are probably already doing laundry every day as well and may still feel overwhelmed.
For all these chores, I place them on my checklist so that I stay on track. One other thing, I usually clean early in the morning before I get ready for work. That is definitely not for everyone! However, it works for me. As much as I dislike it, I do know that I work better in the early morning before going to work. Once I get home in the late afternoons, I really don’t want to tackle any of these chores, and if I leave them for the evening, there is a good chance that they won’t get done. I just know me. Also, we tend to have activities a couple of nights a week, so I for sure do not want to get home late and then try to get some cleaning done.
If there are any other things I want to accomplish throughout the week, I add those to my checklist as well. This might be things like watering the plants on certain days or picking up something at the store on a specific afternoon.
Once again, I know this seems silly to some, and I know doing things this way is not for everyone, and I haven’t always done it this way either. I have just found as I have grown older that dividing things up works for me so that I have more time to enjoy my family and friends, especially at night and on the weekends. That’s really the whole point of my sharing all of these things – I want to help you find ways to have more time for family and fun by streamlining your mundane activities that have to get done. Hopefully this has been helpful or given you some ideas about how to make a plan that you can implement. If not, just shake your head in disbelief at me and do what works for you. My husband does it all the time!! Until next time, keep managing your mundane.
Managing the Mundane 