Monday, January 14, 2008

Cleaning Methods

How do you organize your household chores? Do you have a specific schedule (e.g. Monday-laundry, Tuesday-bathrooms, etc.)? Or do you clean as situations require/permit? Any helpful hints for making your "chores" more efficient/enjoyable?

Thanks!

7 comments:

Liz said...

I TRY to spread it out but my system "varies" from week to week. :) today is laundry day but it used to be wednesdays :)

Tiffany said...

I have a white board where I write out my calendar and my goals and I have a cleaning section and I make sure that I deep clean everything at least once every two weeks (bathrooms, kitchen/dining room, living room, stairs and hall, and bedrooms). I don't really schedule anything beyond that...but I mark by each one after I do it and if the two weeks is drawing to a close and I haven't done it...then that's how I spend my Saturday! :) Not the most organized...but it works for me and is flexible with my crazy schedule.

As for making chores fun..I ALWAYS listen to music when I clean and that makes me happier. :)

The Schacher Family said...

I do cleaning whenever I have time to which isn't often. I used to clean everyday so my house was kept in order. Now life doesn't permit that though. I remember my Mom would write each room that needed cleaning on a piece of paper and draw which room she did first. Then she would set a timer for 15 minutes and try to finish it in that time. Us kids enjoyed helping clean this way. Sometimes we each drew a room and competed for who could finish first. She also wore her slippers which we called super mom slippers because when she put them on she danced around getting ready to clean. She did a good job of making cleaning seem fun.

Linz said...

I don't have a schedule and that works for me. I don't like to feel tied down by it. I manage to do things regularly still, especially downstairs where we spend the most time.

highdeekay said...

cool ideas. I've been contemplating a method similar to Tiffany's so it is nice read that it works for you. I love the super mom slippers and dancing and music are a GREAT idea! I always listen to NPR, which I enjoy, but that isn't really very peppy! Maybe I'll make a cleaning music list and put that on whenever I'm cleaning. Thanks! Keep the suggestions coming...

Claire said...

I made an excel spreadsheet based off of ideas from Real Simple. They divide the house into areas, then divide each area into things that need to be done daily, weekly, and seasonally (so four times a year). I then added a few things of my own, like vacuuming out Cecelia's high chair and cleaning the fish tank. I put a small column on the side of the sheet for things that need to be done daily, then I assigned different tasks to different days of the week. It really, really helps me to not get overwhelmed and to stay on top of things like laundry. I also find that by keeping on top of the daily to dos, the weekly to dos take hardly any time at all.

Aubreydoll said...

I find it hard sometimes to feel motivated so I came up with a chore chart and my husband and I get "allowances". It help me feel way more motivated since I'm actually getting something out of it and it's a little 'guilt-free' spending money each month!
I put some daily chores down plus some bigger chores that I'd like to get done around here. Then, based on the size of the job, there's a certain amount of money to be made for each one!