Schedule

I am so excited to report that I have found a system that seems to work towards motivating me to keep a clean (ish) house!!

Seriously, I hate cleaning. Enough to the point that I have a tendency to allow things to pile up and up and up until what was once a simple job of sweeping the floor becomes a monumental task involving picking up lots of things off the floor first so you can even see it! Especially with the warm weather coming on, I had been really sadly slacking off in this department.

So I came up with a list of all the things I thought should be done around here. Some stuff to be done every day, some to be done once/week, some once/month, some quarterly, biannually, or just annually. Some stuff (like taking out the trash and laundry) has to just be done "as needed."

I've listed the Daily and Weekly jobs below:

Daily Job
Wipe off kitchen countertops, glass stove top, and dining room table
Sweep hard floors

Weekly Job
Mop Floors – "Mopping Monday"
Clean Bathrooms – "Toilet Tuesday"
Vacuum Carpet – Wednesday (If windows are open, vacuum bugs from sills)
Town Run – Groceries, etc – "Thrifty Thursday"
Handwash Dishes - Friday

Yeah, I know, it's really cheesy that I have come up with "catchy" names for my chore days. But you have to get your motivation where you can!! I have been doing this for a week now, and it has REALLY helped! It looks like potentially our house will always be clean! Maybe not all at once, but doing all the cleaning all in one day never works for me, especially chasing around a 16 month old toddler! I am so glad I have found a system that seems to be working for the way I like to work (a little at a time) and allows me to keep a clean house and not feel guilty about not playing with Cora (she can either help or wait 'til Mommy's done sweeping the floor - it doesn't take up that much time anymore).

So I've been doing it for a week now, and what was once a HUGE job, was broken into tiny steps that were actually quite managable. Plus, I get the weekends "off" :-)

Anybody out there want to share tips they use to help with finding the motivation to do housework?? I'd love to hear your hints!