Organizing your Cleaning Schedule and Speed Cleaning

I will admit I did not get my today tomorrow and future to-do list done last night. I was too tired, but I did get it done this morning. So moving on to Week 3 Organizing Your Cleaning Schedule.  Jennifer says to think of cleaning as exercise, just think of the calories you are burning....oh yea.....
Tips:

• Carry a basket around the house, anything that does not belong in that room, put in the basket then promptly put away.
• Take 15 minutes each night to straighten up the house. If your kids are old enough you can assign a different room to each family member. Not yet an option in my house.
• Assign each family member 1 towel a week. They must hang it up when they are done and reuse it.  I just started this and my husband is responding quite well. Saves me about a load of laundry a week.
• Place a set of disposable wipes in each bathroom. Great idea then you quickly wipe up the mess when you see one.
• Minimize your cleaners. I started this awhile ago when I went on a safe for the environment and safe for my family kick. Now I just have a few cleaners that are safe and I like it alot better. Less to store!

A lovely woman that I have been quite fortunate to become friends with is a speed cleaner. She just taught a class and I loved it.  She is very efficient and should I mention her house is spotless.
Here are some of her tips I would like to share with you

• Go around each room once, with the exception of sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming.
• Use the right tools (she wears an apron that has a spot for everything she needs and a hook for hanging a bottle of cleaner. She never has to leave her spot to grab a brush or a rag. Her apron is well stocked. Great Idea.  I think I will find a pattern and make myself one.
• If it isn't dirty don't clean it (don't waste your time)
• Keep your tools in impeccable shape (sharp razors work better than dull ones)
• Use both hands ( She can wash with one hand and rinse with the other)

And perhaps my favorite tip that she had was

• Using  a pumice stone to get that hard water ring out of your toilet. I spend a lot of wasted time trying to scrub it off with a brush and it never works. She literally cleans her toilet in 30 seconds.

As for my cleaning schedule I posted it on here a few days ago but let me post it one more time and explain the way I set it up. I will admit I have not yet mastered it and I have not made it one whole week sticking to it, but every week gets a bit better.

                Housework Schedule

“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness”                                         ~ Proverbs 31:27. 

Learn now how to love doing those everyday tasks that go along with maintaining a home of my own: cooking, baking, doing dishes, cleaning the home, being organized, and yes, even finding joy in cleaning the toilet—we are to do all things as unto the Lord without murmuring or complaining, right? If we learn to love even the most ordinary things now, how much more enjoyment will we take in the simplest joys in life

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Vacuum	Clean Pantry and shelves	Town Day Or Catch Up	Vacuum	Windows	Cooking and Baking	Rest
Office File and QB	Clean Bedrooms	Ironing	Dust	Clean Fridge	Clean Kitchen
Water Plants	Tidy up car	Wash Sheets	Clean Bathrooms	Clean loft/office
		Correspondence List in Office

Do Everyday

“Laundry Today or Naked Tomorrow”

AM	After Lunch	After Dinner
Unload Dishwasher	Pick up toys and clutter	Do all dishes and run dishwasher
Make Beds	Sweep kitchen	Make coffee and Johns lunch
Start a load of Laundry	Clean kitchen	Chores
Chores	Tidy up mudroom and sweep	Devotional
Pay bills/ read mail	10 minutes feet up/eyes closed

Housework is what a woman does that nobody notices unless she hasn't done it.

Work Smarter….Not Harder

·        Fold and Put away laundry ASAP after dryer is done

·        Do dishes as soon as they are used

No matter how many house chores you complete, there are always more to be done.

Seasonal Extras

January- Change Batteries in Fire Alarms/ Scrapbook /order seeds

February-Plant early seeds/ Scrapbook

March –Sort through clothes (load to Goodwill) Start up Greenhouse

April- Calving (extra barnyard time) Greenhouse

May- Fencing/inspect chinking/ greenhouse

June- Irrigating/ Stain house or deck if necessary/ yardwork/garden/ greenhouse

July-haying/ greenhouse/ garden/ yard

August-haying/greenhouse/garden/yard

September- (load of stuff to Goodwill) canning/greenhouse

October- Fall cleanup/canning / greenhouse

November- Canning/ Christmas shopping/ Finish up greenhouse

December- Christmas shopping/cooking/baking/ goodies to friends and neighbors

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.

This is why I did it the  way I did it!

• I thought the quotes would give me inspiration and I think they do
• I decided to make a list of all the things that need done everyday and that is the Morning, Afternoon and After Dinner schedule (it helps me to keep accomplishing things all day
• I decided to put things that needed done weekly on a separate chart and I add those in on the given days.
• Most of these are self explanatory, however if you haven't read my previous posts the "town day" might need a bit of clearing up. I only go to town once or twice a month. I live in the middle of nowhere and I like it that way. I usually go on wednesdays, it just works for me, everything I need is open that day and all our doctors work that day. So on the weeks that I don't go to town I plan as a catch up day  and I launder bedding and get whatever else needs done  at that time.
• The seasonal extra bit~ I figured in what is going on in my life at that time. I live on a farm, so in April our cows will be calving and I spend considerable more time in the barnyard. July is haying season and many long days are spent in the fields. I also have a greenhouse, living where we live there isn't a store on every corner and fresh produce is hard to come by. I prefer growing it for my family all natural and pesticide free.  In fact the reason I am trying to get my house super organized is so that I can spend more time outside without having a dirty house cloud hovering over my head stressing me out!

That pretty much sums up why  I made my schedule the way I did. Each person has there own needs and priorities and this is what hopefully will continue to work for me.