Do you have routines?

PenniesMake£s

What are your routines for cleaning, shopping, laundry, exercise etc?

Try as I do, I can never stick to my routines. So, I am curious about everyone else's and whether you stick to them.

moneyistooshorttomention

Not really.

I can understand the reasoning behind it - but I wouldn't want to be doing a "routine" issue when something more interesting to do was available.

Now I'm living in an area of the country with worse weather than I am used to, then I tend to work things to a large extent round the weather. If I can see its decent weather then I go out. If it isn't (again) then I catch up on things that need doing.

Baileysonice

good question and I look forward to the answers you will get. I am like you I do try to put routines in place but somehow never manage to stick to them.

On the other hand my mother has such fixed routines that they cannot be broken. Every day has an overriding role for her so laundry, deep cleaning, shopping etc, even meal planning is the same for her, every single monday for years and years she has cooked x and tuesday y weds z very little change over such a long time and no accounting for new foods new ideas. Thinking about it that is probably why I hate routine as she cannot move away from them.

It does make sense to have some flexible routines in place but if they need to change they need to change

FairyPrincessk

I would say that yes, generally we have routines but they aren't particularly rigid. I think it helps if you associate certain chores with certain things you do at the same time (i.e. dishes while kettle boils etc). We don't have children and I imagine we'd either do more ad hoc or be much more rigid just to try to get it all squeezed in and then some of it would just not be that important.

We do our shop on a Sunday morning, unless we have something planned that day in which case we do it some time on Saturday. I aim to have the menu plan and shopping list done by the time we do the shop. Sometimes I work on it through the week if I have ideas, other times I do it while I eat my breakfast Sunday am.

I am do change bed-linen, clean the bedroom and assess laundry on Sunday afternoons, but some weeks this doesn't get done. I'll either do the bed sometime in the week or wait a week and just wash laundry as I go. I start a load of washing each morning when I get up, unless the weather is bad/we don't have any that needs doing.

I work from home, so when I go down for lunch I start by pegging the washing out. While I heat up my lunch (leftovers from the previous night's tea) I unload the dishwasher and make a start on reloading. I try to finish it off if I have a cuppa in the afternoon while the kettle boils. I'm not a big tea drinker, and we use a hob kettle. If all of the dishes are sorted I'll do a wipe round. I aim to work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday after I finish work. If for some reason this isn't feasible at the beginning of the week then I'll do Tuesday/Thursay. By my thinking twice is better than none, and most weeks I manage the three times. That said, if it is a busy time at work some things do slide. Sometimes OH comes in and does the dishwasher while I cook or finishes off breakfast dishes. Clean washing is brought in/folded and put away right before I go to bed while OH does his teeth and plays with the cat.

Meals--OH and I discuss who is cooking at some point. If I'm cooking I like to start around 6:00 as I like to hear the news on the radio. If he is cooking he starts when he gets in. This usually has us eating by 7:00 so we get some time to relax. He usually loads the dishwasher while I put away leftovers and tidy things away or finish bringing in washing. We head to bed between 9 and 9:30, have a read and get plenty of rest.

Weekends OH usually cleans the floors downstairs, I do the floors upstairs when I do the bedroom. He usually cleans the bathroom, and he does the cat's litter tray. Sundays I try to bake something for puddings during the week. OH probably does more of the weekly cleaning but I probably do more daily stuff.

marleyboy

Yes, my routine is to work at the top downwards. i.e cleaning followed by dusting, polishing, sweeping and mopping.

YORKSHIRELASS

I think it depends on what sort of personality you have. I love routine and order, OH just muddles along dealing with things as they need doing. Nothing wrong with either way and we have been married for nearly 20 years so it works for us!

When it comes to housework I am a big believer in the Flylady principle of doing a little every day and cleaning and tidying as you go along. So every morning when I get out of the shower I use a cleaning wipe to swish the whole bathroom. I always empty the dishwasher when I get up and before bed on a night I make sure the kitchen and living room are reasonably tidy. The washing machine goes on every evening if there is a load, ready to hang out before work the next day. I have a number of these little routines and yes they are pretty much set in stone with me!

As for exercise I do 2 classes a week which I rarely miss and try to get out cycling or running on a weekend.

I mealplan so shop once a week but not always on the same day. What we eat varies enormously depending on what everyone is doing.

LameWolf

No, I don't have routines as such. I have a weekly list of cleaning tasks that want doing, and I do whichever of them I feel well enough to tackle. Usually most get done at some point during the week; those that don't, I make a point of prioretising the following week.

I have a "rolling" shopping list, and when there's enough on it to warrant a trip out, we shop; or if something is needed fairly urgently (usually milk) I get Mr LW to pop into @ldi on his way home.

I try to do half hour WiiFit each day, but again, if I'm having a bad day with my lupus, it doesn't happen.

I do meal plan, but never "set in stone" - yet again, it's so that I can switch meals round if I'm too poorly to make what's on the list on a given day.

Linda32

Cleaning is when I get around to it. I don't do anything on a specific day.

Shopping is Thursday night at the moment.

Laundry is whenever I have enough of a load to fill the washing machine. Which is probably every three days with whites to include bedding once a week.

I usually iron whatever is needed on a Sunday night.

I don't do any specific exercise, but I do have a manual job as a domestic/laundry/floater in a nursing home. Which is huge at 69 beds (I don't clean them all) :rotfl: I also have an allotment which gives me plenty to do during the Spring and Summer months.

Susan1962

I have some basic routines because I work full time at a really stressful job and housework is an even worse stressor for me!

I load and run the dishwasher overnight and unload/reload while making breakfast (porridge); put on a load of washing in the morning if I've forgotten to do it at night; basically any little repetitive jobs that can build up into something bigger and more of a nuisance.

When I keep on top of the routines life is just much easier - no washing dishes before cooking dinner, etc. Doesn't always work though - life happens.

barneydee_2

As I said on an other thread it is all getting a bit much from me I've had week off & I must admit not done as much as I would have liked to .
When the kids were young & I was looking after elderly parents & working full time I was much better organised, elderly parents have passed on kids have moved out & oh has got less mobile everything has been left to me & I feel it's hard going I am going to give it a more concertive effort to get more organised I do do washing & ironing every day but it's the clutter I feel hard to deal with. I work full time am on my feet 8 hours a day (supermarket) at 60 I should be doing less hours not more well must stop moaning & I will work out a routine that is easy to manage
Dee x

PasturesNew

I don't need routines. As a single person I buy food when I need/want it - clean when I feel like it, do the washing up when I fancy it.

If anything slips by the wayside I'm the only person impacted. If I run out of crisps it's only me that suffers.... if I CBA to go shopping and end up eating toast for 3 days there's nobody that cares or complains