Household - Routine or Winging-it?

FrugalinShropshire

Flylady, zone work and lists here, even down to what day I handwash my knitted socks (fridays!) Tasks are broken down into 15 minute slots and planned ahead. It is needed in a 4 adult household with various diabilities. Helps me feel in control too

srn

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-your-house-in-20-minutes-a-day-for-30-days-131142

I use this routiine, brilliant. In the 3 months I have been using it my house has never been so clean and tidy. I don't do clutter, though, so surfaces are always clear and that makes cleaning easier. Myself and my husband are both early retirerees so are in all day and my grownup son, who's saving for a house deposit, in the household.

GreyQueen

I wing it.

I'm out during the day at w*rk and, with ME, my energy levels are extremely variable. As in, varying from middling to piddling to non-existant.

One thing I try to do is re-set the kitchen before bed by washing the dishes and tidying round so I don't come through to a muddle.

Overall, I find the best way to be clean and tidy is to remove as much Stuff as possible from the home.

On Saturday, when participating in the clearance of my late Nan's bungalow, I had my hands on the perfect time and life-waster; a what-not shelveing unit. All little fiddly shelves, barley twist uprights and a gen-u-whine Made in Taiwan label on the back.

I looked at it and canvassed the opinion of the assembled clan; chazzer donation or bonfire? We were unanimously in favour of arson.

One small leap for freedom.

moneyistooshorttomention

...and getting priorities right time for the day was I was going to clean the kitchen this afternoon. However, a friend rang up instead - and one long chat later and it didn't happen. Never mind - today hasnt been totally task-free - as I've caught up with a load of paperwork that's been waiting for quite some time to get done.

Tomorrow I plan on catching up with all housework then...that's unless the weather looks reasonable out there = in which case I'll be off out for a walk somewhere attractive....

LameWolf

I have no choice but to wing it to a degree, as my health issues mean I can't guarantee being well enough to do a given task on a given day; but I prefer a set list to work from simply in order that nothing gets missed - said health issues include pretty bad brain-fog, and if I didn't have a note to, for instance change the bed, I'd forget to do it.
The way I do it is to have a list of tasks to aspire to each week, and what doesn't get done one week is prioritised the following week, so that nothing goes un-done for ages.
I also like Flylady Valli's mantra: Don't put it down, put it away.

Slowly57

GreyQueen wrote: »

On Saturday, when participating in the clearance of my late Nan's bungalow, I had my hands on the perfect time and life-waster; a what-not shelveing unit. All little fiddly shelves, barley twist uprights and a gen-u-whine Made in Taiwan label on the back.

Bring back the bow-fronted, glass-wallled display cabinet!! We have several - only now, instead of wedding china and Sunday best we have one in the bathroom full of smellies, small towels and make up, and one that my OH uses for fancy shoe storage. As well as one at the foot of the stairs with rugs and blankies and vases in it.

Glass doors = easy-to-find stuff and it doesn't get dusty YAY!:T

Nomoonatall

Definitely wing it! It helps now that I've realised that I don't need to store dead batteries (in case they come back to life), pens...for the same reason and lovely glass jars!

I'm now going for bigger stuff, like old towels and sheets and broken stuff which I was hoping a magical fairy would fix. I've binned the lot, so I have room in my cupboards and drawers!

I've had a list written since July...the top one says to clean the skylights. I have vertigo...it's not going to happen any time soon!

I'm really thinking about getting a cleaner in a couple of times a week, but I'm embarrassed at the idea. I've found it's easier not to have visitors.

Slowly57

Nomoonatall wrote: »

I'm really thinking about getting a cleaner in a couple of times a week, but I'm embarrassed at the idea. I've found it's easier not to have visitors.

I think a cleaner is a good idea. We hardly ever value our own time or energy (unless you have to keep a watchful eye on energy for health reasons). In the same way, I'm all for saving money/food and being resourceful - but I am not a human dustbin lol. I'm considering it - paying for someone to do a deep cleaning blitz that would mean I can do the surface stuff myself.

Linda32

There are only two of us here and are both out at work all day. I wing it really apart from ironing on a Sunday Night.

We do keep things reasonable I have to say. If it looks like it needs dusting I do it, same with vacuuming.

pollypenny

I'm fairly tidy anyway, so not much mess around me. However, the third bedroom, which OH uses for his clothes and watching action films on TV, is very untidy as he's a hoarder.