A 5 Minute Life
Lately, I've been in a rut, the house has seemed impossible for me to keep up with. Moneysavingmom.com is a daily treat for me, I saw 2 different posts for time management resources all in 5 minutes. I thought even I could dedicate myself to 5 minutes. I wasn't able to look at either of these, so I came up with a plan myself and have started to implement it...I'll update a few months from now to let you know how it's going. First of all, I needed to determine what was getting done daily without having to "schedule" it. That list includes:
- Family prayer time
- Meals..menu is still going strong
- School
- Dishes..Boys do this as part of their chores.
- Laundry..Don's self appointed duty.
- Vacuum
Next, I had to come up with a list of things that tend to get neglected. These items will be added to our daily menu. I will do 1 5 minute chore before lunch and 1 5 minute chore after lunch. This will keep things simple.
This list is HUGELY LONG, so I'll just mention a few of these..
- Clean off the computer desk.
- Clean 2-3 windows.
- Dust 3 rooms.
- Clean bathroom mirrors.
- Sweep foyer.
- Clean bathtub
- Clean out 1 shelf in fridge.
- Clean bathroom floor.
- Declutter my "office" aka..the end table.
- Clean bathroom sink.
As I tend to become overwhelmed rather easily, I have learned to accomplish 1 little thing at a time and not look too far ahead.
What do you do that makes your life simple yet organized?
Routines is what works best for me. I use a modification of FlyLady's routines (one before bed, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon). Often, I can manage 5, 10, or 15 minutes to get things done, as well. You'd be surprised at what you can do in 15 minutes!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know if I should comment...seeing as though my house seems to be in constant craziness!!
ReplyDeleteI still need to work on my menu planning (now it needs to be adjusted because of an elimination diet)
I agree with Nicole, I work around my cornerstones...like I always know after bath is "tidy time" so I try to add a few minutes here and there behind or before something we always do.
I do have to say my main bathroom is always clean. While the kids are in the tub, I quickly clean the mirrors, the toilet, and wipe up the floor before I leave. I keep a bottle of windex and paper towels under the sink and basically use it for everything. I do use a Magic erasure for the tub, and that works great. Though, if I wipe the tub out everyday, it doesnt' get bad at all.
I hear people talk about Fly Lady all of the time. My house is my constant battle. I seriously spend several hours a day on housework and it NEVER looks like it! I have found that this house is easier to keep picked up and free of clutter, but the deep cleaning takes loads more time since there's more house.
ReplyDeleteNicole, Fly Lady is awesome!! For me though, I have to start out small and build from there...so it's 5 minutes for now. I am hoping to get to the 15 minute mark...it sounds kind of pitiful admitting that.
ReplyDeleteJosette..that's the trick isn't it?...a little each day and then it never gets scary!!
Becky, your house always seems immaculate to me.
I bought the Fly Lady book years ago, and of course its somewhere in this house and I cannot put my hand to it lol!
ReplyDeleteThe 5 mins is a great suggestion, am going to try this. Let us know how you get on :)
AAACk! I forgot to get that e-book on FB for you! So sorry!!! That day was busy and I didn't get on facebook until later that night and by then i had completely forgotten. :( It sounds like you don't really need it though, i like your 5 minutes here..there idea.
ReplyDeleteErika, no problem..this "plan" hopefully will be helpful to my disorganized mental state;)
ReplyDelete