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 Systemizing
housecleaning is one of the best improvements a homemaker can make to get her
housework done in a timely manner. This is approached on three
levels: daily jobs, weekly jobs, and deep-cleaning jobs. Set up a
plan that works.
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Begin
setting up a daily housecleaning plan by gathering about twelve blank,
lined 3" x 5" cards. Decide which
household tasks you want to do each morning: make your bed, exercise,
shower and get dressed, fix and clean up from breakfast, straighten the front
room, get a batch of laundry started, sweep the kitchen floor, scrub out the
bathroom sink. List each job that you feel is essential to
your morning routine on a separate 3" x 5" card. If you are in a
complete mess and have had little success with daily housecleaning, limit the
number of jobs to twelve. This means that you will have twelve separate
3" x 5" cards prepared. As you practice and gain confidence, you
will be able to do more and more jobs each morning with greater and greater
ease. Pretty soon you will be just like that "super" woman down
the street who always seems to have an immaculate house. The goal for the first week is to complete all "twelve" daily jobs
each morning. This is how. Get up in the morning and spread the
cards out on your kitchen counter. Choose one job to tackle, do it, and
then turn the card over. It is sort of a game, but is a wonderful
"game" for two reasons. 1) Many times a homemaker will get
distracted with the needs of her husband and children. When she wants to
return to her chores, it takes alot of effort to overcome the current mood,
possible weariness, and frequent mental distraction. Having your chores
listed on cards keeps you on track. Off you go again to finish the next
job, turn the card over, and on and on. 2) Somehow, when you have
previously decided what to do each morning and have listed those jobs on cards,
the decision-making has already been done. Just finish those twelve cards
and you will be done with all the "daily" housekeeping you wanted to
do this morning. You don't have to decide each and every day what needs to
be done, you can just get going and get the jobs done. Once
you have successfully completed your daily jobs for one week, it is time to set
up a weekly housecleaning system. This is a bit more complicated to
set up, but you will enjoy the freedom it brings. Each and every week, if
you do your weekly housecleaning jobs according to your housecleaning plan, you
housework will be kept up. Here's how! Gather or
purchase a 3" x 5" recipe card box. Purchase a set of Stay-At-Home
Housecleaning Plan DIVIDERS (available on this web site) or label blank card dividers
with the following: Daily (which is where you will store the
"daily" cards which you have already prepared), Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (When you set up your
deep-cleaning job system, you will need another twelve 3" x 5" card
dividers which will be labeled January - December.) Then purchase a Stay-At-Home Housecleaning Plan PACKET
(available on this web site) or take about 25
blank, lined 3" x 5" cards and go to work. Label one card "Laundry" (in the top left-hand corner) and write in the
upper right-hand corner how often you plan to do your regular laundry, i.e.
"Monday, Wednesday, Friday". Store this card behind the
"Monday" divider for now. Label a second
card in the upper left-hand corner "Vacuum" and write in the upper
right-hand corner how often you plan to do the vacuuming, i.e. "Tuesday,
Thursday, Saturday". Store this card behind the "Tuesday"
divider. Label a third card in the upper left-hand corner
"Dust" and write in the upper right-hand corner on which you plan to
do the dusting, i.e. "Friday". Store this card behind the
"Friday" divider. Continue with all the jobs you desire to do
each week. (Again, you may find it convenient to purchase a pre-made set of
3" x 5" Stay-At-Home
Housecleaning Plan PACKET cards which
includes daily, weekly, and deep-cleaning jobs already neatly printed on
cardstock and the pre-printed Stay-At-Home
Housecleaning Plan DIVIDERS.) Once you have set up your weekly housekeeping system, you are
ready to go again. Each morning, complete your daily
housecleaning cards first, flipping each card over as the job is done.
Then put these cards away and get out your weekly housecleaning cards for that
particular day. Spread your cards and go to work again. The daily
cards are always completed first, then the weekly cards second,
and finally one of your deep-cleaning cards is pulled out and that job tackled
(if there still time).
Just as you
have prepared cards for your daily and weekly jobs, prepare cards for your jobs
which will be less frequently, say monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and
annually.
Again, we
list the job in the upper left-hand corner of the index card and the timing in
the upper right-hand corner of the index card. A card for vacuuming the
baseboards might be prepared for July and then filed behind the July divider.
As time and energy allows (meaning your daily and weekly jobs are done), pull
out a Deep Cleaning Job and get to work.
 After you have your Housecleaning
Plan in place, it is time to purchase, gather, and begin using the very best
tools you can find. Don't settle for anything that doesn't work, is
broken, or just frustrates your housecleaning progress. Get the best tools
you can afford and put them in convenient locations (such as a shower squeegee in every
bathroom)! Make it easier to finish!
With
practice, you will constantly be cleaning your home and it will consistently be
neat and orderly. Good luck. Remember, it is a lot of work to be
organized, but it is a lot more work to be disorganized!
Find
more helpful ideas in "House
of Order" Handbook, Chapter 15 "Housecleaning Plan"
or consider the "Stay-At-Home
Housecleaning
Plan" packet and the Stay-At-Home
Housecleaning Plan DIVIDERS. You may also wish to purchase
clear, plastic 3" x 5"
index card slipcovers to keep your cards clean and neat.
Also see: Working
Person's Housecleaning Plan, Housecleaning
Methods, and Express
Housecleaning Plan.
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