April-May: Spring Cleaning!

I am putting together a deep cleaning list for each month of the year, stuff that doesn't need doing that often, with different area of focus each month. Here's the "Spring Cleaning" list which takes 2 months! Of course, you will have to adapt to fit your home. I try to spend 15 minutes a day on the list (or one item per day).

• dust tops of door jambs & windows
• clean under & behind large appliances
• wash comforters, blankets, pillows, rugs, baby items, & curtains
• spot clean walls
• spot clean doors
• defrost & clean freezer
• sweep out garage/clean floor, throw out trash
• clean air vents
• dust ceiling fans & light fixtures
• clean top of fridge & kitchen cabinets
• clean out trash cans
• vacuum furniture
• vacuum under furniture & beds
• clean washing machine, dish washer, & coffee maker by running vinegar through them
• wipe down baseboards (2 days)
• clean windows (several days)
• clean screens
• clean fireplace
• dust blinds (2 days)
• steam clean carpet
• clean outside of kitchen appliances
• dust lamp shades
• polish wooden furniture
• wash kitchen cabinets (outside)
• wash bathroom cabinets (outside)
• flip mattresses/ wash pads
• toothbrush scrub around all sinks/knobs

March is "Yard Month"

It's starting to look like spring here! Time to get out in the yard & prep for summer while the weather's still nice. (If you live in a colder climate, you'll want to push this month back a couple months.)

Check out January's list for an explanation of what all these lists are.

Here's March's list...

• Prune trees/plants
• Clear out yard debris
• Fertilize lawn
• Fertilize flowers/plants
• Spray insect repellant around outside of house
• Service mower & other motorized yard tools
• Purge & organize yard tools
• Power wash driveway
• Clean out gutters
• Trim back big trees that hang over the roof
• Make repairs to outside of house
• Clean grill
• Refill bird feeders/clean out bird houses
• Clean outside mats

Next month, deep spring cleaning begins!

Febrary is "Car Month"

I have all my To Do lists on THIS site. It's great; you should check it out if you haven't already.

Here's my list for February, focusing on the car... (I realize some of these need to be done more than once a year, but this is a good starting place for me.)

• Take care of registration
• Inspection
• Tune up & oil change
• Rotate & balance tires.
• Organize care- purge items no longer needed or that don't belong
• Organize car- add needed items (a trash can or organizer, a map, an emergency kit?)
• Update & restock emergency & first aid kits
• Clean kids' carseats
• Clean out trash
• Vacuum
• Wash windows
• Clean rugs
• Armor-all dash, console, etc.
• Replace air fresheners & Febreeze seats & carpet
• Wash & wax outside of car

Coming up next month... the yard & porches!

January is "Office Month"!

(Sorry this is late. I know January's already over!) 

I have been looking for a plan to get all those chores done that need to be done, but not that often. You know, like dusting blinds, vacuuming the car, decluttering clothes in my closet. I combined several plans I had seen online to create one that worked for me. I set aside a theme for each month of the year and started plugging these types of chores into each month, wherever they fit best. My goal is to spend 15 minutes a day on the list, 5 days a week, so I put about 20 items into each month. Hopefully, this will motivate me be better about deep cleaning, de-cluttering and other miscellaneous chores! I am going to post my list each month. Maybe this will help someone else. 

January is "Office Month"

• Gather tax documents
• Put together & mail tax documents to accountant
• Delete/organize emails
• Backup computer files onto external hard drive (pictures!)
• Defragment computer, delete cookies & temporary internet files
• Update virus software
• Uninstall computer programs you no longer use
• Clean computers
• Go through & purge old files
• Organize files
• Go through paper piles
• Revise budget
• Restock birthday cards into planner. Add birthdays to calendar.

(organizing & cleaning the actual office will come later.)

Up next in February... the car!

Fall 2011 Routine

Something I've learned recently (duh!) is that routines needs constant tweaking. Our lives are always changing, so routines need tweaking too, at least once a season, if not more! :) Here's mine (as of now!) for this fall.

Monday

AM- I am signing up for MOPS this year, so this will be every other Mon morning. On the off days, I plan to take K to do something fun if I don't have a lot to do at home.

PM- Deep clean kitchen.

• Declutter
• Clean counters
• Bleach out sinks
• all dishes done, of course
• Sweep & mop floors
• Clean one appliance

Tuesday

Cleaning Day!

• Pick up the house
• I either clean the bathrooms, clean all the floors, or dust, but not all (call me lazy ;) )
• Pick 1 other deep cleaning chore
• Empty all trash cans
• water plants

Wednesday

Office/Car Day. We have play dates on this day too about once a month.

• Clean out car & do one other "car chore"
• Bills, budget
• Emails, cards, plan gifts, phone calls, appointments, etc.
• Menu plan/grocery list

Thursday

K goes to a kids' program

Errand Day/whatever day for me

• Grocery store
• Run other errands
• Work on hobbies, read @ Starbucks, etc. 

Friday

Hobby & Laundry Day

• Work on hobbies- blog, scrap booking, internet, reading, etc.
• Start laundry in the afternoon (it's getting too much to do all in one day)

Saturday

Yard/Laundry/Family Day

• Yard work
• Finish laundry
• Fold/hang up laundry
• We do fun stuff as a family this day (if John's off, that is)

Chore List

I go by a Weekly Home Management Plan, where, basically, you focus on a different area each day. This helps me stay focused and not as bored, with every day being the same. At the moment, here's what's on my lists:

Monday- meal planning, grocery store trip, cook breakfast and/or lunch item for the week
I also moved "Office Day" to Mondays as well as it wasn't taking as long as I had anticipated. I also used to cook for the whole week in one day, but I am trying the boring old "regular" way for right now to try it out. Plus, John doesn't really care for leftovers. While I can't eliminate them completely, it cuts down at least. :)

Tuesday- Bible Study in the morning. In the afternoon, I deep clean the kitchen

Wednesday- Cleaning Day- either clean bathrooms, floors, or dust. I also pick up the whole house & put things where they go.

Thursday- Hobby Day or finish what I didn't on other days.

Friday- Do something fun with Keaton in the morning. Start the laundry in the afternoon.

Saturday- Laundry Day- finish, fold, and put away!

My schedule

Nothing special, but I am a schedule stalker, big time, so I wanted to post mine as well. ;) 

5:30am- K wakes up, & try to get him back to sleep. :| I need to figure out a way to fix this. He was doing so well until the holidays & all the traveling. 

7:00- Wake for real. Ready, dressed, start morning routine (tidy my bathroom, unload DW, What's for dinner?, breakfast, pills)

Then I start my Chore List for the day (Tue we head to Bible Study). (will post chore list tomorrow if you're interested) I try to keep Keaton "helping" me (although it's not really help @ this age, but he likes to pretend) or with me as much as possible. If he's not, I keep a close eye on him all the time. We're starting to deal with some basic discipline issues, & you can't be super effective if you don't catch them in the act. Not to mention, the whole safety aspect @ this age. :) 

10:15- I do my quiet time & K has TV time.

11:00- We go outside for a walk or to play

12:00- Lunch & after lunch routine (tidy kitchen, wipe counters, spot sweep floor)

1:00- K is napping for (hopefully) a couple of hours. I take a break for @ least an hour & then back to my chore list.

3:00- K is up, free play, I'm finishing up chores.

I try to go workout when John gets home

Fix dinner

5:30/6- Dinner

K- bedtime routine (pick up toys, bath, bottle, PJ's, teeth, pray- need to start this!, story, rock/sing 5 min)

7:00- K down, I do my evening routine (load DW, fix J's lunch f/ tomorrow, soak dishes, J puts food away, tidy living room f/ 5 min., shower)

John & I read a couple of pages in our book & spend some time hanging out together.

Then we have our own time to do whatever. I usually go to bed around 10:30.

(BTW, I did a Google search of images of "schedule" to add a pic to this thread & almost had a heart attack. Schedules & charts are about my fav thing in the whole world. In fact, my dream job would be where I would make schedules all day long (ones people would actually put to use.) If you want to see how weird I am, do that search & see how unexcited you are by what comes up. LOL! I was very excited, and VERY tempted to look @ every single one to see how they did it. If my family reads this, they are going to make fun of me! :) )