One of my biggest problems I face is creating a working cleaning schedule. For a long time I did the Flylady method which includes: routines, daily cleaning and zone cleaning. This system really worked for me until I moved to a bigger house and then it became hard to keep up with all the zones and daily cleaning. That was 5 years ago!!!!

So since then I struggled to figure out what works for me.

I have tried cleaning calendars like this one:

I did the Morning and Evening routine okay, but the Weekly fell through the cracks and so did the other Extra Days etc.

Next I tried a weekly cleaning calendar. I started with just my bathroom chore. I decided I rather do a little every day instead of trying to clean the whole bathroom in one day. Then I started thinking, why can’t I do that with all my chores? I can do a little a day in each room/section so then I created the A/B schedule.

I started using this method about 2 months before reading this book, but to my delight, Simplify you Life reaffirmed what I was doing. Other than a Morning and Evening Pickup, author Ramsland suggests creating a weekly cleaning schedule similar to what I did.  It’s not perfect, and often it does not all get done but it has been really working so far.

I am sharing my schedule here:

 

Another cleaning suggestion that I really like is the Clean Up Clutter Project. This is the cleaning that you can’t get to every week. So things like cleaning grout, vacuuming behind the sofas etc. These can be small cleaning projects.

So I am creating a running list in my planner that will help me to get to some of those pesky projects that don’t get to on a weekly basis. I will try to share more about this in another post. I’m still trying to see how this will fit into my life.

For now I am happy with what I am doing.

Ligia

I am working through the steps outlined in Simplify your Life by Marcia Ramsland. I wrote about the first system, Mealtime, in this post. Next, she tackles the Laundry Pile.

What does laundry look like at my house? I usually have a laundry pile a mile high and 1-2 baskets full of clean clothes waiting to be folded or put away. I also have hampers full of clothes needing to be washed! Sometimes, I will forget I washed and the clothes sits in the washer for a day or two. I washed my sheets about two weeks ago and they are still sitting in a basket in my room! Oh, boy, oh boy!

I don’t even do my teenagers clothes anymore!

I know exactly what happens. I start the laundry in the morning, maybe move it to the dryer and then I get busy and forget all about it. Come evening, I am tired and really don’t care. So I tell myself I will deal with it in the morning.

I am also reading another book right now called Laying Down the Rails for Yourself by Susan Shafer. I gotta tell you, I feel like God has purposefully orchestrated this. Laying Down the Rails is about creating and sustaining habits. It’s like these two books go hand in hand.

As I am writing this post, I was reminded of the chapter I just read about The Will. Your “will” is the gatekeeper of your thoughts. When it comes to pretty much any chore I will say ” I will do it tomorrow.” Instead of getting on it, I am not exercising my will. My will should stop that thought process and say “No, do it now. It needs to be done today.” But often, I just ignore that thought. Eventually, I don’t have any will power left to push through my daily chores.

With laundry, I have given up. I am treading water.

Marcia Ramsland insists on this principle: Wash, Dry, Fold, and Put away all on the same day!

So here is what I WILL do to make that happen:

First of all I will be trying to do my laundry at NIGHT. I have never done this, so it will be new. As I mentioned before, I often get distracted during the day and never finish. So my hope is, as I am lounging on the couch watching episodes of White Collar I will happily fold my laundry.

• Start 1st load at 6:35 pm-I am wrapping up dinner and clean up so it’s a good transition.
• Move to dryer at 7:15 and put in 2nd load
• Move 2nd load at 8:00-I put an alarm to remind me because I could myself forgetting. So at this point I will fold load #1 and start 2nd load.
• Last load comes out at 8:45-At this point I am usually, doing my evening routine. Tea time is at 9pm so I can fold laundry while I drink my tea.

That’s my plan. I really hope I can come back and say that it is working like a charm. I have 8-9 loads of laundry to complete a week so if I do 2 loads M-W and then 3 on Saturday/Sunday I believe this can work either way.

Ligia

In her book Simplify Your life, author Marcia Ramsland begins with the Kitchen as the first system to tackle. Specifically, mealtime woes is what she is referring to. Chapter 6 is dedicated to working on that one system.

I have already spent a lot of time on this process since I just finished the Grocery Budget Makeover Online Course with Erin Chase from $5 Dinners.com. It was really worth the money because it challenged me to look at this very system along with how to maximize my dollars at the grocery store.

As I looked at the system I already have in place, I asked myself what is the one thing that keeps tripping me up. I wondered, what is the one “habit that would smooth out the most jolts and delays in life” as Sonya Shafer puts it in her book Laying Down the Rails for Yourself. What I realized was I was constantly forgetting to defrost my meat/freezer meal for the day and constantly having to improvise once I realized that I had done it-again.

I wanted to make this a habit that I would not forget so I decided to set a timer on my phone on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights to pull out the meat for the next 3 meals. Sunday I pull out Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s meat. Then on Wednesday I pull out Thursday’s and one more for either Friday or Saturday. Sunday mornings, I usually decide whether we will eat at home or eat out so I can wait til then.

Once that habit is formed, I think mealtime will be much smoother.

Sunday Prep is another system or habit I want to start and stick to. I have saved many pinterest articles about Sunday prep and it is basically a dedicated time on Sunday (or whatever day you chose) to set yourself up for the following week.

So this Sunday, I finally had a mini prep session and here is what I accomplished:

• I cut up zucchini and carrots for lunches
• I shred some zucchini for zucchini muffins that I will bake later in the week
• I made ranch dressing
• I mixed up some taco seasoning
• I boiled 6 eggs for egg salad or deviled eggs
• and I baked those flourless brownie muffins I posted about here.

That is only half of what I intended to do.

So along with the system I already have in place, I plan to implement these two timesaving habits into my weekly routine and I think it will be much much better.

Ligia