Ever feel like this??
Here is my very simple organize your life guide for busy work outside the home moms:
Man, what did we do before Pinterest? After weeks of scouring Pinterest for ways to declutter and get organized, I think I finally figured out a system combining the best ideas from Pinterest and the blog world. I was getting reeled in by many blogger, busy mamas who wanted to challenge me to a clean and organize my home in 14 days and the like. I certainly was intrigued but when it comes down to it, I need a system that takes an hour or less per day.
Looking to get your life in order? Try these steps. Once you feel comfortable with a step, move on. Stay on a step as long as you need to in order to make that step a habit.
1. Prioritizing. The first thing you need to do is put yourself first. Make sure that you have scheduled me time and that you have an opportunity to decompress each day. My me time comes about 9:30 and can last anywhere from 15 min. to 2 hrs. My me time is spent with my computer on blogland. Focusing on my me time helps me get done the things I need to get done earlier in the day. Along with my me time I also get in my exercise, at least 20 min. every day, completed before 9:30.
Spend as much time needed on this step to get yourself taken care of.
2. Menu Planning. This is where I take super short-cuts. I am not a good cook, my husband helps but he does not like to plan menus. I do know that you need to feed your family and it is best to do it without the help of my friends, Ronald McDonald or Oscar Meyer. So for me it essential to shop once a week and get the fridge stocked with healthy fresh food from the outer aisles of the grocery store. The lastest thing we are trying is using snack boxes. I have a box in the fridge of healthy food for snacks and mini-meals and one in the pantry.
<------Hard boiled eggs, bags of carrots, celery, cucumbers, cheese sticks, deli meat, yogurt, this week I added some brown rice already cooked and in small containers ready to re-heat.
Pantry stuff, refried beans to remind me to throw them in tortillas, pizza sauce to remind me to make mini-pizzas, popcorn, crackers etc. ---------->
We are busy with extracurriculars Tues.-Thurs. so we can throw together a mini-meal before and after piano, basketball, dance etc. and I do not stress about it, my children are fed. The inspiration for this project came from Pinterest. :) Hubby and I do take turns cooking Fri.-Mon. and we choose from 30 meals that we listed as a family as our favorites.
Chances are you already have meal planning down and you are better than me at this. If so move on, if not stay here awhile.
Updated 3/31/12-We've moved on to meals, and hubby has to cook because I am busy running the kids here and there. As much as I dislike it we are eating about 7:00 PM these days. I have had to let this go.....
Updated 6/18/12- In the quest to eat more non-processed food I am meal planning on Mondays (because it is summer and I can, otherwise I'll do it Sundays) and experimenting with meals from 100 days of unprocessed food, emeals clean eating (see link above) and the tried and true Thompson family menu of 31 meals my kids will eat. We've also discovered that my girls are lactose intolerant so things have been really different around here. Summer is my time for experimenting with food, by fall a meal planning routine usually sets in and by winter we are usually fending for ourselves again (sad but true). I do what I can! :)
3. Daily Cleaning. I recently figured this out and then read this post at Clean Mama and said YES! Exactly. Doing these 5 things should only take you about 15 min. per day to maintain an already clean house. If you are trying to gain some ground spend an extra 15 min. a day on your home (decluttering or cleaning). 15-30 min. is all you have to spend to keep up with your home. If you are having trouble keeping up with those 5 things take a step back and get this ebook from my affiliate link below...
and read my post here on laundry.
4. Weekly Cleaning. Let's face it. We are all too tired at the end of the day to do a room each day. We will leave it all for one day. But you weren't the only one that made the mess so you shouldn't be the only one cleaning it up. Designate a cleaning power hour on Friday evening, Saturday morning, or Sunday evening. Crank up the music and enlist the help of everyone. Make it a game like the one I found on Pinterest here. Assign the kids daily tasks for their room. THEY do have more time than you do. See the bedroom chore chart that I made here.
Chances are you are already doing this one too, move on.
5. Deluttering. This is the stage I am in currently and I've decided that I may be here awhile. A long while........I'm giving myself until at least June (6 months). Spend 15 min. a day decluttering things. Bag it up, toss it, whatever. Set up a donation station and go to your thrift shop of choice once a week (name a day. Thursday for me). Take whatever bags you have filled. So far on Jan. 8, I've taken 7 bags!!!! I would love to get rid of 365 bags this year. How about you? I also found a declutter calendar that I can play catch up with on the weekends. Find it here. The tasks on this calendar are working mom friendly. I don't do these daily but I do play catch up on a free Saturday.
Update on 5/26/2013 Still decluttering......however I finally feel my efforts and I am no longer known as the hoarder at school. I've come so far! :)
5. Organizing and Deep Cleaning. IDK. Hire it done? Take vacation time? Oh yeah, I have vacation time in the summer, and that is just how I WANT to spend it. ;) This one is yet to be figured out but I have seen some good blogs about it. Stay tuned................
Update on July 1--I am spending my traditional summer week deep cleaning (not fair to those that don't have vacay).
Update on 5/26/2013 Here is my favorite deep cleaning list from the web. This summer while I am home I plan on doing these things every day and then come fall I'm going to do odd numbers on odd months and even numbers on even months.
6. June 19, 2012 update: Special Projects
Monday--Head to Goodwill
Tuesday---Take 1 thing out to the curb!
Wednesday--Work on never ending project to-do list?
Thursday---Put the clean laundry away!
Friday----Photo project, get them printed, filed, organized, and then work on photo books
Saturday---Toy room
Sunday--Work in the yard
7. July 11, 2013 update: Google Doc checklist
I am a big fan of google docs. Today I am starting this list Google doc style. What do you use for motivation?
Here is my very simple organize your life guide for busy work outside the home moms:
Man, what did we do before Pinterest? After weeks of scouring Pinterest for ways to declutter and get organized, I think I finally figured out a system combining the best ideas from Pinterest and the blog world. I was getting reeled in by many blogger, busy mamas who wanted to challenge me to a clean and organize my home in 14 days and the like. I certainly was intrigued but when it comes down to it, I need a system that takes an hour or less per day.
Looking to get your life in order? Try these steps. Once you feel comfortable with a step, move on. Stay on a step as long as you need to in order to make that step a habit.
1. Prioritizing. The first thing you need to do is put yourself first. Make sure that you have scheduled me time and that you have an opportunity to decompress each day. My me time comes about 9:30 and can last anywhere from 15 min. to 2 hrs. My me time is spent with my computer on blogland. Focusing on my me time helps me get done the things I need to get done earlier in the day. Along with my me time I also get in my exercise, at least 20 min. every day, completed before 9:30.
Spend as much time needed on this step to get yourself taken care of.
Pantry stuff, refried beans to remind me to throw them in tortillas, pizza sauce to remind me to make mini-pizzas, popcorn, crackers etc. ---------->
We are busy with extracurriculars Tues.-Thurs. so we can throw together a mini-meal before and after piano, basketball, dance etc. and I do not stress about it, my children are fed. The inspiration for this project came from Pinterest. :) Hubby and I do take turns cooking Fri.-Mon. and we choose from 30 meals that we listed as a family as our favorites.
Chances are you already have meal planning down and you are better than me at this. If so move on, if not stay here awhile.
Updated 3/31/12-We've moved on to meals, and hubby has to cook because I am busy running the kids here and there. As much as I dislike it we are eating about 7:00 PM these days. I have had to let this go.....
Updated 6/18/12- In the quest to eat more non-processed food I am meal planning on Mondays (because it is summer and I can, otherwise I'll do it Sundays) and experimenting with meals from 100 days of unprocessed food, emeals clean eating (see link above) and the tried and true Thompson family menu of 31 meals my kids will eat. We've also discovered that my girls are lactose intolerant so things have been really different around here. Summer is my time for experimenting with food, by fall a meal planning routine usually sets in and by winter we are usually fending for ourselves again (sad but true). I do what I can! :)
3. Daily Cleaning. I recently figured this out and then read this post at Clean Mama and said YES! Exactly. Doing these 5 things should only take you about 15 min. per day to maintain an already clean house. If you are trying to gain some ground spend an extra 15 min. a day on your home (decluttering or cleaning). 15-30 min. is all you have to spend to keep up with your home. If you are having trouble keeping up with those 5 things take a step back and get this ebook from my affiliate link below...
and read my post here on laundry.
4. Weekly Cleaning. Let's face it. We are all too tired at the end of the day to do a room each day. We will leave it all for one day. But you weren't the only one that made the mess so you shouldn't be the only one cleaning it up. Designate a cleaning power hour on Friday evening, Saturday morning, or Sunday evening. Crank up the music and enlist the help of everyone. Make it a game like the one I found on Pinterest here. Assign the kids daily tasks for their room. THEY do have more time than you do. See the bedroom chore chart that I made here.
Chances are you are already doing this one too, move on.
5. Deluttering. This is the stage I am in currently and I've decided that I may be here awhile. A long while........I'm giving myself until at least June (6 months). Spend 15 min. a day decluttering things. Bag it up, toss it, whatever. Set up a donation station and go to your thrift shop of choice once a week (name a day. Thursday for me). Take whatever bags you have filled. So far on Jan. 8, I've taken 7 bags!!!! I would love to get rid of 365 bags this year. How about you? I also found a declutter calendar that I can play catch up with on the weekends. Find it here. The tasks on this calendar are working mom friendly. I don't do these daily but I do play catch up on a free Saturday.
Update on 5/26/2013 Still decluttering......however I finally feel my efforts and I am no longer known as the hoarder at school. I've come so far! :)
5. Organizing and Deep Cleaning. IDK. Hire it done? Take vacation time? Oh yeah, I have vacation time in the summer, and that is just how I WANT to spend it. ;) This one is yet to be figured out but I have seen some good blogs about it. Stay tuned................
Update on July 1--I am spending my traditional summer week deep cleaning (not fair to those that don't have vacay).
Update on 5/26/2013 Here is my favorite deep cleaning list from the web. This summer while I am home I plan on doing these things every day and then come fall I'm going to do odd numbers on odd months and even numbers on even months.
6. June 19, 2012 update: Special Projects
Monday--Head to Goodwill
Tuesday---Take 1 thing out to the curb!
Wednesday--Work on never ending project to-do list?
Thursday---Put the clean laundry away!
Friday----Photo project, get them printed, filed, organized, and then work on photo books
Saturday---Toy room
Sunday--Work in the yard
7. July 11, 2013 update: Google Doc checklist
I am a big fan of google docs. Today I am starting this list Google doc style. What do you use for motivation?
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