Friday, September 11, 2009

The Great Chore Chart Experiment

I've been thinking lately, what would make my life easier? How can I get more time in my day? I mean the amount of housework that hits me in the face everyday is truly overwhelming. Our house is not that big (1300 sq. feet), and with a family of 6 it seems there is always something to do. I feel like I am spinning my wheels when it comes to this issue. Hire a housekeeper you say? Well, for some of us that is just not an option so on Tuesday I made up a Chore Org. Chart. Oh yes I did go there. What's the purpose of this? Well here is my plan: the org chart will help me stop running through the house and doing a little of this chore, a little of that chore, but truly getting nothing done. I will have days to complete an entire chore so that I feel like I have actually accomplished something. Has that ever happened to you? You start off in one room picking up and as you go to another room you see something you want to pick up in there and soon you have Housework ADHD! So this is an experiment that I am sharing, the Chore Org. Chart. Here's what mine looks like:


Sunday - Laundry, Menu/Dinner Plan for the week ahead, Sunday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away so we can start the week off right
Monday - Masterbedroom, (clean, vacuum, change sheets), Dishes
This is a "light" day because Mondays are generally rough for me, I can barely function Monday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away
Tuesday - Clean Master Bath, steam mop entire house, dust/glass cleaning, Tuesday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away
Wednesday - Laundry, vacuum, paper/mail purge, dishes, Wednesday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away
Thursday - Laundry, clean out microwave, pickup in Master Bedroom, dishes, Thursday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away
Friday - Straighten up counters, and clean as necessary in Master Bathroom, steam mop entire house, dishes, Friday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away
Saturday - Laundry, change kids sheets, Saturday night: have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away


If you notice there are certain chores not listed. There is not much vacuuming because we have only carpet in our bedrooms with a small rug in the family room. I do not clean my kids bathroom. My oldest son Cabb cleans that every Saturday with Andre, who is ten, picking up in there during the week. I do not do laundry for my two oldest kids, (18, 10) because that would truly be too much laundry. I have mountains just for four folks can you imagine trying to do laundry for 6?!! I know there are some of you that do it so I give you kudos. I do not take out trash or recyclables. I supervise my kids cleaning their room with me fighting the urge to go back over it. If you have older kids I would say deligate, deligate, deligate. I decided to add have kids pick up their 'stuff" from family room and put away every night because you have no idea how much time I spend picking up other peoples shoes, dolls, psp's, books, etc. Listen, my name is not Hazel, or Florence or Alice. They actually got paid to pick up other peoples stuff, I do not. I'm putting my foot down, its your stuff, pick it up.............daily. I have not listed monthly chores like cleaning out the fridge, cleaning baseboards or wiping down walls. I need to get a handle on the day-to-day so I am not swimming in chores. Now who knows how this is going to work out but I am going to try it and see how I like it. Already I like the fact that I know which chores I am going to do when I get up in the am AND I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Of course this is my list, yours may look different, especially if you work, but you can do something everyday and not let your laundry, or dusting or whatever pile up until the weekend. Share your ideas in the comments section. Do you have a better way? What do you do about housework that saves you time?

4 comments:

Liimatta said...

Jennifer, you are really good at blogging, wow. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two from your blog. Here's the link to our blog: http://liimatta.blogspot.com/

BTW, your lasagna was very yummy, thank you:)

Jennifer Reynolds said...

Hey Trisha, thanks for sharing about you and Irvings blog. Love it! Didn't I tell you having a girl makes everything different? BTW, I'm glad you liked the lasagna. It's one of my families favorites.1

Angie said...

So how's this going for you so far? Before Lucy was born, I stuck to my chore schedule pretty well, but life seems so much more unpredictable for me still...and I haven't gotten back into the swing of things yet...and my house (and my sanity) is crying because it's soooo dirty. I can't stand it! Hopefully we'll find our new groove soon and I can resume a more regular cleaning schedule. And I'm a firm believe in getting the kids to help! Johnny has specific chores already and is pretty good about sticking to them (with constant reminders, of course) and he's one of those rare birds that actually LIKES to pick up his toys and keep them organized. I'm so blessed by that! :) I look forward to reading more tips from you on keeping an orderly house. Keep it up!

Jennifer Reynolds said...

Angie, so far the experiment is right on task. I have more time to do the things I want to do. What is the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?" It has only taken me 5 years to realize that I pretty much need to plan everything...meals, chores, activities, me time etc. Otherwise time escapes me and things turn into an unorganized mess. Everyday continues to be a learning experience and this blog forces me to stay on track. No complaining just living.