Consistency creates efficiency
02 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized
As I have learned to be a better homemaker, I have used several different ideas. Flylady is a great program for building routines. It has really helped my morning routine. I make my bed, clean the bathroom, start a load of laundry and unload the dishwasher in less than 15 minutes. I’ve had a tougher time establishing an afternoon and evening routine. I end up putting out fires and attending to whatever seems most pressing. But I think I have an idea to help make things run a bit smoother.
We organized the dining room. I got a huge nesting urge and cleaned out cabinets, bookshelves, drawers, etc. All the kids helped running around the house putting things away and getting me more trash bags and such. I came through the very next day and found the kids had left six items scattered between the table and other surfaces. Don’t they remember how much work we did to get it clean! Now, they could have just taken 2-3 steps and put it in their drawer. Each child has their own drawer, desk and basket. It was then that I realized my problem. I move from project to project instead of consistently maintaining each space. By the time I get back to the dining room or the boys bedroom, it’s trashed again and I end up having to reorganize everything AGAIN!
So I thought of naming it the “Stay ahead of the monkeys” plan but decided to summarize it in three words that I know to be true. CONSISTENCY CREATES EFFICIENCY
First I’ll use a 7 x 7 plan to keep up minimum maintenance. Seven minutes in seven zones of my house. Only 7 minutes to pick up and put away and tidy things. Now, the first few days, I figured that 7 minutes wouldn’t be enough. For the dining room, 7 minutes was just right. For the living room, 7 minutes wasn’t quite enough but after a couple of days of consistently doing the 7 x 7, I’m sure it will be plenty of time. My timer didn’t go off so what was supposed to be 7 minutes in the utility room ended up being 15 minutes so I could skip that one tomorrow. The next day, I might have to expand to the hallway and closets since so much was done today.
Flylady’s plan is to shine your sink in the evening. It didn’t really work for me. So, after every meal, I’m dedicating 10-15 minutes for cleaning the kitchen. It’s easy to leave breakfast or lunch dishes to be done all at once. But after feeding 4-8 people three meals a day, the dishes in the afternoon or evening are a bit overwhelming. So 10-15 minutes 3 x a day will give plenty of time to unload/load dishwasher, wash dishes, put away ingredients, wipe down appliances, etc.
Flylady’s plan is to have a Home Blessing hour once a week. Just doesn’t work in a home that is used as much as ours. So I’m devoting 15 minutes a day to the floors and 15 minutes to surfaces. Floor chores include vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and spot cleaning. Surfaces include dusting, polishing, wiping countertops, tables, etc.
Other dailies include 30 minutes of gardening, 30 minutes of memory verse/Bible reading, 30 minutes of craft/gift making, 30 minutes of decluttering/organizing, 15 minutes of balancing the checkbook/paying bills/managing budget, 1 hour of reading with the children and 1 hour of planning (homeschool/meal/garden/etc).
The idea is that if I do this every day I will become more and more efficient at getting things done. I will also be consistently reinforcing where things belong and that moving things from the floor to a surface or vice versa that I find the children doing so often is NOT picking up and putting away.
I’m keeping track of my progress on this printable daily chart. So the plan is to update here at least weekly, preferably daily. Of course with only 37 more days til baby gets here, not sure how frequent my posts will be after his arrival.
Rest time and I’ll be finishing up my 7 x7 and other dailies. Here’s to a consistent, efficient 2012!
