This month is all about our households and how they run and operate. We started by focusing on a key fact that everything in your house needs a “home”. If you want to be able to find things easily there has to be a place that you know is specifically for that thing. If the house is organised, and things have a place to return to, regular tidying can be a realistic task rather than an overwhelming drama.
Earlier in SYL we talked about planning and routines in general, now I want to focus on them in terms of your household management. There are many different ways you can implement effective systems and routines, but I want to emphasize that any systems need to be done consistently and work for you. You need to find your own ways that work and you can tweak as you go as systems and routines evolve over time and change and grow with you and your family.
Think of this week as starting to create a toolbox for your household.
We will cover cleaning next week and paper / information management the following week so for today we will focus on routines in other areas. Figure out what home routines you currently lack, but think could simplify your home, make life easier and suit your personality.
Below are some household routine ideas – I am in no way suggesting someone have all of these, they are just ideas to get you thinking. You may think 1 or 2 of these ideas could solve some of your current issues and aim to explore them further. For example if the evening meal is one of the most stressful parts of your day you could maybe finally give meal planning a go for a month. If you are forever running to the shops you might want to try a full pre-made list where you check off what you need as you go. I find these so helpful as looking them over often triggers me to quickly check on things like how much toilet paper we have in the house so I don’t find myself running out mid-week.
In the kitchen you can explore:
- meal planning
- pre-made grocery lists
- set up online grocery ordering / deliveries
- create a well stocked (and possibly inventoried) pantry and freezer
- having a weekly clean out of your fridge before you grocery shop
Looking at your time management and pre-planning you can:
- use a planner / diary to track appointments, kids routines and deadlines
- create and use checklists for anything you do regularly including: travel (from weekends away to camping trips), outings (ie list of what to stock in your nappy bag / daypack), gift giving (present stash, cards, important dates, reminders, etc), holiday cards and planning essentials, babysitter information, baby routine)
- book appointments in advance / bulk where possible including: pets’ vet visits and vaccinations, kids vaccination appointments, eye checkups, annual/quarterly things (pest inspections, blood work, gynecology checks, etc), reorder dates for things like contact lenses or prescriptions, follow ups with doctor
- prepare the night before for the next day for school/daycare/work /outings (packing food, laying out clothes, gathering things taking with you, checking schedule/diary, packing bags, etc)
For household planning and family communication:
- have a weekly review and planning day for yourself (look at diary, meal plan, set goals / MITs, plan self-care, etc)
- have a similar check in with your other half if you have one (weekly or monthly): coordinate your schedules, go over upcoming events on the calendar (work or personal), plan date nights / babysitting needs, decide any household “to-do”s you need the other to handle, long term planning
- family meetings – depending on kids ages you could have regular meetings to go over issues that anyone has, plan social things, handle allowances and chore assignments etc
The main point is to spend this week looking at what systems or routines you currently have.
- Are they working for you?
- Are there areas of household management that are stressful for you and could be tackled with a new or revamped routine?
- What do you do over and over again, but continually wing it and reinvent the wheel? Often setting up a regular system for something can ease your stress and save you so much time yet only takes minutes to create or set up.
Challenge this week: Examine your household’s routines (or lack thereof) in the areas above and find 1 or 2 systems or ideas that you will work on implementing and tweaking to suit your home. They need not be major, they just need to be relevant and helpful to your situation. Look into them further if need be and come up with your own plan or way to tailor this to your home.
If you have no/few systems and want to implement more than 1-2 add them in slowly in the future. We will be talking about habits in week 30, but the biggest mistake you can make is trying to build 5 or 10 new habits all at once.
Find your simple,
Deb
Link up posts for week 26 or any week of the simplify your life challenge here:
Image credit: Home sweet home print from etsy seller Katie Daisy
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
“There are many different ways you can implement effective systems and routines, but I want to emphasize that any systems need to be done consistently and work for you”
YES to this! I spent almost two hours this morning sorting out my email inboxes….I usually do not let it get to this point but I let it slip the past month. I feel so much better after that ‘decluttering’ and it was a timely reminder of the benefits of keeping on top of it.
kirri recently posted..Rockin’ Mamma Interview with Gemma Klamer
Aha! That is what my problem is. Trying to build too many new habits at the same time. One… change… at… a… time…
Thank you!
Kate recently posted..Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
This looks good for me a planner……but I’m sad to say I seem to have slipped in these challenges and haven’t blogged (or completed a challenge) since the wardrobe declutter…I’m floundering and finding it hard to find time….THIS Is whay I need plans – but I’m still struggling.
Bec S recently posted..Life challenge – week 23 – declutter your wardrobe
Routines at home! Routines in general are not my forte. This will be a good opportunity to put some in place. Might help me keep on top of things when work gets crazy. I need some – I really do!
kreategirl recently posted..Drop zone
I agree absolutely that routines are important. I aim to be flexible (my preferred style, and as a former supply teacher it was necessary) only because certain routines underpinned life.
But what do we do about our ‘significant other’?
I’d love my husband to be more organised with filing, email tidying up, and routine planning and carrying out of tasks. As a minister he works from home. When his study is disappearing under paper, more meetings than I’d like get moved to the living room. And generally it’s not an efficient way to be – he manages ok, but we could have more time for together if he didn’t have to spend so long in preparing everything, and time could be saved by being tidier/more organised. How can I sort him out without acting like his mother – either doing it for him or nagging until he does (apart from not wanting to, neither of these work!)
I’m doing well with decluttering the rest of the house, and meeting my own targets. But the study!! Do I just have to wait until he retires and bin/shred/dispose of most of it then?
All suggestions gratefully received – or are you proposing to cover partners (and children – not my problem as they’ve all grown up) another week?
In the case of partners I think it comes down to whether they want to change and are open to help or do we have to accept them the way they are and pick up the slack if we want the changes to occur. If he wants help and just does not know how to set up good systems you can work on that together (need his input into what he thinks he could carry out) – things like a weekly clear out of emails, allowing 10 minutes at the end of the day to tidy the desk, putting away one task (completed or not) before moving on etc. With filing think about different options and have him figure out what works best for him (in my case my husband loved binders, but i was responsible for filing and would let it pile up for up to 6+ months. one day i switched to an accordian folder and now i am either on top of it monthly or fall behind by 1 month max since dropping papers in slots made such a difference to me)
if he has no desire to learn and change then it comes down to what you feel you can do or want to do (i have a friend whose husband likes a very tidy pantry but that is not who she is, he loves seeing my pantry, and we joke, but i say to him – if you are the one who wants the orderly pantry then you take on that job, you can’t always pass on your expectations to the other person even if it would be better for the household)
Debra Dane recently posted..More creative ways to encourage kids to try new foods + giveaway
I put a lot of thought into my house work routines earlier in the year and they have worked! The house can get untidy at times (especially at the moment where outdoor play is more limited) but I am not feeling out of control as I was. I think I wrote a post on it back then.
I also worked out my minimum and took the unnecessary things off the to do list which unburdened me. And a big yay to that! xx
Lee recently posted..Baked gnocchi with pumpkin and zucchini. Gluten free!
I you are right in building those habits one at a time. It will make the transition a lot easier since you have less pressure to do good.
Lesley recently posted..beginner to advanced painting lesson
Thanks for your comments everyone – sorry for the group reply but thanks to school holidays I am getting on here very little right now – am reading though…
Debra Dane recently posted..What happens when you are “not”