Please! Any FT workers who can be arsed to help me work out a fool proof housework/kid plan

[ErnesttheBavarian]

I keep making plans. Never stick to it. House totally out of control.

Can't find half my clothes. Can't keep up.

Madness at this age still haven't learnt to keep house or keep on top of kids school work/admin.

So, is it best to do certain jobs on the same day every week come what may? How do I organise my life and home? And what if there's a night out or holiday or something? Do you skip it or do double next night/week?

I need to get to bed earlier, yet fit loads more in. Would also like to exercise and never seem to have the time.

Need plan for working full time.

I would be soooo grateful.

[PennyHasNoSurname]

I work ft and use "Chore Checklist" app. Its totally customisable - can list your own jobs, no matter how big or small, can choose which day(s) of the week/fortnight/month you want them to come up, and can also list One Off jobs and pre schedule them in.

It takes a little time to set up, but is so easy you can do it while watching tv.

My list is (off the top of my head!)
Sweep and mop hall and lounge and bedrooms (all one floor) - mon and thur
Sweep and mop kitchen and bath - tues/fri/sun
Vacuum rugs and (only carpet) lobby - sat (we only have three)
Put a load in the wash - mon/wed/fri/sun (2 adults 2 kids)
Put away all kids clothes - tues/sat
Put away all adults clothes - sun
Iron school/work shirts - sun
Wipe down kitchen surfaces - daily
Toys away in lounge - daily
Clear and wipe down dining table - daily
Mealplan - thurs eve
Wipe down bathroom - fri and mon
Online food order - fri
Fortnightly tasks
Change kids beds - wed (alt)
Change adult bed - fri (alt)
Fuel in car - mon (alt)
Clean fridge - sat (alt)
Bag of toys/clothes to charity - wed (alt)

Monthly
Wash car
Clean blinds (awful slatted ones!)
Hose down back yard
Clean kitchen bin
Vacuum sofa and matresses
Bleach the sink (god awful white sink)

Probably more on the list, and I work shifts so I have time mornings to do stuff before work.

You can set the app to only show due and overdue tasks too or all tasks.

[Ughnotagain]

I'm no help OP but if you find out I will steal the answers from you plz.

Sometimes DH throws his clothes in with my floordrobe and I throw a hissy fit our bedroom is terrible.

The living room's sound though, sorted that. So at least one room is ok!

[ErnesttheBavarian]

Thanks so much. So another question 8f you have kids. When do you actually do it? Once they are in bed or when they get in from school or what? This is my 3rd year since I returned to work and I still haven't got my head around it. And holidays seem to be just as hard

[PennyHasNoSurname]

I do some of it with the kids around - quite a lot actually. Kids are 16mo and 4. While their morning toast is in, I chuck a load in the machine. While they are eating breakfast I fill the sink with hot soapy water and chuck last nights dinner plates in for later (water too hot to do there and then).

As soon as they are dressed their pjs get folded ready to reuse if clean or put in the wash baslet (dds job).

I make the beds when I get dressed, usually dd helps plump the pillows and ds crawls round the bedroom.

We might walk to the park and home via a shop for bread and milk(dh brings dinner food in if we are missing anytjing)

Dd is at preschool 12.30-3.15 so usually ds and I both nap while she is out (if Im off, usually at work til 11 night before).

Dh gives the kitchen a going over when he gets home then we both bath and bed the kids. One of us tidies down the living room the other cooks dinner for us two. We never do chores after our evening meal as we eat about 7.30 and frankly im only good for bath and bed after that.

If Im at work on an early we each "power on" the two hours between CM pickup and bedtime doing jobs and kid stuff.

If Im on a late I speed round in the morning then im home for 11.30 pm and have been known to clean the kitchen or bathroom then (cant go straight to sleep anyways as am in work.mode).

[ErnesttheBavarian]

Thanks penny. Have downloaded. Will try that.

[Icouldbeknitting]

I don't work now so have no excuse for those jobs that don't get done. I'm developing a list very like Penny's using Ticktick - I'm good with daily/weekly jobs but it's the ones that are less frequent that I fall down on. If you pay for it the app does let you assign jobs to other people, this is my threat for those family members that keep on leaving their post in the middle of the dining table.

If you start small and add one job at a time rather than inputting everything you can possibly think of it's less overwhelming.

[TweeterandtheMonkeyman]

I work mon-fri but i'm lucky in that I finish at 2pm - between getting home & kids bedtime I don't sit down, just crack on with cleaning, cooking ,laundry etc. I often clean the bathroom during bathtime. After kids are in bed it's my time to sit down with or and DH cooks for us .

[mamamermaid]

I'm in the process of trying to work out a similar system. I'm on may leave still but really worried about when I go back to work. Like the poster above, we have a daily jobs list and a weekly job for each night of the week eg. Monday is Hoover living room. And also monthly and quarterly tasks. They are on a poster in the kitchen so we both see. At the moment we eat together in the evening then DH baths kids then I do bedtime and he starts kitchen/floors/dogs etc. Also squidgy and spay the shower after our last shower daily, that's a new one.
Our house has a billet journal open in the kitchen. I batch cook and meal plan, online shop and keep a shopping list in the journal.
I don't think I'd look at the app but sounds similar to what we do anyway.
Only been doing in for the last month I was getting so stressed living in chaos and we've both noticed a huge difference :)
Oh no jobs Saturday, it's date night

[IpreferToblerone]

Excellent advise on here. Also, have you considered hiring a cleaner? I put it off myself for so long ( looking back, I should've hired help when kids were babies/ toddlers) but now would not be without a couple of hours help per week, it's bliss even though you obviously still have to clean (a bit) other days, but on extra busy weeks you can get by if the cleaner has been! 😉

[daisydalrymple]

Thanks for starting this op, really useful thread for the stuff we don't want to have to do! Place marking for the tips thanks.

[emsyj]

I work FT, DH works away part of the week and I have a 3yo and 5yo. My house is in utter disarray, or at least it was, but I am having a sort of domestic epiphany with the help of Marie Kondo. I have decided that the reason why I can't keep my house in order is because it is too full of STUFF. I am hoping that once I have drastically reduced the amount of stuff we have, managing the remaining essential stuff will be easier!

In the last couple of weeks I have taken to online shopping (which I actually hate, I much prefer going to the shop but I just don't have opportunity through the week and the shelves of Aldi are bare at weekends) and I keep on top of laundry reasonably well by filling the machine once a day. I fill it and set it going in the evening then chuck stuff on the airer or in the tumble drier in the morning, then fold it in the evening.

It is hard.

[PippaFawcett]

It never ends. Do stuff every day to keep on top of it.

[Liberated71]

Much has been said already but I find the following helps me keep on top of things-
Tidying as I go along (never leave a room empty handed)
Keeping kitchen and bathroom tidy everyday
Laundry as soon as/whenever there's a full load
A carpet sweeper/ewbank
Online grocery shopping

If I fall behind with ironing I'll send it out to be done

It's all utterly tedious and relentless and I resent doing it - but not as much as I hate not getting it done.

[GarlicBreadItsTheFuture]

I work FT, DH and I both travel and 2 DC with lots of activities and now both at secondary so homework and a constant stream of sports kit too. I do have a cleaner which definitely helps and I keep on top of things by doing little jobs all the time - I have in my head a list of jobs which take 5/10 or 15 minutes and I do those whenever I have time which helps me to stay on top of things.

So for example it takes 5 minutes to empty the dishwasher or clean the worktops, 10 minutes to empty tumble dryer and fold things or to sort and put a wash on. In 15 minutes I can empty, clean and tidy 1 kitchen cupboard or sort out the shoe cupboard. I never go up or downstairs empty handed. These were both Mumsnet tips.

I also agree with getting rid of clutter. I try to operate a 1 in 1 out rule - this works a bit but I still have regular clear outs and a 15 minute blitz in 1 room can easily clear a bag of rubbish.