I'm so disorganised

[Nomojo2016]

Can anyone help me with a routine?

I keep trying to get a routine going and I can never stick to it. I am hopeless.

We have 2 lounges, a kitchen dining room, playroom, 5 bedrooms, study, 4 bathrooms, 1 toilet and study. I am a SAHM but am studying which takes up about 8-9hours a week. I do everything during week. DH works long hours but will empty dishwasher, hoover, put washing on if need be and iron a couple of shirts for Mon, Tues on weekend.

Add in the food shopping, cooking, school runs, ferrying to clubs after school, trying to do a bit of exercise and the odd coffee, I just can't seem to keep on top of it. I did have cleaners but they were taking the piss the going early and not actually cleaning properly. I thought I could do a better job.

Everyone I meet seems amazingly organised, fitting all kinds of things in as well as work - why the hell can't I do this?

I have arranged for a cleaner to come every 2 weeks to get me back on track. I'm thinking I could get her to do basics - bathrooms, hoovering etc. just so it's not a pit all the time.

Any tips would be gratefully appreciated!

[curvyfrog]

I do Fly Lady (not strictly), this helps me organise and clean thoroughly over the course of a year. It will help you get the best out of your cleaner as you can direct and predict areas that will need attending to.

www.flylady.net/

[Nomojo2016]

Thanks - have had a look at that, I did register a few years ago but could never keep up with it!

I think one of the things with me is that I get distracted too easily - I'll start going through a pile of papers and magazines and start reading an article or I don't actually know where to put the correspondence and then just make another pile. I also don't prioritise well, so I'll spend ages doing something that could wait - meanwhile the toilets haven't been cleaned or last night's dishes are still sitting in the sink because the dishwasher didn't get emptied the night before!

[Afreshstartplease]

There's a very friendly fly lady thread on here!

[banivani]

Maybe you need something like a bullet journal? Without the silly arty bits.

[JugglingMum17]

Hey Nomojo

I split my house cleaning in zones and days of the week that way I aim to do half and hour of cleaning everyday. I will clean as follows:

Monday:
Kitchen including unloading dishwasher, microwave, bar stools, high chair & kitchen doors if required. 
Laundry Laundry including bleaching cloths & steriliser
Playroom & Grocery shopping

Tuesday:
Porch, Lounge, WC, Understairs & Sweep & mop downstairs

Wednesday:
Wash clothes, dry, iron & put away. Sort out clothes in wardrobes or anything that needs sorting upstairs

Thursday: 
Clean bathroom when bathing Keiyan this evening.  Clean & tidy landing & bedrooms & do polishing.

Friday:
Vacuum & mop entire house.
Clean windows/door handles if required

Saturday:
Sort out baby/children's bags
Sort out things in garage/black baskets.
Filing away
Record Income and Expenses

Sunday:
Wash clothes, dry & put away.  
Meal Planning, Prepping & Shopping list.  
Anything not done in the week or spot cleaning.

I try and do half an hour and aim to do it before 9 am. But obviously I am awake at 6 because of the kids.

I have one organising task on everyday usually when DS1 is asleep. Having one organising task means I am not overwhelmed and can aim to keep on top of things.

Even if you have a lazy day it won't too much to do the next day that way.

You are studying too so it will be difficult to do so much housework and looks after kids and do school runs.

[JugglingMum17]

In the mornings when I tidy beds I will also put away all the clutter so it does not build up. I have a place for everything so it will take 2/3 mins to tidy beds and put all the clutter away.

With two kids under 20 months they will make a mess thought the house with their toys and pick up other things along the way and throw it on the floor so if I see something on the floor during the day that DS1 is clearly not playing with I will pick it up and put it away when I am going towards that room.

I always make sure when I go upstairs or downstairs I will not go empty handed and it saves a lot of trips going back upstairs or downstairs.

Before dinner I try and have all the clutter picked up because after dinner and cleaning up and kids bedtime routine I want to just chill and enjoy my me time

[JugglingMum17]

Hope the above helps you

[JugglingMum17]

Another tip is to try and have cleaning products upstairs in the bathroom a set of cleaning products under your kitchen sink and WC cupboard.

By having the cleaning products in each room you are not distracted when you have to go downstairs to get products. Well I get distracted with something or other so I just save time by having everything in the bathroom and wc.

The WC you can clean after use which will take 2 mins.

The bathroom you can clean whilst using it or when bathing your children's I.e clean shower whilst in shower. Clean toilet after use. Clean sink when you have brushed your teeth. Clean bath after use so that just leaves the floor which you can sweep up or use vacuum.

[HandbagCrab]

Gadgets and online shopping. My similar house with less bathrooms is currently completely clean.

If you're at home and washing isn't on put something on - always something to wash! Likewise, always go up or downstairs empty handed. Always go up to bed after sorting downstairs first and sort upstairs when everyone gets up everyday.

Use cleaner money for roomba, roomba mop, tumble dryer, dishwasher, hand held dyson, cordless mower, steam cleaner, online shopping pass etc

Don't mess up rooms where possible! I'm sat in playroom so mess stays in here from me and dc and doesn't migrate to living room today.

If you know you get distracted by paperwork do it last or do the things you hate most first so they're done.

Dc do as much as is age appropriate and dh does an appropriate amount too.

It can be done, good luck!

[JugglingMum17]

Sometimes I haven't got the motivation so I will stick on my stopwatch on my watch and see how fast I can clean which makes me do it very quickly to see if can beat my last time lol

[AllMyBestFriendsAreMetalheads]

www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/ is also good, especially if flylady isn't quite your style.

I've found the friends I have that manage to 'fit it all in' have fairly tidy houses already and have Places For Things To Live (and/or Places To Hide Things!).

I have two issues, day to day stuff, and getting through the backlog.

Pick one area of a room, remove anything that doesn't belong there and either bin/recycle or put it away. Finish the area (I often get stuck at this part). It doesn't have to be a big area, even one side of the kitchen counts in my head. I get distracted too (hello, look what I'm doing now ) but small, manageable chunks helps keep me motivated.

Day to day, find a box in which all toys get put at the end of each day, and sort out storage in the meantime. I flit in and out of flylady but keeping your sink shiny empty really does make life easier, hide washing up in the bowl under the sink.

Bathroom as a PP suggested, little and often and bigger cleans whilst the kids are in the bath. My bathroom is probably the tidiest room in the house, because everything has a place and it's much easier to handle when it's tidy.

[Nomojo2016]

Thanks Juggling, that's really helpful. You sound so organised and sussed. I'm sure there must be a gap in the market for someone to come to your house and go through all of this to organise people like me!!

I need to sit down and do a list - that seems like it's key to being organised and split it all into days. Also, sort out my cleaning stuff-I do have some upstairs and downstairs and have a cordless hoover which is a fab invention but doesn't last long on one charge which is frustrating if I want to do the whole house.

Handbag-thank you-online shopping is another thing I need to use more - I hate food shopping with a passion and often have to just grab something when I'm out or we wouldn't eat!! When I did online shopping weekly, I was much more organised with meals-although I did throw a lot away too.

[Nomojo2016]

Thanks AllmybestFriends - yes I also get distracted with Mumsnet, FB, Netflix...all too easy!! I have just managed to clear a pile of papers that have been in the kitchen for weeks-and the downstairs is looking better...

I never seem to make it to the top floor where the spare bedroom and office is. Everytime I go up there, I get caught in cobwebs - I kid you not!

Will have a look at that website too....

[pansydePotter]

If you find cleaners a plain, have you thought of " one off " cleans every 6 weeks. They Charge £110 for 4 hours, 2 people, but boy do they work hard. End of tenancy cleaners charge a bit more, but a. Few cleaning companies do the " one off" clean.

[BusyBee2017]

Nomojo I was thinking of advertising my help to people who needed some help but I have two small kids so it would be difficult at the moment. But I suppose I could advertise and see what happens.

Yeah lists are great, I use my calendar on my iPhone for reminders. I will set one reminder each day to do an organising task so I am not overwhelmed. Once it is written down you can forget about it until it reminds you on your phone. Obviously put an alert on so the phone reminds you. For example tomorrow my organising task is 'A/W response from bank about new account'. So if I have not heard from them I will chase them tomorrow. It's great for reminders if you are waiting for a response because my brain is a sieve I will put it in my calendar to remind me in a couple of weeks time or a month's time.

Meal planning also helps - I put meals in my calendar too and then drag it along in a month's time so I am not typing it again. Meal planning helps with less waste and saving money too because you are not buying stuff you don't need.

Don't overwhelm yourself with everything you need to do. For now just concentrate on what's urgent.

And backlogs in terms of housework forget that, if you do weekly cleans then you can concentrate on a backlog the following week. So if you haven't not time to clean the lounge or bedrooms do a very quick dust and leave a thorough clean to the following week. That's the beauty of cleaning weekly your house will look tidy even if you don't do a thorough clean.

[Nomojo2016]

Thanks BusyBee! You should def advertise....there is a big market out there without question!

I had a cleaner start and it has made a massive difference. She's not coming every week but fortnightly. She's brilliant, like a whirlwind and gets so much done - even jobs like cleaning the windows which I've never had a cleaner do in the past. I'm just finding that's enough to keep me on track. The house is tidy for the first time in ages and I have time to tackle over tasks that have been ignored for so long.

Feeling more organised now!

[BusyBee2017]

That's brilliant... feeling organised means less stress for you and also means you can concentrate on other things

[DisorderedAllsorts]

I've recently signed up for a Tesco delivery plan, it's free for the first month and then I'll switch to a monthly plan. It's saved is a lot of time and I usually book a delivery for 8pm so I'm not hanging around all say.

Have a mini cleaning kit upstairs so itself easy to maintain a routine and deal with cleaning jobs that need doing.

If your kids are old enough then make them responsible for cleaning their own rooms.

Set up a cleaning Rota delegate tasks to each family member

Get the kids to tidy up their toys before bedtime

Each bedroom to have a linen basket. One of those pop up one's from Primark for £3 will do the job.

[nellythegoat]

I would do another post on here asking for tips on how to hire good cleaner and how to get them to do what you need! Are you good at asking people to do things?

I have a freind who has the most amazing cleaner, over time she has become much more than a cleaner and does all sorts of housekeeping (she is very well looked after as my freind is lovely to work for...).

I would use the tips in this thread to write a list of what your ideal cleaner would do and have it ready at the 'interview' or whatever you do when you hire a cleaner...

[1AngelicFruitCake]

I find i need to be strict with myself. The saying 'If you need something doing then ask a busy person' is so true! I'm at my most productive when I've got lots on. Make a list and be tough on yourself to get it done.

[Nomojo2016]

1Anglelic - so true!

Cleaner recommended the most amazing window cleaning cloths from Lakeland
these

Before my windows were always smeary (when I got around to cleaning them - which was not very often). Now I can a window down in literally seconds.

[Nomojo2016]

a window done