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The Organised Mum Method - have I misunderstood or am I really slow?

131 replies

NameChangeyMcChangerson · 30/09/2018 22:48

I have a new baby, and my house is a tip. I kept seeing people on Mumsnet recommend the organised mum method and saying it's just 45 minutes a day. This seemed like a great plan, as I find it hard to get much done during the day with DS (and I try to be out of the house as much as possible anyway) but I thought DH and I could take it in turns to look after DS and the other one do a 45 minute blitz each day. However, I've just looked at the blog and been seriously put off by this on the 'level 1 jobs':

These never change and are the same every day. This is the minimum that needs to be done in order to maintain an orderly home. This is supposed to be a quick top-level tidy – It should take no longer than 15 minutes. These are not included in your 30 mins because it is assumed that you are doing some (if not all of them) already … these jobs come with the territory of being an adult!

Quick floor clean of main living areas. This obviously depends on what floors you have (carpets, tiles or wood floors). If you have hard flooring mop at least once a week.
1 load of laundry
Quick clean of bathrooms, this includes a mop of the floors at least once a week.
Make beds
A little word on bathrooms… bathrooms are included in your level 1 jobs but you don’t have to do the same thing in there every day. Make sure you change it up so that all areas of the bathroom are getting attention. So, for example, one day you might tackle the floors and another day you might do the mirror and sink (I do clean the toilet daily though).

I can't do that in 15 minutes! Even just folding and then putting away a load of laundry takes me that long (and that doesn't include putting the load on and hanging it up in the first place). Similarly mopping the bathroom floor or hoovering our living room (which is a living room diner, so quite large) take that long once I include getting out and putting away the hoover/mop bucket. So then I wondered whether I was just supposed to do one of the tasks on that list - but surely not as it includes making the bed?! Can other people do that stuff in 15 minutes and if so how?!

OP posts:
Haworthia · 03/10/2018 14:26

Have you visited the blog Ixnayonthehombre? If your house is too messy to start, it sounds like you need the messy house bootcamp Smile
www.theorganisedmum.blog/2017/06/26/1-week-boot-camp-for-when-youve-lost-control-of-the-housework/

(And before someone says “I can’t do all that in a week!”, fine, do it in two weeks).

Steala · 03/10/2018 19:33

It took me about a month to get through boot camp. It was worth it because I'm starting from a manageable state. If you can't face it though, just start the method. 30 focused minutes a day is so much better than an hour or so of flitting around, getting nothing done.

I like it because she tells me what to do. I can follow instructions, but can't work out what I need to do for myself because I'm always starting things and never finishing and have no sense of progress or accomplishment. Then I feel overwhelmed and exhausted and the spiral continues.

NameChangeyMcChangerson · 09/10/2018 10:23

Thought I'd update! We spent a lot of the weekend decluttering and generally getting rid of the three months worth of dirt and rubbish that has accumulated since we had DS so we could start with a clean slate! I then did two 15 minute stints in the living room yesterday with DS in his bouncer. Can really see what people mean about how much easier it is to actually do it in 30 mins if the room is basically clean to begin with! Feeling positive and like this might work for us - but can't really manage the daily cleaning of the bathroom (most of my showers and toilet trips in the day are taken with DS solemnly watching me from either the bathmat or his bouncer, so I don't want to start extending them by scrubbing the sink!) so I think I'll add an extra day on Saturday to do 30 mins on the bathrooms (and then make DH do it!)

OP posts:
2slicesoftoast · 09/10/2018 22:03

Definitely delegate @NameChangeyMcChangerson I love the 30 minutes cutoff. As a single parent, I do my 30 minutes (and fudge the level 1 tasks into it!).
But if I had a live in OH, he'd be sharing the fun :-)

2919HereWeGo · 17/08/2019 20:53

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2919HereWeGo · 17/08/2019 20:53

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