To ask how full time workers how they hell they can stop spending all their weekends doing bloody housework?

[therewillbetime]

Boring but serious question- work all week, leaving house at 7.30 and getting home 6.30 ish. DP, who also works all day gets home slightly earlier and always cooks, feeds cats etc. He does his own ironing.

I do little housework during the week apart from those everyday things you have to do or course as a) I’m knackered and b) I frequently have work related paperwork to do or study (I’m studying for an MA part time as well). I also go to the gym most nights so I admit that I cram a bit in.

This weekend I thought I was pretty much on top of things at home. Dp and I did all the food shopping yesterday but still I realise that this weekend I’ve done tons of washing (I have a teenage son), ironing, tidying, hoovering, dusting and cooking. I’ve been to the gym but combined this with my college work (reading on the treadmill) and we did relax and watch a movie last night. Dp did a load of stuff in the garden.

I am just really interested in how full time workers manage it all with the result of saying they had a weekend, or most of a weekend to do stuff not related to the home. Or maybe, everyone lives like this and I’m a whinging git!

I have a cleaner who also does laundry and ironing. All shopping is done online by DH (he’s the much better cook and knows what is needed). Cleaner also does bulk cooking to fill the freezer and we also get meals from Cook.

DT’s are responsible for their own bedrooms and bathroom when they are home from Uni.

I used to get all my housework done during the week so that my weekend was completely free to do my own thing. I know you’re tired during the week but at least you can make the most of your weekends.

Cleaner (who also irons), delegation and I do bits each day to keep on top. I would have to borderline workhouse before I got rid of the cleaner because I know no one else will do it and it would be left up to me. I can find plenty other things to argue with OH about, who last cleaned the bathroom isn't one of them!

I also have a cleaner, plus the work shirts go out for ironing and get delivered back. Also have a gardener as I hate mowing and weeding.

Don’t have a massive house
I work partly from home so no time on commuting helps.
We share chores.

Oh yes also shirts get sent out.

I used to do it all on Saturday but have started working Saturday's too. I have honestly just given up and do a quick wipe round when I can be bothered.

Granted I only live in a one bed flat but I do the bits I create as I go along. So washing up gets done or put in dishwasher if I’m feeling decadent. Wipe sides down as I go. Wipe the bath out after a shower etc. Only thing that takes a while is washing clothes and bed sheets etc. I try and do a load of washing in the week and then another at the weekend. Quick hoover round at the weekend. Other adhoc jobs as an when but without a cleaner it does sometimes help to lower standards slightly. Can your son not do his bit?

I think most working mums feel like that we are just winging it .
Although I feel a bit smug today cause I've caught up with all washing ironing and cleaning and a few jobs that I've put off for a while . Saying that I've not done anything exciting this weekend just food shop , cleaning, cooking and been for a run . If I do have things planned at weekends like nights out etc I don't have energy the next day to do all my jobs . It does annoy me sometimes that work all week then weekends are spent doing housework but that's my exciting life

I do it in the evenings or before work. However I don't have children to get up and sorted, which makes it easier.

So in the mornings I'll make the beds, put a wash on, wash-up the breakfast dishes, feed the animals and run the hoover around a couple of times a week. When DH gets home, he'll hang the washing out, walk the dog and sort dinner (he finishes earlier than me, I start later, which is why it works this way around).

Bedsheets get washed on Saturday mornings, fresh set put on in the evening. We have three sets of bedding so we just rotate between those depending on which set is clean. Towels are washed one morning in the week, and litter trays etc. have a full change/clean once a week too. I do food shopping on my way home from work, else I just sit down and have no motivation to get back up again!

But I really dislike a messy house and I can't relax on my days off if the house is a state. When I do have days off (midweek - shift worker), I do all the housework first thing. So I'll get up, feed the animals and myself, then do any housework that needs doing - any laundry, dishes, hoover. Then take the dog for a walk and exhaust him, then I've got the rest of the day to do whatever I want while the hound sleeps!

• Declutter - loads.
• Organised Mum method.
• 1 load of washing on every morning.
• Hang on a heated airer as soon as you get home.
• Online food shop.

Never iron. Ever.

Cleared out the house so there was no clutter to get untidy, also cleared sides of stuff so dusting etc was easier. Aimed for minimalist but didn't quite get there.

Good luck!

How much housework does your teen do?

Oh, I forgot bathrooms and kitchen - both get a wipe around after each use, and then I'll do bathroom one week, DH does the kitchen, and the next week we switch. Toilets get DUCK swished around them a couple of times a week too.

Lower standards
Online supermarket shop
Dont iron anything - pay for somebody else to iron dh work shirts
Laundry - one load washed dried and put away every eve

Lower standards is your friend.

Have a cleaner and lots of storage solutions. Throw stuff away a lot. Have quite low standards.

When I was a fulltime working single mum of two small children my house was an absolute shit heap. I kept the kitchen clean for hygiene reasons (cleaned surfaces, floor and hob) but did sod all else. Just didn't have time. It was horrible to live in tbh. I used to fantasise about winning the lottery just so that I could abandon the house as it was and go and live somewhere else in a brand new clean house!

www.theorganisedmum.blog/

Is how we do it, both work full time an d 3 teenage boys at home.
One of usdoesthe daily 30 minutes and kidd do the level one jobs.

I start the cleaning round about Thursday evening. Get another good chunk done Friday night and finish off Saturday morning. Weekend is then free for us to enjoy as a family. As long as we keep on top of it, it's not too bad.

Struggle to keep on top of the laundry but other than that, house looks pretty good on the whole. Can't afford a cleaner!

I do my online shopping order on the train into work. Haven’t set foot in a supermarket for ages.

I have a cleaner.

I do laundry in the morning and hang it out after work.

Shopping online saves a huge amount of time. Have economy 7 so set washer & dishwasher overnight, then unload while sorting breakfast in the mornings.
Batch cook so always meals in freezer for lunches/dinner.
Try to tidy as I go along, do have a cleaner every fortnight though.
Only me & dd5 though, so all down to me.

Surface clean and do bare minimum, then do one massive clean every couple of months 🤦‍♀️ Have every appliance (dishwasher, drier, etc) to make things easier.

When dc still here it was all hands on deck Saturday morning. Did whole house with everyone flying around. Tried not to let it slip too much all week. Took Sunday off except for cooking lunch but sometimes ate out. Housework will take every minute of the day if you give it. Its a pain.

I do really wonder what takes so long?

4 people in our house; I wash 5 machines a week, usually on a Saturday, but spread over the weekend if we're out. 2.5 hours in total in the washing machine I don't have to worry about and can do other things; 10min each to hang a load. Sorting takes maybe 10min, or 30 if I involve the toddler. DH irons his shirts; everything else is just left to hang itself into shape.

I cook, DH washes up. DH hoovers twice a week and does the bathrooms weekly and the garden maybe monthly. No more than an hour on each task.

Food shopping gets done together after work on Friday; but going to ALDI and just doing top-ups in another big shop means food shopping doesn't total more than an hour. Again, one of the kids helps packing away.

The bigger one puts together the daily lunchboxes and takes the washing down.

We all chip in and no one spends more than 3 hours in total over the weekends doing stuff out of the extraordinary. So plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and have a life. Getting up reasonably early (between 6 and 7.30am) on weekends helps, too.