To ask how do you get shit done when the everyday shit still needs to get done?

[Bolting]

I'm trying to get myself organised during the summer holidays and I'm failing miserably. The thing is how on earth do you do you do all the other stuff when all the daily crap still needs doing!

Prioritising the most important tasks and getting a cleaner helped me the most! If there's not enough time, things just don't get done, it has to wait, also roping DH into action when needed, getting him to sort things such as car insurance whilst I cook dinner etc works best.

Can you be more specific about what you think you should be doing compared with what you are actually doing?

Delegate, to everyone I can, even the toddler!

Use every minute you can, even if it means doing very small jobs in small increments.

I need to repaint every room in the house, the place is just so shabby after years of struggling to find the time so I've been doing one wall or one door at a time. 15 minutes spare on lunch break is used to put a first coat on one side of a door, wrap the brush in foil, then after DDs in bed and the housework is done I spend an hour doing the other side of the door, second coat on the first side and the skirting in that room. And so on. Eventually it will all get done, of course it's entirely possible by the time the last bit is painted the first bit will be looking worn and need redoing again 😂

@Bolting

I'm trying to have a huge clear out getting nowhere fast!!!

So I've now written a huge list of what needs doing but it is hard especially with the kids off and by bedtime it's a nightmare!!!!

I know what you mean I find if I do one of those jobs that’s been needing to be done for a while - clearing out junk/sorting through old clothes that sort of thing the regular stuff doesn’t get done and it’s just exhausting to finish the job and see all the dishes left on the table and ..sigh…. It just never ends

If anyone finds out, can they tell me? We had to lose our cleaner this year for financial reasons and just keeping on top of the daily jobs is proving tricky!

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Use every minute you can, even if it means doing very small jobs in small increments.

I need to repaint every room in the house, the place is just so shabby after years of struggling to find the time so I've been doing one wall or one door at a time. 15 minutes spare on lunch break is used to put a first coat on one side of a door, wrap the brush in foil, then after DDs in bed and the housework is done I spend an hour doing the other side of the door, second coat on the first side and the skirting in that room. And so on. Eventually it will all get done, of course it's entirely possible by the time the last bit is painted the first bit will be looking worn and need redoing again 😂

This. I think carefully about the chaos when im in bed. I then decide on main parts that will make the most impact, either in terms of the physical space or my mental headspace. I also start plotting for packing far earlier than i would have before i had kids.

Routine is key for me - I do the bigger jobs on set days of the week, every week.

Tuesday - wash the dog blankets
Wednesday - online shop arrives
Friday - change and remake the beds
Wednesday and Saturday - clean the bathroom.

I also keep on top of stuff - so every morning before work I wash up all the dishes/put away last nights clean ones, vacuum the downstairs, sweep the hard floors and sort out the animals.

After work I then feed the animals, put on a load of laundry (not daily, but most days) etc.

Because I do it daily it only takes about 45 minutes to get everything done and I'm never faced with hours of work on a Saturday morning so I can eat pain au chocolat in bed instead

I write a list every day and gradually work my way through it. Currently failing at all the stuff I need to do for my parents on top of my own list!

I cope by lowering standards and expectations! I LOVE having a clean and tidy house but just have to let go in holidays. It's only probably you placing these expectations on yourself too. What's the worst that can happen if bathroom nor sparkling or kitchen floor not cleaned as regularly as normal? I'm happy as long as there is food in the house, I'm on top of the laundry and loos and sinks have had a quick wipe and bleach. Try and relax and enjoy the hols with the kids . Big jobs can wait. (Disclaimer I have put aside 2 days in early September to blitz everything when they're back at school 😄). Good luck OP x

Declutter everything. I know people always say the same, but it means day to day cleaning and tidying is easier. Potentially freeing up an extra bit of time daily or at the weekend to do a bigger job like decorating or gardening.

I have left all slopes in garden as wildflower slopes this year, only now flat areas. Not only is it better for wildlife, it’s probably saved me half the time mowing each time.

Toys - if they can’t fit in ottoman at the end of the day, they get sorted out as probably too many. Either donated or stored elsewhere to rotate.

Eufy robo vac hoovers main crumbs every day, so not so worried if don’t get time to properly hoover.

Accept that some shit won’t get done today.

That shit, just chuck it in the fuckit bucket and get to it another day.

I make lists, I have lists galore, everywhere a list.

I read back a list I had done a few months ago.
At the time, that list was priority and really important, I just looked at it and thought to myself “really!!, “. Because it’s far from priority or important now. I wonder why I was so fixated and adamant about it’s importance.

I do less in the summer holidays TBH. I can't do what I usually would with the kids around and making a mess as soon as I clear up.

Having a routine helps. The organised mum method is banded about on here. I'm not as strict with it, but I tend to clean one room a day. Beds get made when you get up. Wash goes on in the morning and gets hung up in the afternoon when we get home from days out. I also don't leave things and do them straight away as much as I can. Clean clothes get out away as soon as they're dry. Dishes get done after each meal . If you get used to doing that, it's only really a quick hoover, mop, dust and wipe that needs done with a 'big clean'.

Me too ! It’s like waves of daily work with a significant rip tide of huge number of more major things never getting done.
I try to be as efficient as I can. ‘If I don’t do anything by then nothing will get done’ ‘as long as I do something then at least that is done’. I listen to pods or audiobooks and kind of allocate jobs to do whilst. Eg I almost always do dishes and minor kitchen today listening to 1 12 min archers episode. Or a podcast of an jour might be ‘clean bathroom change bed and tidy sitting room’.
For the bigger undertow stuff I try to have a clear day when as much as possible demand on my time can be shifted or rearrranged. Start early with defined and simple meals.
Good luck op.

I wish I knew!! My DH is amazing at getting stuff done (way better than me) but it means he’s always getting on with “his jobs” (garden, sorting rubbish for trip to tip, various diy bits etc), which leaves me doing the basics and looking after the 3 kids (one of whom is under 2), and I can’t figure out how I’m ever meant to get on with anything extra. Every cupboard and drawer in the house needs sorting through, but as soon as I do get a chance to get the stuff out of one, one of the kids needs something or they start fighting and it ends up getting shoved back in for “later”, which never comes!

@LoveMyBlanket

I wish I knew!! My DH is amazing at getting stuff done (way better than me) but it means he’s always getting on with “his jobs” (garden, sorting rubbish for trip to tip, various diy bits etc), which leaves me doing the basics and looking after the 3 kids (one of whom is under 2), and I can’t figure out how I’m ever meant to get on with anything extra. Every cupboard and drawer in the house needs sorting through, but as soon as I do get a chance to get the stuff out of one, one of the kids needs something or they start fighting and it ends up getting shoved back in for “later”, which never comes!

@LoveMyBlanket

If my husband weren’t constantly bustling round the garden and the shed, I’d wonder if we might not be married to the same man…

I used to be impressed with his industry, but more and more I realise it’s just a form of avoidance and it’s really starting to piss me off!

I hate that, 'im so busy somewhere else' carry on. The trick is to doing tiny jobs and recognising the tiny successses.

Both myself and DH work full time with three children and I was sick of Saturdays being taken up with jobs so we how have w cleaner, I do the washing across the week in the evenings and we do an online shop.