Best Organizing/Cleaning Tips

[CheerfulYank]

I need some! I'm attempting to finally become an organized person. :) It does not come naturally to me, so been a hard slog. My house is always clean but I feel like I'm always struggling to keep up with all the "stuff." I'm not a very efficient person when it comes to tidying and organizing and I feel like if I could find a better system I'd be able to spend less time on it.

I only work until noon every day so I really do have plenty of time; I just never seem to get everything done.

So, let me hear your best tips! :)

Bumpity bump! Seriously. Help!

Fly lady

Join this thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/good_housekeeping/1183763-April-Fledgling-Flyers-April-Fools-we-are-not-babysteps-and-decluttering-makes-our-thread-hot-step-right-in-and-mark-your-spot

Thanks, tea ! :) Knew I could count on the Bench :)

Pleasure, I was lurking

Another vote for Flylady for getting started. Think the original book was called "Sink Reflections."

Decluttering anything and everything makes cleaning and organizing enormously easier, simply because you have less "stuff". Doing it really quickly (so you don't change your mind or think "oh I might need this someday") and getting all family members involved helps. Ebaying things you don't need for a nice chunk of change is a bonus.

Doing a fifteen minute cleanup/pickup/etc. before bed helps enormously, even better if you get the whole family involved - this would be the single thing I would personally implement if you could only do one thing.

Spending a few minutes each night preparing everything for the next morning makes the next morning go much more smoothly.

Routines, even tiny routines, make the organizing stuff automatic. Actually most of this is sounding a bit like Flylady, so the thread Tea has mentioned above probably says it all! :)

I am an incredibly sad individual with annual, seasonal, monthly and weekly cleaning/organizing schedules. Although this is overkill, it actually does help to have a list of things you do on a regular basis, especially house maintenance stuff. I'm a big fan of doing things regularly and then they're never a big job. DH used to think I was a loon for this and now he is converted! An example would be that I clean out one kitchen cabinet or drawer each week. It takes about 10 minutes and results in every one getting cleaned at least twice a year and I never have to do the big overwhelming pull-everything-out project. I do the same thing with dresser drawers/closet shelves.

Should probably stop now as I am sounding almost as sad as I actually am. hth! :)

I think that's great gomummy ! Not sad at all.

I just said in the flylady thread that I have a very disorganized brain, and it's true. I spend a lot of time cleaning and tidying things, but because I don't have any set routines it never all seems to work, if you know what I mean. I think I could spend less time and have better results if I just knew what to do. I'm really excited! :o

Oh GoMummy that's amazing. I'm a bit like Cheerful tbh. However as my place is so small it's not too hard to keep it looking ok.

Yes what gomummy said!

Declutter

Do a bit EVERY day to keep tidy

Don't leave a room without looking to see if there is a cup or plate to take through to the kitchen....

Honestly, I think decluttering is the key to it.

I have wicker baskets every where, so it keeps piles of junk waiting to be sorted everything 'contained'

It's much much easier if you declutter and stay on top of it than have a big clear up all in one go.

gomummy, do you have your schedules written down anywhere? Could you post them for us to see? My 2011 goal is to get organised!

Don't go shopping. Buy less stuff. Encourage people not to give you or your DC stuff. Wine, flowers, tickets, season passes to things - all excellent things to enjoy that you will not have to find a long-term home for.

I felt a bit of a bitch doing it, but one of our neighbours had got in the habit of giving DD a small present every time he saw her (we are talking two or three times a week). It was very sweet of him but I had to tell him to stop - apart from the issue of turning her into a spoilt brat, we just don't have the space to allow endless bits of tat across the threshold.

If it doesn't come into your house in the first place, it can't clutter it up.

Daily Routine:

Morning Routine:
Dressed to shoes (10 mins)
Clean bathroom (5 mins)
Empty dishwasher (5 mins)
Load washing machine (2 mins)
Air then make beds (3 mins)
Pet care (4 mins)
Check calendar (1 min)
Hot Spot ? desk (2 mins)
Room Rescue (5 mins)
What?s for dinner? (2 mins)

Afternoon Routine:
Follow basic weekly plan for the day (see separate list)
Declutter one area (15 mins)

Evening Routine:
Tidy up with children before TV (15 mins)
Make house smell nice - light scented candles (2 mins)
Bath children & clean bathroom (15 mins)
Hot Spot ? entrance (2 mins)
Hoover communal areas (10 mins)

Bedtime Routine:
Put on dishwasher (5 mins)
Shine sink & lay out cloths (5 mins)
Pick out clothes for everyone (5 mins)
Pet care (4 mins)
Take vitamins (2 mins)
Go to bed at a reasonable hour

_

Basic Weekly Plan

Monday (Home Cleaning Day)
Morning, Evening Afternoon & Bedtime Routines
Clean baths (7 mins)
Clean mirrors (10 mins)
Dust all furniture (15 mins)
Hoover & mop all floors (40 mins)
Change sheets (20 mins total)

Tuesday (Desk Day)
Morning, Evening, Afternoon & Bedtime Routines
Desk duties & clean out bags
Put Kelly?s Missions in schedule for tomorrow (from Flylady website)

Wednesday (Zone Cleaning Day)
Morning, Evening, Afternoon & Bedtime Routines
Kelly?s Missions for this week (from Flylady website)

Thursday (Ironing Day)
Morning, Evening, Afternoon & Bedtime Routines
Ironing
Tanning (45 mins)

Friday (Home Cleaning Day and Date Night!!!)
Morning, Evening, Afternoon & Bedtime Routines
Clean baths (7 mins)
Clean mirrors (10 mins)
Dust all furniture (15 mins)
Hoover & mop all floors (40 mins)
Clean fridge (5 mins)
Movie and bottle of wine with DH

Saturday (Busy Day)
Plan meals for next week & put in calendar
Errands (pay bills, Charity Shop, post office, etc.)
Grocery Shopping

Sunday (Family Day)
Planned events as a family (park, cinema, bowling, movie, etc.)

Thank you BornAgain! :o

BornAgain i don;t know whether to be amazed jealous or scared of your routine!

Sounds fab.........but how do you keep up!! I'm exhausted just reading it

It's not as bad as it looks. Also, if you add up all the times, I don't actually spend that long cleaning. Sometimes I slack off a bit. Mostly I try to do everything on my list. I have both lists laminated with magnetic tape on the back so I can attach them to the fridge. I then have a whiteboard marker (with a magnet also on the fridge) and cross things off as I go along. Then the next day, I rub all the crossings out off and start again.

My house used to be a bit of a tip. It's lovely now

BornAgain I'm so hoping I can say that last bit about my own house by the end of the summer! :)

CheerfulYank, I could make you the same type of laminated magnetised check lists I have, if you like.

BornAgain

I hope you don't mind, but I've stolen your check lists for myself. You are amazing!!

I'm right in the middle of decluttering as we speak, just bobbed on here for 5 mins to relax!

Of course not, Flumptious! I'm actually quite proud of them . Happy to email you the originals, if you like.

Oooh, have pm'd you my email address, thanks. Never done that before!

Have emailed you Flumptious

You...you could ?

I actually referred back to this thread last night when making my to-do lists. :)

Yeah, no worries! Just PM me.

BornAgain you are my idol. I am in the process of trying to keep on top of my housework without it taking up all my weekends. I will pm you my email address if that's ok for your wise words!!

Wow! Just found this thread. Bornagain, you are amazing! What are your morning, afternoon, evening and bedtime routines? If you don't mind my asking.