I need help with a very basic daily routine, please!

[BigBirthdayGloom]

I've got to take my house in hand and get organised. Can anyone suggest a very, very basic list of jobs to do daily/weekly to keep things ticking over? I'm a real procrastinator and panic if the list is too long but we can't live in chaos anymore.

Here is what I do daily:

Pots, hoover downstairs, wipe kitchen surfaces, at least one load of washing, bleach toilets and wipe sinks, and make beds, tidy surfaces and put away clutter. None of this takes long as I'm so used to it I don't even think about it.. just do it when I'm in the room that needs doing.

Weekly I hoover upstairs, change bedding, clean out small animals, iron

Less often I clean windows and sills, clean sofa covers, gut cupboards and wardrobes, as I notice things need doing.

Hope that is helpful, I really don't spend lots of time each day doing stuff, it soon becomes habit x

One load of washing per day as early as possible so you will still be home when the cycle finishes.

Get into the habit of putting things away as soon as they are finished with as i find cleaning is lots easier if you don't have as much tidying to do first. I always make beds while my morning bath is running and rinse out bath and wipe round bathroom as soon as I've finished.I also put dirty laundry straight into the basket and wash regularly so it doesn't heap up and spend 15- 20 minutes most days ironing and putting away clothes so I never have a huge pile of ironing to tackle. I sweep and mop floor and dust every couple of days. Any bigger cleaning jobs I plan around whatever else I am doing each week.

How big is your house? Do you have kids if so are they at school?
Do you work??

I'll try and help you I've been in loads of situations small kids working full time etc and always had a spotless house

These threads always make me feel bad, I'm obviously a total slattern.

Daily tasks round here would be
Washing up
Laundry
Wipe any visible spills/marks in kitchen/bathroom on the floor.
And that's it!

Anything else is done weekly (change sheets, clean bathroom, clean kitchen, vacuum) or if we notice it (dust, general tidy, clean things like shower doors that I don't normally bother with).

Four beds (only recently-just getting back on track after builders) with big kitchen diner and a living room, study and utility. Two showers, one in a bath and a downstairs loo. Three dc, 8, 5 and 2. Sahm at the moment, going to start a couple afternoons back at work very soon. Dh long hours. Neither of us have good tidy habits and I'm recovering from a bout of anxiety and depression.
Is that helpful info, weelady?
Helpful comments, all, thank you!

Hope your feeling better now,

I would start by making all beds opening curtains and if anything lying about on floor put it into a pile in middle of the room
Then do breakfast dishes/load dishwasher
Put load of washing on
Wipe down work surfaces
Again go into other rooms anything lying about put in a pile
Go into bathroom throw bleach down the loo quick swish with loo brush and leave it

Take kids to school/ or have a coffee have a break for 20 mins

When your ready to start, go back into all the rooms and put away whatever's in the piles,dust and Hoover that room and move onto the next should only take 5-10 mins per room (you don't have to dust and Hoover every day)

Next go back in to kitchen washing should be finished hangup/out/tumbledryer
Put breakfast dishes away
Sounds silly but make sure your sink is clean and shiny
Sweep or Hoover floor

Next bathrooms, bleach has been lying in toilet so flush it,
spray everything with cleaner and wipe,sweep or Hoover

Then finally mop hard floors (again this doesn't have to be done everyday)

Things like emptying bin
Changing beds etc can be done when needed

Hope this helps x

Wow weelady I am impressed!

I think you need to identify whether you're in a short term Getting-On-Top-Of-Things situation or needing a Low-Maintenance-Keeping-On-Top-Of-Things routine for the longer term.

If it helps, I do pretty much the same Idt87 but as it takes 2mins to clean my teeth I walk around the house opening all the curtains during that time and bleach the loo before I go to bed after I've taken the 4yr old to use it. It's a bit safer with a 4yr old and a 2yr old to be able to shut the door.

Daily:
Tidy up. Give everything a home and put it back straight away when finished.
Washing up/dishwasher and wipe surfaces.
Make beds.
One load of laundry. Assign a different load per day.
Empty bins (every two or three days, if you like).

Weekly:
Clean bathrooms.
Dust. (Fortnightly, if not too bothered).
Vacuum. (Twice a week downstairs, if needed).
Mop hard floors.
Change bedding (fortnightly at least).
Clean mirrors and screens.
Clean inside bins.

Monthly/Quarterly:
Clean fridge.
Clean oven.
Clean windows.
Wipe down doors and woodwork.

I think I'm somewhere between getting on top of things and keeping on top. I have to add in daily "putting rooms back into order after dc go to bed" although when I'm more sorted I want to get them to do that not me.

From the look of it your routine, creme egg, involves doing one weekly job each day and one monthly job each week. That makes a lot of sense. And there are common themes coming through everyone's plans. Luckily, no ones plan says clean windows daily or wash skirting boards twice a day! I'm starting to feel I can do this

Honestly and truly I would look at flylady stuff.

she is really good at encouraging adding one new habit each month.
also at clearing before you can clean
so randomly getting a bag and throwing 27 things away (or recycling them)
it can seem quite prescriptive but it will get you to grips with your house.

I flirt with it when I get stuck in a rut. you can get a huge amount done in 1 room if you set a timer for just 10 minutes.

anyway good luck you are not alone in feeling lost with it all.

here are the flyladies babystep beginner program

I like the Flylady concept but not the execution. For example, I like the shiny sink thing but the putting shoes on every morning is odd.

Between us two adults the bathroom gets cleaned every day after, after everyone has finished with it in the morning (shower, tiles, bath, sink, toilet and skirting board etc). I vacuum downstairs everyday and the upstairs about 4 days a week (about mid-morning if I do it, after tea if my partner does it). When I have time the skirting and cobwebs get done (probably once per week each room). My partner tends not to do these, but he remembers the bins.
Before bedtime the kids do Tidy Up. I straighten their rooms later whilst they get ready for bed. Kitchen gets done every evening once the kids are in bed (clean hob, oven, worksurfaces, cupboard fronts, bin cupboard and the sink is left spotless, dried and shiny).

Last thing at night a load of laundry is put in the washer to come on at 5am and the kitchen floor is swept and mopped after the dogs' last walk.

This sounds like a lot but I tend to do it in 10 minute bursts. My partner does it differently, he does it all in one night before I'm due back home. I think the trick (with three children and three dogs) is routines and an expectation that everyone contributes. For example, on a weekend we do 20 minute bursts and the children are expected to help out too, even if it's just the youngest waving a duster at the table legs.

Vivacia I think the shoe concept works

We're one of those households were only slippers are worn indoors. Am I right in remembering it has to be shoes with laces?

Yeah I think you were right

One thing I've just started doing is DS has to put toys away before the telly goes on. I help but also leave him to sometimes. It means the lounge room is less hellish in the evening.

I think the fly lady principles are good because there's a lot about looking after yourself first, which is essential IMHO.

So each morning get up, get yourself washed and dressed to a standard that you can go out without anymore faff. (That's what I take to mean the 'getting dressed to your shoes' bit of fly lady).

Make own bed, open curtains, open window for fresh air. Take anything that doesn't belong in this room and put it outside the door eg cups, mugs, towels etc. now close the door on this room and consider it done. (For now).

Wake children and wash and dress them, make their beds, open curtains, open windows for fresh air (fresh air really important...makes house smell clean!). Take anything that doesn't belong in these rooms and put outside door. Close door. Consider that room done. (For now).

Now on the landing (assuming bedrooms are upstairs) you will have stuff that doesn't belong in bedrooms, and some closed doors.

Go into bathroom. Put cleaner down loo, open window, use baby wipes or damp loo roll to wipe loo surfaces. Flush and swish the loo with the loo brush. Wipe round basin. Hang towels neatly (makes me feel very on top of things if towels are neat on the rack!). Take laundry basket out on to landing. Close door. Consider this room done for now.

Take all stuff on landing downstairs for re homing. Put on one load of laundry.

I do this every day before I have breakfast and it takes about 10 minutes tops. It means that even if I don't go upstairs again til bed time, I know that all those rooms are reasonable.

I only aim for reasonable! Will post later about downstairs routine.

I think the Flylady "to the shoes" concept (as someone who has lived in the US) is to help those people that for whatever reason don't even make an effort in the mornings and live in sweats and slippers day in, day out. There could be plenty of issues such as depression, lack of purpose etc. I think she knows that if someone is properly dressed they not only will feel better about themselves but are more likely to leave the house rather than veg on the sofa. The US is way, way more casual than the UK and that can really put people on a slippery slope downwards to letting their standards for personal and home care slip and slip.

I find it helpful to put myself in "work" mode when I am doing housework so I have some very nice aprons which make be feel good and look after my clothes. When I am wearing one of those aprons I seem to have more purpose and stay on task.

I hadn't considered Americans being particularly more casual than the Brits. Is that really true?

I would understand advocating getting washed, brushing your hair etc as that's something that slips when you're depressed but makes such a difference if you can manage it.

However it's the stipulation about them being lace up that befuddles me. Apart from wellies do you actually get adult shoes that don't lace up? Are the Americans only managing velcro or something? And what if you don't wear shoes in the house?

I think she is basically saying real shoes or sneakers/trainers as I think she is trying to tackle slovenly ways (not necessarily anything to do with depression but just falling into bad habits). In my experience most Americans are definitely more casual than most Brits. I went to a wedding it the US where many people were wearing jeans and at the reception people asked me if I was part of the wedding party because I had a dress and heels on. This is unusual in the states too, but the point is it does exist. A large percentage of people never get dressed up or even semi-formal for anything, ever.