Routine or wing it?

[kansasmum]

Do you have a regular cleaning routine such as laundry Mondays, bathroom Tuesdays etc?
Or do you just wing it and clean/ laundry etc as and when you notice it needs doing?
I'm very much a wing it person but feel I need to be more routine orientated as I end up in a mess most weeks. I need to get into regular habits?
So routine or wing it?

I wing it but my standards have definitely slipped in the last year (had a pretty shitty year) so I am definitely planning on trying to get a routine this year to keep on top of it more.

I find a set routine prevents the need for a big weekly clean wasting a day in the process.

When I wasn't working, I thought that if I spent a hour a day on any aspect of housework (including gardening), it was profitable. I've never been able to stick to a routine, and prefer an "as needed" regime. I'd spend another hour dealing with food, and on any given day would spend more time on specific tasks. An hour a day would keep head above water and also wouldn't send you into panic mode if someone was coming over.

Now, our tables are turned and DH is the housekeeper and I am working. He leaves everything till the last minute, eg doesn't do laundry until we have run out of clothes (and even the reserve clothes). It drives me mad.

I clean all the time :(

I vaccum daily as I have dogs but the rest I wing. I wish I didn't but I hate hate hate housework.

life's too short to have a sparkling home everyday!! proper family and friends will not care if your home has a lived in look, if they do they know where the door is!! i'm an as and when kind of person!!

I have a cleaner currently but considering dropping it as I find I clean a lot anyway. Two small boys (3m and 2y) and a long haired cat and my husband works from hike so we are heavy on the house. I am considering writing and posting on the kitchen wall my rota. This will be for beds / oven cleaning (or one of the four other monthly tasks) / laundry other than daily (towels / blankets / outdoor wear) / tidying / glass that tje cleaner doesn't do. One item a day to make sure they get done. I rarely do cupboards out or clean the oven and microwave so if I set one day for the long term tasks I might do them!

I don't have a strict routine as such but I do change beds every Saturday, sweep floors every other day, mop twice a week, do at least one load of washing per day, dust bedrooms weekly, dust living room twice a week, bathrooms cleaned every other day and Hoover at least once a week. I don't have particular days for these jobs, they're just a rough guide.

I do miss a job every now and again and it's not the end of the world but there are jobs that are done every day no matter what (wash dishes, wipe over kitchen worktops, put clean clothes away, tidy living room when kids are in bed, tidy beds - makes the room look instantly tidier). If I make sure these are done daily then it's not the end of the world if I skip a job or two and wait til the next day to do them.

Have been winging it for the last few months, and need to get back into a stricter routine.

As I have been getting more and more stressed because things aren't as clean and tidy as I would like.

I have a routine so my day has some structure.

I am a SAHM with two children in school so all housework is done Monday - Friday and within school hours. That means I can sit down of an evening with Dh.

It also means Ds1 who is 12, has a laminated daily schedule list, which includes reminding him that the recycling goes out on Monday (his responsibility) as is Saturday's unpack the dishwasher

Ds2 likes towel changing, and knows at a glance what days I do this on as I have a schedule up on the wall.

I don't have a routine as such, I just try to gat everything done Monday to Friday so I can spend weekends doing other things

Bit of both.

I have a to do list app on my phone called 'Remember the Milk'. You can set tasks to repeat on a certain day/date or after so many days/weeks/months/years/etc. T'is brilliant and only thing which keeps me vaguely on track.

Thanks jemima I've just downloaded it. Only annoying thing is I can only set reminders for the next week. Looks like I have a busy week next week!

Huh?!

I pay for the subscription so I can update via the website or my phone. You need to study the help page to understand how it all works. I have a smart list called today which includes all my tasks which are due today and overdue. I don't use the reminders. Just tackle what is on my list for today. Have lots of other lists including an errands list for when I am out and about.

I wing it. I just do what's essential as and when I notice it's essential.

Winged it up to now with slowly depleting success rate.

I downloaded Chore Checklist Full yesterday and already I feel much morw organised.

Its a brilliant little app you can list all chores/big jobs/regular necessary tasks on there and each day open it and it shows you whats to be done.

It lists tasks as Daily (and you can select all or some days of the week), Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly and One Time Event (MOT etc is about all I can think of for that category).

All the lists are totally editable so no need to endure tasks that arent relevant to you.

I set it all up last night (whoop, little miss party animal!) So am a bit obsessed with it atm.

I got a lovely new diary for Christmas and after looking on Pinterest have come up with a way of writing everything down in there: To Do list, menu plan, shopping, events and even things like exercise plan!
House is clean and tidier and I am trying to be ruthless about clearing stuff out.
Routines and plans definitely help me feel more organised so fingers crossed it lasts!