The Organised Mum Method

[IcanDorisIwillDoris]

Does anyone fancy joining me in following the organised mum method?

Back to work tomorrow after the summer off (work term time only) and need to get on top of a house work routine after struggling this last year or so to stay on top of things.

I suffer with anxiety and can easily get lost in my mood without structure and I like what I saw on the website. Will probably tweek the method as I go but it's a good structured plan to kick things off.

I work odd hours around the kids being at school but have a clear hour each day to dedicate to this. Plus I am sick of losing my weekends to playing catch up when I could be doing nicer things with the kids!!

Four of us in a 4 bed semi which is clean, just full of stuff that comes with having kids. It can get pretty messy!

Have done the odd bit of decluttering over the summer which has made a bit of a difference!

Looking forward to having a house that doesn't embarrass me on the odd occasion a guest arrives unannounced

I'm going to try the 'sin bin' for objects left around the house. Everything left lying will go in one box in the spare room. If not claimed within a given time it's for the charity shop since it obviously hasn't been missed!

HalloumiGus Genius!

Good idea!

@summersb Search for "theorganisedmum" on Spotify (all one word)

Deux The TOMM method is how my mum cleans and has been cleaning like this for years! When I told her about following the blog and how I'm doing one room a day and a little bit each day of the general cleaning she was a bit non plussed and didn't understand my excitement

hodge that's interesting about your mum. People used to have days for everything - washing, baking etc. I suppose it was necessary before washing machines etc but somehow that concept of set days has died out for lots of us. I know my mum really struggled with housework and didn't have any set method or days. We would be told to tidy our room but no one ever taught us how. I don't think my parents really knew how to do it themselves!

I really don't want DC to be in the same situation so I am determined to crack this and actually teach how to clean and tidy! I feel so much better when everything is clean it's just better for mental wellbeing.

I suppose back in the day when more women were housewives then they had to have a system. Everything took longer too - like going to the greengrocer, butcher, etc instead of whizzing round the supermarket.

Off topic slightly, but I've been following the no-s diet which is basically just about sticking to 3 meals a day... I think my gran would be shocked if I presented that to her as a revolutionary new way of eating!

Yes you're right, my mum grew up in a 1950s/60s communist country and has always run her home with military precision, never wasted anything and never spent money unless necessary.

I think it's actually made me a bit reckless as I always wanted to break free from it as a child! I am useless with money but at least am now running my home in a fairly stress free way!

I have autism and pnd I’m hoping this might help me as in a total muddle
Going to start from tomorrow

hodge thank you. I love a bit of Spotify, don’t know why I didn’t think of that!
Interesting thoughts about how cleaning used to be just like this in our grandparents’ days. beela your comment re no-s diet made me laugh, I’m sure you are right! Our attitude to food today is similar to our attitude to “stuff” - there is so much available, it’s a constant challenge to stop yourself from filling up your house with clutter and filling up your body with unhealthy crap. Well, it is for me anyway! I am trying really hard to ask myself now every time I am tempted to buy anything “do I really need it?” I know this is also slightly off-topic but my house is so full of clutter and stuff that I don’t need/use and I am trying my best now not to add to that!
On this note, on with my second day of Bootcamp!

Been telling DH and DS about TOMM and how this could revolutionise our life - we spend too long just keeping up with it all. Part of it is decluttering and part of it is all the extra unfinished jobs in the house. Really want to reclaim our weekends back to do fun things or things that have been pending for some time.

We sat in bed and watched some of TOMMs you tube videos doing the level 1 jobs and level 2 jobs. We are going to try and incorporate into
Our lives and will Hve to adapt it to us.

Even DH said I wonder what I can do when I get back home from work. He works really long hours so not sure how much he can do. But he is willing.

eagle That's great that everyone is so motivated!

My mum is a housewife and has been since I was young, perhaps the routine of things helped her stay sane because it gave her a job/responsibility/satisfaction.

My mum's mum was a WAHM (long before that was a thing!) so I guess she had to be regimented in keeping her house clean and tidy because she had clients coming to her home and had to fit work around her family life without childcare help.

summers exactly that! Decluttering and bootcamping from tomorrow over here...

Finished bootcamping my sideboard. Had thought I have the day off tomorrow but I don't, so proper living room bootcamp will have to wait until Wednesday. At least I've got a little bit of that done.
I have loads of bags for the clothes bank, which I'll drop off tomorrow, some have even made it to the car already!
My bedroom is now laundry central, I have 6 loads in here to sort plus one on the line! Then from tomorrow I should be able to do a load a day. Unfortunately my machine takes ages so no time to do it before I leave in the mornings, but if I put a load on tonight I may have time to put it on the line... I leave at 8 though so that may be pushing it!

Day off today but I've pottered about doing everything I could because I got some microfibre cloths and mr sheen multi purpose - SO easy! I can spray the surfaces, mirrors, windows and just wipe the lot

Scrubbed the bathroom last night which meant I could come home from supermarket this evening, fire DC in bath with toys and get on with making dinner and doing a quick vacuum. Food for week's meal plan is safely in fridge and whole downstairs looks tidy and clean [shocked] it's like I've had a lobotomy and become tidy, organised and chilled!

I have a bit of a weird list for tomorrow due to my odd shifts so posting here to make sure I do it! So after work 30 mins tomorrow

Extractor fan clean
Wardrobe mirrored doors
Main bathroom - tidy, clean bath, shower screen and loo
Clean out a kitchen cupboard hate doing this

Did my under kitchen sink, sorted Tupperware and cleaning products. Binned a bag full.
Sorted my clothes, another bag to charity shop. All bags now in the car.

Feeling pleased with myself.

DH asked if I was pregnant because I'm nesting!

Just spent the last hour and half reading bout this method and you tube. Will give it a go but not always possible as travel a bit with work /over night stays

Wardrobe doors done. The cat is raging
"But we sits and we cuddle. No stoopid cleaning"

Keen to try this too! Definitely have that horror of uninvited guests as the normal level of cleanliness and tidiness is not what I aspire to. So hard when always rushing around and with a chaos causing toddler but this looks like a really good approach!

This thread is the first time I've heard of TOMM, however I have gradually devised my own cleaning timetable over the last few years (still tweeking it), which works along similar lines to TOMM.

I have it set up in an excel spreadsheet and print it off each month as a tick sheet to stick on the fridge. I do have my daily jobs listed at the top of the sheet, as I have a baby and mummy brain, and always forget to do something essential (normally prepping the dinner) only to remember just as DD wakes from her nap!

I will be having a good read of her blog to see if there are any new ideas there, to integrate into my method. The major difference with mine is rather than the Friday focus, I have a room/area to focus on each month, with the house divided into 6 zones, so each area gets blitzed every 6 months.

Started Bootcamp over the weekend and I had hoped to finish the living room by last night but I didn’t quite manage. I am doing a proper declutter as I’m going along so it’s taking ages. Have a boot full of stuff for the recycling centre/charity shop already. I might go ahead and take it all today, have learned from bitter experience that if I don’t get rid of stuff straight away it has a habit of creeping back onto the shelves somehow!

One thing I am noticing is how I already feel less overwhelmed by the whole task. I often perceive the process of doing a proper deep clean (and sometimes even just a “regular”, level 1 Type clean) as such a huge, insurmountable task that I put it off for ages and ages. It’s a vicious circle as of course the job does become bigger and bigger and also by constantly thinking about it and putting it off it occupies so much of my headspace that even if it’s only a job that would take an hour or two it seems to take over my whole day, if that makes sense. So by having a clear list in front of me and tackling one area at a time it breaks down into manageable chunks which I find much less daunting!

So the plan for today is to hopefully finish the living room. Had to pop out yesterday and went into Home Bargains to get some Ovenpride, so I might start on the oven this morning too. I have used it over night before but getting up first thing to an oven that needs all the disgusting, liquified grease cleaning out was horrible, so I won’t be doing it as an overnight job again!

Happy cleaning everyone, especially those who are bootcamping with me today!

Cyw It sounds like you have a good method going.

SummersB You're doing a great job! Definitely get those things to the tip or charity shop. I've got a charity shop run to do today too. I'll do it if you do!

I spotted this thread over the weekend and decided I’m in.

I had a stressful week and the housework really got on top of me and I didn’t know where to start and couldn’t see the wood through the trees so to speak. I used to have a great routine but DH changed his shift pattern and my routine has now completely gone out the window.

I’m not doing boot camp as we had a good declutter over the holidays. I did a few odd jobs over the weekend didn’t get them all but that should be sorted within the next couple of weeks.

Lists written up and ready to crack on.
my level 2 jobs ive done over a 4 week cycle as some need to be weekly, every other week or monthly.

hodgeheg92 it’s a deal!