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

Her latest Instagram post said she was having technical issues with the video side. Haven’t had as much time for cleaning this week but caught up a bit today. Going to try and be more thorough over half term maybe the kids will help.

Bedroom done after not doing it on Tuesday and hallway started as I won’t have much time tomorrow. Just the coat rack to sort and stairs to be hoovered.

Does anyone else use the banister as a washing line and forget about it even though you pass it daily?

How dangerous is it to have a day off today? Will I ever get back to it? I left the house at 7 and won't get back till midnight. I'm not going to clean then. In anticipation of this, I swapped kitchen and did it yesterday. Since FF is hall this week, I should be back on track tomorrow. But I'm notorious for giving up the second a streak is broken.

steala go for it - like you say, hall and stairs is FF anyway. Just get back on track as soon as you can.
I am going to do FF on Saturday as I have my MIL staying and if I start cleaning she will flap around me and want to join in.

@Littlechocola I'm now banned from using the banisters and the doors since DH changed it all for oak

First deep clean day tomorrow,not sure how that will go with two under two hanging around my ankles

@Steala I’m doing what days I can. It’s not worth stressing about.

@AlpineButterfly oh dear! Yes to doors as well! Good luck for tomorrow.

@donkey86 & Doleritedinosaur

I think some of the criticism and harsh words on the Team TOMM facebook page have been entirely justified.

Due to her amazing success (her method is brilliant), Gemma has put herself in a very influential position, and as a result has a degree of responsibility. Currently the environment and the future of that environment is at the forefront of a lot of peoples minds, so if she uses her influence to suggest environmental irresponsible practices than she is rightly going to get pulled up on it.

When she suggested the use of throwaway foil trays for Christmas dinner (which will all go into landfill as to recycle them you would have to wash them and that somewhat defeats the purpose) she started a shit storm, and whilst is seems that it was upsetting to her, hopefully she has learnt something, and hopefully her future advice/ blogs and videos will reflect this. After all she does say that she is trying to reduce plastics/ waste.

Going to start this today :)
Week one so kids bedroom for the Friday focus.
This method sounds fab because you just accept that what you don’t get done in 30 mins waits till next week!

Hate that I need a method 🙄

Oh I’ve just seen the weeks are set! You don’t start from 1.

I am a few weeks in and loving it, but I dont always rigidly stick to the 30 minutes - and I do occasionally miss days as I work full time and there are some days when I have been in the office for 10 hours and even 30 minutes is hard going, especially when you are trying to do some basic maintenance cleaning every day and keep on top of the laundry too.

I have also found it helped me to tack the hall and stairs onto the living room (there is literally nothing in my hall!) so that I can do my home office and utility room on a Wednesday - both of which take more time.

It really does work though and makes the housework feel like less of a chore.

Someone please tell me where to start

@Spider go on the website and look at the levels and if needed the Bootcamp. Yesterday was my first day so I had to do bathroom for the Bootcamp and stairs for the Friday Focus. I’m already going rogue and going to do bedroom today as i wouldn’t manage to get that done on a weekday.

So I’m doing Bootcamp and the normal plan alongside each other just now but once the Bootcamp is done it’ll just be the normal Monday to Friday.

spiderbabymum
Level 1 daily jobs are
Make beds
One load laundry
Quick sweep/hoover of downstairs high traffic areas
Quick swipe of tr bathroom

Level 2 job is Monday to Friday 30 mins in that days focus room

Hi. Newbie here but impressed with how its going. Ive recruited DH and we are working through bootcamp together and discussing how to adapt the routine. Today i came down to a lovely clean tidy living and kitchen area and thought 'yeah this is for keeps'. I think the lack of pau off is why i generally cant be bothered w housework. But when its all done dnd things look lovely it feels worth it.

Ive kinda fell away from this but trying to start again.

Only really did a few jobs in different rooms but it involved:
-Filling bath with water and a bit of bleach to soak bath toys and bath mat.
-Cleaning bath once ^ soaked for a while.
-Washed the shower curtain with a towel - it has come up like brand new. Wish id done a before and after.

• put a load of clean clothes away.

Ive got a lot of uni work to do so the house is being neglected again but nearly at the end of my course thankfully.

First Monday tonight. Living room but been doing Bootcamp so did EVERYTHING! Already looking forward to next Monday when it’s only half an hour.

Bedrooms tomorrow night. Well ... ours as would never get more than it done in one night!

Can’t wait for Bootcamp to be over and this becomes just 45 mins a day. Am doing well with the daily wipe of bathroom ... do either sink or bath then toilet every day :)

I looked into it after reading this thread. I work full time and have a really good system which I thought I might improve. Tbh I think the method works best for stay at home mums, as gemma herself is. Didn't enjoy it and don't think 30 min a day on top of the stuff you have to do everyday (cooking cleaning etc which itself is in excess of 30 min ) is necessary at all. Just my experience, hope I don't get flamed.

I've started bootcamp after reading about TOMM on Mumsnet - but I'm really struggling! Work is more demanding than ever at the moment and my house is a real mess. I just can't seem to find the time/energy to sort it.

I think it's partly because I was planning to deep clean after moving in over a year ago, but this never happened. The fixtures are all fairly old and everything is really pretty grubby below the clean surface.

I started bootcamp just over a week ago and am STILL on room 1 (the kitchen). I've been giving it a serious clean and declutter as and when I can between work, pulling everything out of the cupboards and disinfecting; cleaning the old and dirty dishwasher (sides and under the door - still having nightmares about that) and cleaning the windows.

I still need to do the tops of the cupboards (although I'm contemplating just leaving them as they're in such a state), inside the washing machine (the compartments where you put the fabric conditioner have gone all mouldy) and finish off the insides of the cupboards.

I wish I could give up entirely and book someone to deep-clean the house - but sadly I don't have the spare cash at the moment.

Am I going about this the right way and will I ever finish?

Hi Crimson. Maybe just do what you can when you can. How about leaving bootcamp for now and just doing level 1 and 2. Then when you have time just bootcamp a small area.
Anything is better than nothing.
The Friday focus you could do half hour of bootcamp instead.

Fallen off thread...
Our furniture is being delivered tomorrow. Woop. New house is almost a go!

Crimson, I started boot camp but found it overwhelming and realised that I would be more likely to stick with it if I just got on with it. I went straight to level 1 and 2 jobs which are much more manageable! I de clutter as I go but stick to my times (unless I’m really enjoying it or lost in music!). Whatever doesn’t get done will still be there next week. It shouldn’t be all or nothing, it should be no pressure and manageable. Good luck!

Crimson - i think the kitchens a really hard room. Its difficult to clean and food prep means you dont get so much lasting satisfaction. Our kitchen bootcamp was just surfaces sink and fridge. The rest will be done in stages. You could also relegate that underlying grubbiness to friday focus. Tacle a bit at a time. Bedrooms and bathrooms are nice wins imo if you arent jam packed with stuff. Bathroom took about 40 mins. But ive smiled about the clean shower screen and less mildew every day since. And keeping it clean since is quick. Few wipes and swipes. And a brush round the loo.

Hi @Powergower
I work full time and struggle to fit this all in, plus I agree some of it is unnecessary (eg I don't clean the bathrooms every day...there's only two of us here..). I like the concept of a little bit every day though but never seem to follow it to the letter for a whole week!

I'm interested to know what your current system is?

I started this week too.

So far I've not cleaned the whole bathroom every day, but I've done a bit every day. So I might give the shower a clean down once I've been in it, or give the sink a quick clean once we've all done our teeth in the morning. I think I'll do the bathroom floors when I do the kitchen. They're both small rooms and I've always done them at the same time so I'm not having to get the mop and bucket out multiple times - but if I know it's going to get done on kitchen day I don't have to try and keep track of how often it's getting done.

I struggle with Zoflora though. I like the idea of disinfecting my sponges/cloths between washes in the machine but it gives me such a weird headache and I think it makes me feel a bit ill unless I have windows wide open.

I give the kitchen surfaces a quick wipe down every night anyway so kitchen day will just be making sure I've cleaned under the toaster/moved things.

I have a tub of Pink Stuff on the way to tackle the oven. I think I must have just not been looking at the state it gets into

Bedroom Bootcamp tonight ... oh my! Definitely going to need tomorrow night too and to probably finish it off at the weekend. We were in there for an hour and 45 mins 🤭