I want to create a new habit, who’s with me?

[Times10]

We’ve come back from holiday, and all the house is showing is that the “put things away once used” habit is not anyone’s forte but especially not mine. So I want to try a 30 day challenge to work on this one thing, and hopefully see a big improvement in the state of the house.
DH is tidier than me, and does put things away a lot more than I do, and I can’t ask the DCs to do it consistently if I’m not being a good role model.
I’m trying to figure out what could be a cue to do it, as that’s obviously what’s missing in the way my brain works at the moment.
So if you want to work on this, or another habit, feel free to join me!

Ps what is TOMM

Thanks for all the encouragement NunchukNinja! I’ll check out the ted talk.
TTOM is The Organised Mum Method, which is basically to work on one room a day for 30 minutes, plus some daily jobs to keep things ticking over. I couldn’t do it very effectively before as we just had too much stuff but as we’ve been getting rid of stuff I’ve found that I can do more and more in that 30 minutes... when I remember that I need to do it, so that’s why it needs to be my next habit!

I looked at the pile of clean clothes and almost left them until tomorrow, but there was a little time while DH was cooking so I decided to start sorting them in piles for each person, and before I knew it, all the clothes have been put away! Yay!
Need to sort out the kitchen after dinner, shouldn’t take long as DH cooked this evening and he’s always been good at tidying as he goes.

I've been looking at TOMM as well but I can't work out what I'm supposed to do in Level 1 jobs.

It takes me more than 15 mins to do one load of laundry from start to finish so no idea how I'm supposed to do the bathrooms and hoover in that time!

Yeah, I’m not sure the level ones are accurately timed either!
I do the laundry and dishwasher every day, and instead of the Friday focus, I (try to) do the bathrooms.
Hoovering downstairs happens fairly frequently because the DCs seem to spread food everywhere, even though they are eating at the table.

Kitchen is still tidy! I can’t believe this habit seems to have finally stuck! I’ve tried so many times before, without much success. Maybe we have finally gotten rid of enough stuff that most things finally have a logical home? I don’t know what has worked, but I’m happy it’s
I’ve still got a way to go decluttering some areas, so not quite there yet.

Working *

Sometimes a whole word seems to disappear as I type.

I find the best way to keep my house tidy is, as you say, to have less stuff.
Eg: sitting room has bookshelves with books and mantel piece with a few ornaments. Each sofa has a throw which should be folded I'm looking at you DH . Two small tables slide in against the sofa for resting cups of tea on. That's it. So to tidy I fold throws, reorganize cushions, books on bookcase, cups to kitchen. Done.

Baby's room - clothes in cupboard/chest of drawers. Nappy paraphernalia on top of drawers. Dirty clothes in laundry basket. That's it.

Kitchen is the worst but generally a ruthless approach to things with no homes helps. And lots of storage space. And constant putting things back helps.

But less is definitely more!

I just came across this video on YouTube, I hope the link works. I've never seen her before but she seems to be a cleaning guru? I noted with interest that she does not seem to have a DH. Hmmmmm is that the top tip for having a clean and tidy home? Ditch the DP?!

Good video, thanks!
DH would agree, if I wasn’t around, the house would be a lot tidier

Urgh, kitchen (and rest of the house) has gone back to mayhem, so today I need to reset everything. The dishwasher is on as I type, and I’ll do the washing up for the rest before the school run, so hopefully the kitchen will be presentable at the very least.
I don’t understand how it spirals out of control so quickly!

Our frying pan and wok seem to have lost their coating so food burns on them and just doesn’t shift.
I learned how to deal with this. Instead of soaking them, put in half a cup of water and turn on high. You’ll be able to easily scrape off burnt on stuff; do it while it’s still on the heat. Then you don’t have pans soaking everywhere.

Thanks, I’ll try that! We’ve just replaced the non-stick (sticking) pan with a stainless steel one, so hopefully that solves that issue, but we’re keeping the wok so hopefully it works for that!

My frying pan’s stainless steel too but I can burn anything. The method is great for scrambled eggs etc. It just peels off in the water with a spatula and doesn’t get into my washing up ‘tools’.