The Organised Mum Method

[SylvanasWindrunner]

Is anyone doing this/just started?

We just started this week and oh my goodness, our house is clean! Someone could turn up unexpectedly and I could let them in and not die of shame!

Even toddler DD came downstairs today and said 'Oh, it's clean here!'

I did living room yesterday, didn't do the full 30 minutes, still have a mental block about it. Anxiety was really bad yesterday at the thought of it. I know I just need to keep going with it and things will start to look better

Yes, keep going @Purplepancakes. After the first couple of weeks (when you are most likely tackling things that have been neglected a while), it gets very easy.

Now Im in the routine I find my house barely has a chance to get dirty, and it doesn’t take a lot of time

@Purplepancakes I'm a single mum too with 3 lads and a load of pets. I found this thread last night and it's made me want to get started! I don't have enough time (very young ds3) to do bootcamp so I'm just going to start and do a bit extra when I can. It will take longer but as long as I feel I'm making progress I don't mind.

Thanks for the thread @SylvanasWindrunner and congratulations!

@SylvanasWindrunner - congratulations!

Am still checking in with the thread for motivation.

Decorating the lounge is still ongoing (have filled so many holes and cracks, am hoping the dust will be non-existent now!). Will soon be at the stage where one half is finished and furniture can go back to its rightful place.

Am ordering a spray mop to ensure that floor is clean before stuff moves back to that end of the room. Quick question for those that use Method floor cleaner - does it need to be diluted in the spray mop, or does it just get poured straight in? I’ve got a dog and a cat, if it makes any difference re safety for them getting it on their paws.

Happy Friday Focus for those that are following the system now.

Hi All! Checking in too

@Furries - once my building work was done I find my house barely needs dusting as everything is pretty new/sealed

Had family visiting this week for half term (with little kids) so getting a bit of insight into how much mess kids make & how little time there is to do anything with them around .. hats off to those of you who do this all the time

@Furries is it the almond Method wood floor cleaner? If so, no dilution required - smells gorgeous, like amaretto and baby powder combined somehow.

@GemmaRuby - great, thank you. I’ve ordered the lemon and ginger one, but I definitely want to try the almond one too. Like others on here, I’m weirdly excited about the tools arriving and mopping the floor!

@DespairingHomeowner - that’s the hope! I take my hat off to those with families too. Hope you get to relax for the weekend.

I'm jumping in and giving this a go. Years ago I used Flylady but it isn't working for me now so I need something else. The house needs a major declutter - 15 years of stuff has become overwhelming - but I figure if I can get rid of something every day I'll start to see a difference in a few weeks.

I did spend longer than 30 minutes though, and I'll be exhausted keeping that up all week (home from work at 6pm, living room done by 7pm, dinner, then the level 1 tasks including ironing yesterday's laundry and I didn't relax until 9pm!).

Does it get easier? I guess there'll be less clutter over time, so it'll just be cleaning?

@WhatsitWiggle: I’m sure decluttering will make a huge difference

I work FT (with some days in the office) so have adapted TOMM a bit to suit that

• so I do some rooms on my WFH days (mainly that gets the kitchen & bathrooms done)
• my ‘weekend off’ is my in office days
• Friday late afternoon I clean my living room ready for weekend (I finish work earlier on Friday)
• and I do my Friday focus & my bedrooms on Saturday - but that takes much less time than doing the whole house on Saturday mornings which is what I did before

I’d actually suggest that rather than get rid of ‘1 thing a day’ you try to make a significant dent in your decluttering: Bin what you can, bags of stuff for charity shop in car etc

Anything you want to sell on: post at the weekend, give it a week to sell and charity shop it if not

I think cleaning around clutter is exhausting so I’d make that first priority (maybe blitz it this weekend), then do a boot camp (or if you can afford it get a cleaner to do a 1-off clean of your house) and then you are good to go : this is approach I did, and it’s been easy to maintain since.

OK, the building works haven't finished yet but things are muuuuch better here so I think I'm able to get back on this horse... What are we doing today? Bedrooms!

@DespairingHomeowner there's too much clutter to blitz it! Honestly, it's piles of stuff in every room and nowhere to put anything because every drawer and cupboard is full. It's like we've stopped seeing it, and just add to the piles.

Yesterday I cleared most of the visible clutter from the living room but each drawer and cupboard would still need tackling. The kitchen is more manageable (I did some of the cupboards a few months ago) but the bedrooms are horrific. Loft and garage also full!

I do try to sell things but they rarely sell and then that's a pile somewhere, I think the idea of just putting it in the car and charity shopping it each week is a good one - stuff just needs to leave my house.

@WhatsitWiggle: I really empathise, as I have a bit of a hoarding streak myself and my cupboards are packed like Tetris

If you don’t live alone, can you get rest of the household involved (even if it’s just you filling up bags & they -or a friend- doing the tip & charity shop runs - having company makes it easier

Ha ha, the other family members are responsible for most of the clutter! They'll help if specifically asked.

Do charity shops take bric a brac type stuff? I've got unused stationery (posh pens in boxes, lovely notebooks), expensive toiletries and make up that are unopened, handbags galore. Too good to landfill but its not stuff I'll use.

I can't handle DDs bedroom so concentrated on our main bedroom today. Found an old squash racket down the side of the wardrobe and a packet of HRT tablets under the bed (I knew I'd lost them somewhere!). Decluttered the pile of stuff between my bedside cupboard and the bed and the windowsill.

I've also found the customization on the app - was getting annoyed that it only covered Level 2 tasks until I realised you could scroll down 🙈

Hi - yes definitely take all that stuff to the charity shop - it will sell as xmas gifts!

The toiletries/make up - I don’t think charity shop would take so I would give to : food bank collection in supermarkets /a women’s refuge/your local church etc or even kids school/brownies etc as raffle prizes

I don’t bother with the app (don’t need it) - just have my own written list and it’s second nature after a few weeks