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!'

Welcome! The more the merrier

I've ticked off everything for today apart from washing throws. Need to buy more washing powder first.

How many weeks does it take until you notice a real difference? This is week 2 for me. I use the app as it makes it easy for me to see what I've not done and prioritise that.

Good going! I've just stuck the throws in the tumble drier so will get those back on the sofa soon. I still need to do most of the living room and playroom stuff but all the level 1 stuff is finished. Going to tackle those rooms soon after a cup of tea and a Fudge!

I think this is week 3 for us, although the first week was a bit of everything and I spent longer because I was doing some decluttering too. I have noticed a big difference because we haven't had to spend our weekends doing house stuff.

The laundry is a big change for us I think - we used to just try to get through it all at the weekend, so like 6 washes or something, but then there would be a massive pile to put away so it got dumped in the spare room and then we would end up just ferreting through it to find the clothes we needed and it never got put away. So for the first time we are on top of the laundry, everything is actually put away in drawers and the wardrobe, and we can actually find what we're looking for.

And the house is staying clean, which it hasn't before. We would do a blitz at weekends but then very little during the week(and what we did do was untargeted and trying to do too many rooms at once) so by mid-week everything was kind of messy and depressing again. Whereas it's in a constant 'nice' state just now and never feels like we are losing control. Except DH's office but I am having nothing to do with that pit!

After so many people mentioned the app, I sat down over the weekend and made DH download it and also customised it to add some jobs (and remove some), so going to use it this week.

I'm impressed with the throw washing! I'm maybe still in the hovel zone but I'm not doing ours weekly.

I'm thinking of adding on the dining room which is more of a through room if you know what I mean today as it never gets done.

I also agree about the washing although we are on top of it yet to master getting it the cupboards. Also trying to clear out some of my summer things and sort the kids out - their drawers are stuffed with the wrong size clothes and need to work out what is going in the loft for the baby and what is charity shopped.

Got half way through in nap 1 and about to Hoover after lunch in nap 2. And then I'm done!

@SylvanasWindrunner we've used method before but currently using smol. We use refills. So less plastic waste.

I still can't work out how to share the app with dh. I assume he'd have to download it himself first (so paying again) but I can't see how I'd then share so we are on the same account. Possibly it would be self explanatory if he had the app.

Ooh I use Smol for dishes and laundry. Do they do surface sprays now?

If he's on the same system as you (so if you're both on Apple or Android) then I think you can share the app with each other. Then he just logs in with your details.

Yes they do sprays!

www.greenbot.com/article/3102187/how-to-set-up-google-family-sharing-to-share-apps-books-movies-and-more.html
Does this help re sharing app?

@Wilma55

www.greenbot.com/article/3102187/how-to-set-up-google-family-sharing-to-share-apps-books-movies-and-more.html Does this help re sharing app?

Oh, yes! I did not know this was a thing!!! Will be really useful for school apps too! Thank you

I definitely won't be washing throws weekly

Its my kitchen day today so I gave everything a wipe down and then decided to do some of the diy Ive been putting off, and ended up with everything covered in wood dust so I had to wipe it all again 🙄

I do the throws every second week or so but we have a dog and cat so they get a bit scruffy and smell of wet dog after a while!

It would be useful if you could add things for alternate weeks, every third week etc. I've made week 7 dining room Friday focus and hoover through on hall day.

Level 1 done ✅
level 2 done ✅ with 3 minutes to spare
To be fair, I don’t have to mop any floors and I made the DCs do the windows.

No pet bedding so I washed the sofa covers instead. I didn’t do the throws, I think I’ll alternate throws and sofa covers each week as otherwise my washing machine and dryer would be on all day. No pets and no small DCs so they don’t need doing that often.

Hoping to do at least a little in each room every day, I ran out of steam by Wednesday last week.

I try to do this but I work 4 days a week mon-fri with various finishing times and days off so I struggle with the sets days thing.

I've tried to stick to level 1 tasks everyday but find it impossible to keep on top of everything, inevitably we keep the house ticking over and deep clean on the weekends which isnt ideal.

I'm hoping to reduce my hours to 3 days soon so will have two days a week to split tasks between.

Going to read back and see if there's any tips I can pick up

Got the living room done today bar the windows, planning to get to that next week. Starting to see how things might add up using this method... I've been my future friend and put the washing in the machine ready to go tomorrow. Bedrooms again isn't it, no way I would be cleaning them again already pre TOMM so that'll be interesting... Kitchen is the thing I would say needs cleaning, 30 mins last week didn't make a big enough dent!

Tonight I cleaned some skirting boards This is a first

@Popitdontstopit

Tonight I cleaned some skirting boards This is a first

Blimey That's serious!

Levels 1 and 2 (dining room and office) completed And the dishwasher's chugging away.

For bonus points, I also cut the grass and weeded half the drive, and DH repaired the cat tree, which was falling over drunkenly because the crazed destroyers of worlds small kittens had managed to unscrew part of it. And he moved some tools from the garage to the utility room, so one of these days we really are going to seal the floor. Any day now...

I also sort of did some of TOCM, because I took out the presents I've bought so far, to remind myself what I have, and made a list on my phone before hiding it again. I could well hit my target of finishing my shopping before Halloween.

Starting the day with a to-do list gives great scope for feeling smug at bedtime

@Popitdontstopit super boring question but what did you use to clean the skirting boards?!

I still haven't put the washing away, I don't know what is wrong with me - I just can't fit it in as takes a while to dry and when it is dry I'm being sucked into tea, nursery pick up, bedtimes etc. And then I just can't be arsed!

Bedrooms for me tomorrow. I'm basically catching up with the stuff I didn't do last week e.g. taking books of the shelf in the baby's room and dusting etc. Our bedroom just needs a complete overhaul!

Oh god, I can't bring myself to click on the Christmas stuff. Maybe next week! I did book a Halloween thing for DD so that's the right direction I guess ...

Dishwasher on here too and contemplating bed after my early start! DD has gone to bed wearing a sleeping bag with feet so hopefully no 'I need socks' wake-ups at silly o'clock.

I just used a micro fibre cloth and some surface spray to clean our skirting boards (and a lot of elbow grease as they were quite horrid as I hadn't touched them in about 3 years). Now I'm hoping I can get away with just hoovering around and dusting every so often and an occasional wipe ... I think they're one of my least favourite things to do.

Clean sheets day tomorrow but not doing our bed sheet as DD peed on one yesterday morning so I had to change it then. And duvets are coverless so it'll be an easyish day with minimal wrangling!

[quote DollyPartBaked]@Popitdontstopit super boring question but what did you use to clean the skirting boards?!

I still haven't put the washing away, I don't know what is wrong with me - I just can't fit it in as takes a while to dry and when it is dry I'm being sucked into tea, nursery pick up, bedtimes etc. And then I just can't be arsed!

Bedrooms for me tomorrow. I'm basically catching up with the stuff I didn't do last week e.g. taking books of the shelf in the baby's room and dusting etc. Our bedroom just needs a complete overhaul![/quote]
I actually think laundry is one of the great challenges of being human. I get DH to put it away with me whenever I can, but otherwise I've learned not to take it out of the machine if I am not going to put it away almost immediately as that's how piles start in our house (and rapidly become mountains). But it's definitely the most time-consuming thing I think, just all the folding. I found a method for making 'pyjama parcels' for DD which amuses me though.

[quote DollyPartBaked]@Popitdontstopit super boring question but what did you use to clean the skirting boards?!

I still haven't put the washing away, I don't know what is wrong with me - I just can't fit it in as takes a while to dry and when it is dry I'm being sucked into tea, nursery pick up, bedtimes etc. And then I just can't be arsed!

Bedrooms for me tomorrow. I'm basically catching up with the stuff I didn't do last week e.g. taking books of the shelf in the baby's room and dusting etc. Our bedroom just needs a complete overhaul![/quote]
My skirting boards (or the visible/easy to reach ones anyway) just get wiped over with a damp cloth every week. I literally start at the door in a room, wipe door handle and light switch with antibac on a cloth then use the same cloth to wipe round the skirting and surfaces. Because they’re done every week they’re no dirtier than anything else in the room and it’s really quick. So my living room for example door handle, light switch, rest of door, round the skirting til I reach the console table, dust that, round the skirting til I reach the side table, clean that, round to the sofa, two pictures on the walls dusted, arm stuck down begging sofa to dust skirting there, round skirting to window, dust window sills, round skirting to tv, dust tv and unit, round skirting back to door. Then chuck sofa cushions on the floor and hoover underneath, put them back on and hoover the floor, clean windows only if needed.

My skirtings were foul the first week too. I was delighted with how much cleaner the place looked when I did them; I hadn't realised how manky they were! It's less fun when they never look dirty. I don't have to do the bits behind furniture regularly, do I? That would just be a level 3 thing, surely? I can't move the massive corner couch out every week, I practically have to make an appointment with DH to help me with it.

Dishwasher emptied, bedclothes in the wash (I only do our today, the kids do theirs themselves on saturdays). I'm going to kick Eufy off in DD's room now. She did our room yesterday, so once she's going, I just have to dust our room and tackle the bathrooms. I love bathroom day! I find them the most satisfying room to clean, they end up so shiny and pristine.

I have an autumn garland over the fireplace and a garland on the dining room mirror and while I love the colours and atmosphere, this year, with TOMM, I'm a bit dubious about the increased dust-gathering potential. I just don't know who I am any more

Apparently if you use dryer sheets on the skirting boards it helps to stop so much dust getting on them because of the anti static properties. Ive not tried it though so no idea if thats true! Im out today and was supposed to strip the beds this morning to get them in the wash but we ended up running late so I'll have to get them in quickly once I get home later.