To those who do it well - help me be a better housekeeper?

[SausageRoleModel]

I've always been a slattern. Don't get me wrong its not that I don't desire to have a clean, well organised, well run home, but I hate housework which I always just saw as a dreadful impingement on my precious time (up til arrival of DD1 recently (december) I have worked outside the home in a high pressure, long hours environment, so last thing I wanted to do when I came home late at night was a pile of ironing or mop the floor). Now I don't have that excuse! But I find it difficult to get started and often end up spinning in circles as I can't decide which part of the heap I call home to start cleaning and tidying as it always seems such a mountainous task. Just keeping on top of keeping the dishes and laundry done is enough of a struggle - and then there's the really scary paperwork to deal with that I have been avoiding, actually, for years.

I live in awe of people who manage to keep a clean, tidy house - I am not by nature an efficient or well organised person but I wish I was.

Can anyone help me? I was even thinking of going back to an old fashioned rota style thing where Monday is laundry day, tuesday dust and polish, thurs do the floors etc. Would that help? How do you do it?

Can you please please give me some hints and tips? (including how to get off my lazy arse when I am procrastinating). My inability to face up to home stuff/hosuework/paperwork has just resulted in a huge unexpected tax bill wich is stressing me out and I feel I need to conquer my fears about facing these things once and for all. But how?

OP I think it is a case of finding what works for you, you might need to try different methods. For example my dad is very much a weekly routine person and does set things on set days but I found that very difficult to stick to, especially with a young baby.

For me, what helps me keep on top of stuff is having certain things that I do every day. So for example, I have started doing 2 or 3 smaller lots of washing up a day rather than leaving it to pile up. This way it takes me at most 10 mins to wash up and seems a lot less daunting. I'll put it away when I'm in the kitchen making a cup of tea or lunch so that I don't then have to clear the draining board before doing the next lot.

Kitchen worksurfaces are wiped after breakfast and usually in the evening as well.

Living room is usually hoovered every day, if not then every other. Other rooms at least once a week or whenever they look like they need it. Same with mopping the kitchen/dining room.

I load the washing machine each evening and set it to come on in the morning, then hang it up in the morning after breakfast. Dry clothes are sorted into 2 baskets, one for ironing and one to be put away.

I try to move things to the correct room as I go so toys/shoes/cups etc get moved throughout the day rather than piling up. Things to go upstairs get put at the bottom of the stairs and I take them up as I go.

Bathroom gets a quick wipe most days, I find this means I can delay having to do a big clean

Can't advise on paperwork as it is my demon. I am making an effort to write all appointments on calendar as soon as they come in and got some bulldog clip magnet things that I attach things that need to be dealt with to the fridge. Stuff to be filed away gets stuck in a big heap until I can bear to tackle it.

right no the paperwork got done yesterday, however I do have a friend coming over this pm to help field the baby while I do filing.

It will be soooo easy to just have cups of tea though....

I can't post my life story as I'm at work but I'm definitely up for a one habit at a time thread.

I've got into the habit of making sure kitchen is tidy, washed up and relatively clean before I go to bed, cleaning the bathroom basin every morning and last thing at night (only with a jif wipe) and putting away DD's toys but that's as far as I've got. It's better than I was but my house is such a tip it's really getting me down.

So point me to the thread!

You sound very very like me sausage!
I am up for a one new habit a month support thread too. Might just be the thing to turn all my good intentions into reality!

Sausage, the point of a dishwasher is a cupboard for dirty dishes! You don't have to run it every day.
I work full time and have 2dc so my home is by no means perfect, but I find it helps to:

never go up or down stairs empty handed(2mins)

sort paperwork straight away into bin, file, deal with piles or paper trays. The bin pile includes the envelopes and junk leaflets. You can bin them straight away and feel like you're on top of it. The deal with stuff you can prioritise into urgent and can wait a bit.(5mins)

Re toys, I know your d is still little but I keep a big basket in the living room and at the end of the day all toys that found their way out of dss' room get dumped in there (5mins)then I don't have to look at the devastation all evening.

Dusting woodwork and metalwork, mirrors and glass doors (every 3rd week - 45mins)

Hoovering, once a week (I have cats)(1hr -includes upholstery)

Toilet, bleach overnight a couple of times a week and quick wipe round daily.(2mins)

Mop kitchen floor a couple of times a week(more in holidays) - 15mins

As I said it's never pristine but it's ready to receive at any time.

I have been stressing about the state of my flat today. I struggle with storage, paper work,the bathrooms, and, the bane of my life dust! How does anyone keep on top of it?! It is so disheartening that it comes back so quickly and I think I must be really ineffective at cleaning as everything just looks smeary no matter how hard I've worked. I will join you in the one habit thing. Mine will be hoovering the living room and kitchen every other day, then I'll mop twice a week and do mine and Dds rooms once or twice a week. Actually I kind of do do that so maybe its cheating?

Ok maybe I should do the wipe round of the bathrooms daily, it could be a job for nap time. Which is now and instead I am on here! I will do it before DD wakes up. Any tips for what to clean the shower with as I can do that whilst in there but neer know how to do it properly?

hope this is OK, I've set up a one new habit thread for those of us who wanted to try it - see you there sausagerolemodel, 2pt4kids eyeballsinthesky, anyone else who wants to join us come jump aboard!

and used2bthin

Buy really, really good machines: dishwasher, washing machine, tumble drier, vacuum cleaner - just get the very best you can afford and use them as much as possible. Don't even think of washing up ever again - just put everything in the dishwasher. Ditto handwashing - don't even think about it. And buy really good products (Sun, Ariel, Vanish etc) as well - none of these ecological stuff that doesn't get your dishes/clothes clean. Tumble dry your clothes until damp but the creases are out and then hang on hangers to dry to minimise ironing.

Shop online for all the non-perishables. Once you have created your basic shopping list and have a grasp of the quantities you use, a monthly big online shop will save you hassle and time.

hi everyone,
For me it is about having "systems". I work 4 days out of 5 and I do not want to spend all my time off doing housework. I could ( (and use to)have a cleaner but the cost just kept going up and up and I would rather spend the money having fun as a family. So, here are my golden rules>

Medium term - aim to de clutter each room in turn - as somebody else said, if you have a place to put stuff it makes tidying up easier.
Daily:
do a wash a day, dry and put stuff away or into ironing basket.
Swish round loo's, basins, bath, shower daily ( I do bath wwhen DC have finished, shower when I have and loo's before bed)
Clean kitshen sides, hob, sink, empy bin daily ( takes 10 mins max)
Sweep kitchen floor
Put all clothes out the night before. School kit/work bags all ready by the door

twice a week:
Iron
Hoover downstairs
change towels

Weekly:
Hoover upstairs
Wash hard floors
dust and polish

I do the weekly tasks on my day off.

It works for me and if you occasionally miss a day due to "life" catching you up it dosn't matter at all!

Agree with Anna re onlione shopping

I do a big online shop once every 4 weeks. i have a 4 week meal plan.
I shop for fresh fruit and veg twice a week

Also, dishwasher goes on at night and I empty in the morning whilst waiting for the kettle to boil

I find the slatterns thread helpful, but then i have always been keen on lists [sad bastard emoticon]

Also - rather than a cleaner who you are committed to for regular hours, try to use ad hoc professional services eg window cleaner, ironing service? That way you can up the amount you use when you are extra busy and cut back when you have more time or want to save money.

Mmmm ironing service, I'd love to use one, but would never be organised enough to have clean dry laundry to send them in order to get it back for when we need to wear it! So we just don't iron

I think you have to choose to live a cretain way. If the state of the house gets to you and makes you unhappey which it sounds like it does then you have to choose to change it.

I am a slattern if left to own devices but we have a smallish house and I just can't stand being surrounded by loads of crap and having to pull clothes from wash or ironing piles etc.

Admittedly I am a freelance work from home several days a week so I do get more time than most.

I do a wash every day and a bit of ironing every other night usually - about 30-40 mins tops or it builds up and I want to shoot myself whenever I see it.

I wipe things in the bathroom regularly and keep the kitchen worktops and sink clean - dishwashers are ace. I do a meal plan on a Sunday night for the following week and shop for it on Monday.

I then clean whole house in a oner on a Weds morning while ds is at nursery. Change beds, dust, hoover, mop, the lot. Takes all morning but then thats it for the week.

Get rid of all your clutter - I'm obsessive about throwing stuff away. Hoarding is the biggest obstacle to having a tidy house. Once you have a place for everything it's much easier to keep the place tidy - I tend to tidy up as I go along. Cleaning is also much quicker and easier without piles of clutter and nick nacks all over the place. I found a book called The Life Laundry (by Dawna Walters I think) really inspiring - in fact even now I only have to read a couple of pages and I'm off looking for things to chuck out.

I was doing well til I started childminding f/t (rather than p/t work and having 5 hrs child-free 3 days a week)

I got a book called something like "side-tracked home executive program" at xmas, and went well with it for a while, then sort of forgot about it and now Ive vowed to go back to it. Its a bit like FLY-ing, but without the distraction of having to go online to see the mission (when I tend to lose an hour or two surfing!) Hopefully by this time next week, Ill be back on track again with a lovely organised home.

I know my problem is I feel torn between priorities and I get overwhelmed. I have an hour spare (with dd away) so do I 1) do paperwork/planning for childminding, 2) study for my degree, which Im a few days behind schedule, 3) do housework, and if so, what? 4) work on my craft projects for upcoming birthdays etc...or 5) waste my time trying to decide what to do and end up doing nothing productive!

SHE program does help me plan better - I know the night before what needs done the next day. Jobs are sorted into Mini (less than 10 mins) and Maxi (well, book doesnt call them maxi - but I do). If I see I have 10 mins before school run or whatever, I do a mini job like quick clean of bathroom, water plants. I try to do 2 Maxi a day - ironing or sorting a cupboard etc and 5 mini jobs. On the days when I have more time as dd out, or on the day when I have no babies in the morning, I do extra. It uses an index card based system which took me ages to sort out, but so easy once its done.

I think the thing that has helped me most is to KEEP PUTTING THINGS AWAY, even if you think you are going to use them in next 2 hours, five mins. I exempt toys from this because otherwise your children will develop a complex (went to a house where someone kept tidying up her children's toys within mins of them taking out, so horrible) So keep putting paperwork in right pile, rather than leaving it strategically to do now, because you might not and then it is a source of further confusion - where was that pile of things t. etc etc. Know that you are going to do paperwork methodically twice three times a week not trusting to - I'll do that this evening.
Realising that deep cleaning could sometimes prolong agony of untidy house. Better to tidy up and then clean (if there was time), rather than launch into herculean efforts of dusting and polishing. In end the deep cleaning will follow tidying. You will feel more houseproud after tidying frequently.

Surface tidying can make you feel better in a very short space of time. Things like bedmaking, bookshelf straightening, cushion plumping whilst seemingly pointless are magical morale boosters when you go into a room.

swanriver - brilliant. Thank you!

these are all really brilliant and useful tips, which will help inspire the tidying. one thing i have to add which helps me because i am not a naturally tidy person is (and sound like an advertising slogan)

creating and using storage solutions suitable to your needs.

so rather than having a chest of drawers all stuffed with stationary, gloves and hats, buttons, sewing kits etc - use drawer organisers, plastic crates - whatever, that are the right size and shape for the things you need to store - it helps stop cupboards becoming dumping grounds which you have to throw things in and slam the door before they all fall out. In my kitchen cupboards i transfer things that get messy once opened (i.e. bags of flour, dried pulses etc into tupperware containers as they stack more easily and don't spill.

The one thing I hacven't mastered in terms of taking my own advice, is a way of sorting out my underwear drawer. I have a large very deep drawer (built in, so can't really change it), so the little carboard/plastic honeycomb cell things dont work as they are for shallow drawers. Any suggestions most gratefull received.

Cheers!

Im new on here and looking for ideas on how to organise my house. Its nice to see people feel the same dread about the house work as I do. I would rather sit on the computer than get on with things but I really need to get organised. As I have a two year old and four year old and am returning to full time university course. the tips have been very helpfull and more would be appreciated. Looked at fly lady? dont thing Im gonna have time to shine my sink. ha ha

SausageRoleModel - completely agree with the creating appropriate storage solutions idea .

we just went out and spent an obscene amount of money on muji polypropylene drawers for all of dd's clothes, nappies, bottles, towels, muslins etce etc and have some left over for gloves and hats. They come in 3 different drawer depths suitable for different things, but all slot together and are free standing - they actually look pretty cool. They weren't cheap (from 17 pounds per drawer) but they're durable and more importantly flexible - we cn move them around and add to them when we want so I think its an investment. Actually having said they were expensive, chests of drawers giving the same volume storage would cost a lot more, so not really.

I am still finding swanriver's post really helpful. I have been trying to 'keep things tidy' forever, which means every time things are untidy (= all the time) I feel like a failure. Reframing it in my head into 'keep putting things away' means each time I can put something away (= all the time!!) it feels instead like a small success. I am ending then day feeling much less mentally exhausted, having done much more tidying, leaving the house looking much better (relatively speaking - long way to go yet!) and feeling much more in control.

Ooh and I too have one tip to contribute: sock sorters. They work.

I could have written the OP. Off to read the rest of the thread...