What five things do I need to do each day without fail, I'm talking right back to basics

[TrinityTrinityTrinity]

I'm trying to force myself to shower every other day which isn't working at the mo but I am showerin more than I was so it is working to an extent iyswim

next is five things that I can do every single day around the house, force myself to do and it will become habit

right now the house upstairs is drowning in clothes

the dishes need doing and I feel like I never get a chance to breathe and I'm trying to stop drinking

just to give you some background is all

'm drowning in everything so I'm talking really really basic, acheivable five things

Ive lost sight of normal

so what do you think

real basic

We have very different circs, but both work longish hours so often nothing gets done till after the little one's in bed. On tired days the basics are:

Tidy toys/books/etc (we have big fabric boxes that take up the lowest shelf of one of the bookshelves, so everything can just be chucked in there)
Wash dishes and leave to drain
Wipe kitchen counters
Run a load of laundry and hang up or spin dry
Sort clothes into baskets for each girl

That way you always have clean dishes to use, clean clothes to wear and a clear floor. Girls can take their baskets to their room in the morning and even if the clothes stay there, they're out of the living area.

Wash up what is in the sink.

Collect thelaundry baskets from upstairs and put at least one load of washing into the machine.

run hoover around. (to hoover you would need to tidy away at least some clutter so by making yourself hoover you are actually tidying by default iyswim)

Clean kitchen surfaces ( as above, to clean them you need to tidy them so you get two jobsout of one)

Empty the bins.

Im a SW and those are the bare minimums i would expect of the families i visit. Some are in similar states of depression so i really do understand how hard such seemingly simple tasks can be.

I think your doing fantastically well and i think its a great idea to make yourself a to do list to follow each day.

I'd go with these 5 things...

Put on 1 load of washing
Hang out 1 load of washing
Wash up once (end of day)
Wipe kitchen worktops
Tidy up toys/ living room
Most importantly
Have a large glass of wine

sorry Trinity, read you are trying to stop drinking. Read that as large slice of cake..

Hope you are doing ok. Not posted on any threads relating to you before but read them all....

Is that basic enough? The laundry one is sort of two things, if you have to hang the clothes up, but if it's a dryer it's just pulling clothes out of one machine and stuffing them into another, isn't it?

no no no giraffe I'm trying to stop drinking

thanks guys, you are all saying the same things pretty much

Its nice to get a normal veiw on thibgns
I feelso mixed up in my head and everything seems like a gigantic task but I know its not

seeing other people writing it down makes it seem normal and doable

I have to shake myself and work for me and my family

Make all beds, change each bed once a week (can rotate days)

Clean kitchen - wipe/disinfect countertops and cooker, wash/put away all utensils/plates/pots used to cook/eat meals, sweep floor

Empty kitchen rubbish bin

Dust/tidy/hoover one room each day

Do one load of laundry a day (assuming you have a family), and fold/put away load done previous day

yes tortoise it is basic enough

feeling a bit braver each day that I'm rememering to eat and take my ads

need to get started on getting some routine into my life

making things into habits

My suggestions would be:

A load of washing a day (at least until the backlog is sorted).

A load of dishes per day, maybe get some paper plates and disposable cups just while you're catching up? Maybe if your children are old enough (sorry, I'm not sure their ages) do it with them as a game.

A room per day picking things up and putting them where they belong and throwing the hoover round. Again could include children.

Alternate kitchen and bathroom each day for running over the surfaces with soap and water/anti bacterial.

Cook a meal that will do two batches so you can freeze some.

---

Other people might have different ideas though, especially if they know you and more about your life.

oh we have a family
there are seven of us in the house three adults, three young kids and a tiny baby

We've mostly said the same things, that's encouraging. And actually I thought of 'hoover' instead of sorting clothes, but I have to admit, I don't hoover or empty bins daily.

Each evening put clean clothes out while dc are in bath/going to bed, and wipe sinks/toilets.
Have a washing basket in each bedroom and get each child to put dirty clothes in before bed. Remove a wash each morning and put on.
Alternate a shower/hair wash each day while washing is doing.
Have cereal, clean bowls and spoons ready and start washing up while they eat breakfast, ditto dinner, remembering to eat yourself.
Have a box/bag for life on the stairs to which you add anything which has found its way out of place downstairs and you can take up next time you go up.

How's your dss and gf doing ?

thanks everyone

muminbeds, its all good stuff, thankyou for taking the time to reply

thankyou all for taking the time to reply

i would go with very basic to start off:

wash dishes in sink
wipe kitchen surfaces
empty bins if needed
one load of washing - I always put on at night so it's done and i can hang out in the morning
tidy up living area - even if it's just putting toys in one area etc - it looks better and makes you feel better.

once you get going, make a list of things that need doing and you can do in 30 mins - not "clear all clothes away" but "clear clothes from x room". makes you feel better when you can cross things off a list imo

good luck, and i think you are doing fantastically well but just trying to get going again.

good on you trin.

put 1 load of washing on in the machine.

dry and carefully fold 1 load of washing...if you don';t put the washing away, stack it into piles of neatly folded clothes for each person in the house..all your clothes in one pile, 1 pile each for the dcs etc..

wash the dishes after each meal...leave them to dry on the draining board. stack them neatly by the sink if you're not going to wash them straight away...it never seems or looks so bad then!

bleach the loo, and run a cloth around the sink and bath if it needs it.

chuck all the toys into a huge basket so you have clear floorspace.

make the beds...flap the duvet around and fold it over in half...open the windows to air the room.

get yourself dressed before you go downstairs or on the pc...wear what you feel comfy in, be it trakkie bottoms or jeans whatever. just get dressed and do your hair...

i know thats more than 5...take your pick! good luck...

thanks chimchar

right off to have a shower and put a wash on

I would go with pots and washing, then chose one other task from a list
hoover, dust, clean bathroom, that should keep you on top of everything till you feel more in control.

and item 6 on the list is to asign at least one major job to each of the adults in the house.

Im sure they do their best to help you but often if they get asigned a specific task it is easier for them to get invloved and help you at the same time.

Give each child a daily job, according to age?

My essential tasks are:

Load + put on dishwasher after breakfast.
Hang out laundry.
whisk hoover around living rooms

Other than that most of my jobs are split by day.
eg
Monday - as above and also clean bathroom + downstairs loo thoroughly, towels into machine for that evening. (I put washing machine on once kids are in bed, then next day I can hang it out in the morning and often put away that evening.)

Tuesday - dust + tidy living rooms downstairs, mop hallway

Wednesday - give kitchen a thorough clean + mop floor.

Thursday -tidy bedrooms + hoover, also hoover stairs.

Friday - Change beds - do ironing

Weekend - bare minimum as maintenance!

Obviously any extra tasks get slotted in dependant on time + how urgent they are. But I find allocating certain rooms to certain days help me keep on top of it all without getting to the drowning stage. Also it stops me hurtling around the house trying to do everything + achieving nothing