OK, set me a routine and organise me!

[hunkermunker]

Right, having confessed on the GF thread that I am of people who have a routine and tidy houses, how can I achieve this? I realise that "cut down on MN, you loon" is a top piece of advice, but apart from that!

Should I have set days to do washing, cleaning, cooking for the freezer? My plan for when DB is born is that I will have made nutritious meals and stocked the freezer, but in reality, if my disorganised and slovely ways continue, I know I will be eating elderly crisps and hankering for a nice homemade stew.

I have tried getting the flylady emails, but they just sit in my inbox, then get deleted.

How about you all bully me into going to do housework whenever you see me on MN? That might work!

But I'd love to know what routines you have (no fellow slatterns need reply - I don't want to be assured that living in squalor is a good lifestyle choice!) and how I can rid myself of clutter!

In fact - another point in my stream of consciousness - do any of you also have an endless stream of paper and other assorted bits of clutter (on my desk at the moment is a mound of paperwork, some assorted biros - half of which don't work), a nail varnish, two pots of tiny beads, some nail scissors, a hair tie, a picture frame (empty), a bunch of receipts, a pad of paper, a book, some paracetamol...you get the picture. On the table behind me are three tins of Ronseal wood gel, a glass bowl full of assorted things - a reel of cotton, a mobile phone charger - unplugged, a Christmas stocking - (wtf?!), a paintbrush, some cotton buds, a screwdriver, a folder containing Japanese homework and exam certificates from several years ago...again, you get the picture!).

We don't seem to have enough storage, but I'm not convinced that the problem is lack of storage, but rather too much stuff!

I go through brutal "right that's it, I'm upending the house and throwing EVERYTHING away" phases, then get sentimental about a notebook or a pebble () - ffs, am such a hoarder!

So go on, what can I do? Please bear in mind that I am the BIGGEST procrastinator in the world. After all, I could've tidied the desk in the time it took to tell you what was on it...

In my (rather weak) defence, I work weekends, DH works during the week, so we've been firefighting the housework rather. But since I'm going to be doing less weekend work and more weekday work, I feel now is the time to get sorted! Plus I do have a MN addiction

I found getting a cleaner worked really well....

everytime a charity bag comes through the letterbox fill it up - that gets rid of lots of clutter.

decorate a shoe box and use it to store sentimental pebbles, then chuck everything else away. if several shoe boxes are required, put them in the loft/under the bed when they are full. i clean the kitchen and then do what ever else i cn be bothered to do, often not much but aslong as things are clean i can cope with mess.

Hi Hunkermunker

Not sure if this is what you mean but I do a quick clean everywhere first thing in the morning, put some washing on, unload the dishwasher, quick hoover put the bins out, give the bathroom a quick going over etc. Then I do one room each day properly, I do a very thorough clean in one room per day (our bedroom mondays, living roon tuesdays etc) I take the washing out at naptime, sometimes do a bit of ironing and prepare tea. All in all takes a couple of hours each day max and the whole house is either clean (or very close to being clean!)

Oh and I'm ruthless, I don't keep anything that I know I wont use again in the next month or that I have found and haven't used recently. If in doubt I throw it away/sell it/give it to charity! Works well but my house is pretty empty!

like anchovies, a whole house tidy up works wonders - we do it in the evening once jess is in bed.... clutter gets put out of site for the once a month clear out!

dh puts washing machine or dishwasher on before he goes to work and then i empty whichever when jess naps.

Yes, this is the kind of thing I mean!

Have just blitzed my wardrobe - well, no point keeping things in there that won't fit me in a couple of weeks! Have only got maternity and forgiving clothes in there now.

The problem is that we moved when I was 15 weeks pg with DS, had to put in a new kitchen and bathroom and decorate everywhere because it smelt of cat piss (new carpets, flooring, wallpaper, paint, etc) - but did it on a shoestring and DH fitted kitchen and did most of the stuff in the bathroom - but DS came along before it could be finished, so still piles of stuff everywhere, plus baby accoutrements. Then we didn't sleep for six months, so jobs got put on hold, then I went back to work at weekends, so even less time.

Gah - excuses, excuses! Will tackle the desk as I sit here

Thanks for all the tips - have done two loads of washing today and the basket's pretty empty (have one that I sort darks and lights in as they go in - like it!).

Do any of you have set days for cooking, ironing, cleaning, etc?

15 minute blitzes are the best. If you end up with major projects they get left unfinished or you never get around to starting them. If you think "I'll just clear out this drawer/run the hoover round/email that friend/change the beds for 15 minutes" then psychologically it's much easier to start and feels like you've achieved more.

I do have set days to do things, but don't stress if I don't get it done one week - I try and avoid getting into a cycle of "catch up" unless it's a really vital task.

Certain things have set times too - like I always check the laundry/put a load on (on a timer so it starts just as we get up in the morning) just before going to bed. It's become a habit so I don't really think of it anymore - it's not a big issue. Laundry gets done automatically almost.

Big horrible tasks need rewards at the end of them. I do my menu planning/shopping for the week on a Sunday and I loathe it. Glass of wine and chocolate is my reward for when its done.

Oh, another thing I found helpful was to work out what things needed doing daily/weekly/monthly and then work out a diary for them (anal I know, but I ignore em otherwise). Ironing/laundry HAS to be done daily in our house (even if the ironing is only a minute pile) - because otherwise it becomes too big to tackle. Wednesday is kids' bed changing day, I change ours on Friday... towels get changed on a Monday, etc. It does help - especially because you soon work out which is your busiest days of the week and cut yourself some slack on those days, and can spread tasks more evenly.

This thread was good!