The Breakdown: How to Make Your Own Cleaning Plan
(Mistress and Maid Photographic Print at Art.com)
Have you ever wondered how to set up a cleaning routine/plan and in bite size and doable pieces that fits you and your family's needs? There are so many plans out there but are the tailored to the needs of your home? In our MIH Group we work on individual home plans that will fit to your family and their needs...not someone elses.
Below is correspondence that first started as an email to me and then we shared within the group...
Hello, My name is Tammy and I just wanted to say thank you for your encouragement that I found on your blog. I have been struggling with getting my act together with being a housewife and homeschool mom. I haven't been able to find joy in those roles. I stumbled upon your blog and know that it has been an answered prayer. I do have a question......I am going to start getting my house in order and I really enjoyed reading how you clean daily..........where do you suggest that I start? Again thank you for our encouragement and many blessings to you and your family.
Thank you, Tammy
Dearest Tammy,
I wanted to get back with you on this and starting in making a daily routine. I remember you asking in the group about Household Notebooks but wanted to find out more about your daily/weekly routine that you have now. Would you be willing to share with the group? So many of the ladies have such wonderful ideas and tips. We can look at what you have set up now and maybe find something that will work for you and your family...
Love and God's Blessings,
Cat
Cat,
Thanks for getting back with me about this. Sure I would be willing to share with the group..........right now I don't have any kind of system.........I just clean when it needs to be cleaned (for company or if it's to messy). I live in such a small house that it shouldn't take me to long.........I do get overwhelmed really easy so when I see a mess instead of tackling it I just don't do it till I have too. I hope that makes since. I have tried Flylady before and that didn't work. I'm not sure what will work for me........sometimes I feel that I'm hopeless. In my house I have 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom a living room, kitchen, small dining room and a laundry room this is all on one floor. We don't have a basement so storage and clutter is a huge issue here. I don't like clutter.......I like the simple look. It's not good for me to get into the long notebooks because that will just overwhelm me so I am looking for something simple. I would love to hear your ideas and am praying that there is hope for me.
Thank you for your kindness.
Blessings, Tammy
Tammy...let's work on your schedule first. Starting at your front door...mark the areas of your home...foyer...living room...dining room...hallway....guest bathroom until you come back to the front door. If you have a second story do the same with that starting from the top of the stairs and working to your right listing all the rooms/areas you have.
:O)
xxoo Cat
At the front door..........you walk into the dining room from there to the right is the living room, then the hall way that has the 3 bedrooms and bathroom. Back to the front door and dinning room is the kichen and the laundry room. That is it to my house. It is very small.
Blessings, Tammy
That is awesome!!! Okay...we are not going to deal with the clutter issues just yet...first let's get a routine down for you and then we can address the clutter later. :O)
You have 10 areas...
Front door
Dining Room
Living Room
Hallway
Bedroom 1
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 3
Bathroom
Kitchen
Laundry Room
Divide these areas into the days you wish to work on them...
10 areas divided by 5 days = 2 areas a day
Area 1 = Monday's Tasks
Area 2 = Tuesday's Tasks
Area 3 = Wednesday's Tasks
Area 4 = Thursday's Tasks
Area 5 = Friday's Tasks
You may be able to lump together areas that are small or do not require a lot of upkeep for example the front door/foyer area can be grouped with the hallway. Here is the breakdown that I see for your home...
Area 1 = Front Door/foyer + Hallway + Bathroom
Area 2 = Dining Room + Living Room
Area 3 = Bedroom 1 + 2 + 3
Area 4 = Kitchen
Area 5 = Laundry Room
If you have older children...let them do their own rooms and laundry. If this is the case I would break the days down so that they have the time to do their own rooms & laundry so that they are not bumping into another trying to use the same tools and laundry at the same time. This would result in less areas for you to focus on!  I will also assume that one of those bedrooms is the Master Bedroom which I will denote as Bedroom 1. So with that said, let's tweak a bit more on that schedule above with the children's rooms in parenthesis...
Area 1 (Monday) = Front Door/Foyer + Hallway + Bedroom 1/Master
Area 2 (Tuesday) = Dining Room + (Bedroom 2)
Area 3 (Wednesday) = Living Room + (Bedroom 3)
Area 4 (Thursday) = Bathroom + Laundry Room
Area 5 (Friday) = Kitchen
In our home I have broken down our laundry days so that on Mondays I detail the Master Bedroom & Laundry, Tuesdays is the day Sarah does her bedroom & laundry and David does his on Wednesdays. When my mother-in-love was living with us...she did her laundry on Thursdays. This way everyone had a full day to do their laundry without bumping into each other trying to do the same thing at the same time. The children start their laundry first thing as they are getting up and usually have 3 loads to do...lights, darks and bedding. While they are doing their schoolwork they listen out for washer and dryer buzzer to let them know when a cycle is complete.
Detailing or basically focusing on an area should only take 15 - 20 minutes...
Again we are not going to focus on any decluttering until you have a routine down that works for you and your family. Tweaking as you go along until you find a system or flow that you can remember to do without thinking what you have to do that day.
Things to take into account...
- Husband's work schedule
- Ages and stages of children
- Health issues
- Outside activities your children may have on certain days.
- Grocery Shopping Day...before you make this trip clean out your fridge. I love to have a clean refrigerator and kitchen to place my food items in. This is also a good day to run other errands (library, post office, etc.).
I do hope this explains a bit more of the breakdown itself. Give yourself a month to get a routine/flow down and then when you have that down and a habit has been formed...we will begin to declutter your home.
xoxo Cat
Looking at the areas Tammy had in her home...we broke them down into smaller, doable sections that would allow her to focus on the details of each room (see link above about detailing). What I did not include into her plan was the House Blessing...
House Blessing - (includes my Detailing/Focus Area which is our Master Bedroom)
I go into a bit more about making a personal cleaning schedule here...
Sometimes within the group we take our plans even further and discover that we have far too much on our plates. Many of the things we do...we don't need to be doing. More on plate clearing here...
Taking care of our homes should be a joy...not drudgery. Keeping things simple is key and gives you the freedom to do other things. As a wife to Blaine, a homeschooling momma and keeper of the home God has blessed us with and publisher/editor...I'm one busy lady! Having order helps keep me sane...Thank You Lord God for teaching us about order!
If you need help in making up a doable plan for your home...please join us in our MIH Support and Encouragement Group. There are many of us who have ideas and thoughts that we share that maybe we ourselves didn't think of...it is just wonderful to have a group of like-minded Christian women who are there to help!
Right now we are working on a fun and doable Diets/Weight Plan. More on that later!
And finally...here is what making your own personal plan can do for you when you are not at100%...
Hello All!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for all that you
contribute to this group. Whether you post often or not, whether you
read some or all, it is all of us together that make this group such
a blessing to be a part of.
I have learned so much here and have made slow (very slow) but
steady progress in managing my home. I had a chance to see the
difference these small changes have made when my oldest stepson
called Saturday and said he and his new girlfriend would be visiting
in about an hour or so. Due to a minor injury last week, I had
gotten behind on keeping up, which used to be my standard M.O. But
with the help of my two DS's, (DH was working on one of our vehicles
or I'd have recruited him, too ~lol~) In the space of about one
hour, after 5 days of mostly neglect, the house was quite
presentable for the young lady's first visit. Because of the late
notice, I was not prepared for extras at dinner. (In an effort to be
more frugal, I have been cutting back on extra food/leftovers,
except when I do it on purpose.) Without one ounce of guilt, I
suggested to my stepson that he stop for dinner on his way,
reminding him that the past week has been spent recovering. I was
able to enjoy our visit without stressing about the house OR dinner.
I shared this in hopes that some of us who find it so difficult to
achieve the standard of homekeeping we desire would be encouraged
that small changes over time lead to an overall big change.
Dinner tonight: Crock pot roast beef and potatoes, squash casserole,
and ice cream for dessert.
God Bless you all!!
Shannon
Love and God's Blessings to You All,
Catherine
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