Healthy Happy Chaos

We have all found ourselves thinking “there is just not enough time in the day” when it comes to all the things we “need” to do. Working 8-10 hours, cooking dinner, helping with homework, working out, quality time with the family, sports practices, school events, sleeping. That’s just the big things. In between all of that there are plenty of little tasks that must be done. It just seems like it is never ending and by the time the day is done there is no energy to do the cleaning of the house. So here is where I was finding myself saying i will play catch up on the weekend.

I mean, you have 2 full days to devote to getting the house back in order, right? WRONG!!! This is just a vicious cycle I found myself in, feeling more and more frustrated because I wasn’t getting the reset time I so needed after a long week. And I wasn’t able to spend some solid time with hubby or the kiddos. It was starting to add up more and more. I know some of the problem is myself, I hate clutter and I want my family to live in a clean home. Plus I always felt bad asking them to help out during their down time. They all need a reset just as much as I do and the messes didn’t bother them. Like how I rationalize everything?

I needed to make a change in my life or I was never going to live my life and enjoy all the moments I can with my boys. So I started my research on cleaning plans and how to incorporate little things daily as I am doing other stuff. You would be amazed at the amount of websites and blogs solely focused on this. All these great people with amazing ideas!!! My first go to now whenever I am in need of an idea is CleanMama.com. I am a bit OCD and a bit of a nut when it comes to checklists or calendars. I just love the idea of having things planned out and posted so I can check it off or line through it when I am done. And Clean Mama has all kinds of goodies to help those just like me 🙂

There was at least one thing that seemed to be consistent throughout all of the websites and blogs that I read through, clean a little bit everyday. It seems so simple yet when you work 8-10 hours, workout, come home to be mom/dad, cook dinner, spend quality time with family, there just doesn’t seem to be time or energy to do a whole lot. But what I found is that I can do one thing each day and it helps me achieve my goal of not cleaning my entire weekend away. For instance, bathrooms. Kiddos gotta take showers or baths so I typically just do the bathroom cleaning at that time. Makes perfect sense. Another day would be mopping the floors or dusting. If I do it this way I am spending maybe 15 minutes a day versus a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday.

Then there are the things that I do each day or while I go, such as wiping counters or sweeping the floors. As dinner is cooking I am cleaning the dishes that I am no longer using versus letting them build up to the end. I have learned for myself that it isn’t so overwhelming if I do little by little. I do laundry throughout the week that way I can fold when I am just chilling watching a show. I also work to have my boys do the same thing. Each night before they go to bed I ask them to take 5 minutes to clean up their toys or when we get home at after school/work we empty our bags then versus just throwing them on the floor by the front door. We all also make our beds first thing in the morning. There is just something satisfying about starting your day with a made bed. It really helps the mind. I am telling you all that this saves us so much time and stress throughout the week.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Dining Room – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up – Take Out Garbage	Living Room – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up	Garbage – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up – Wash laundry	Bedroom – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up	– Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up – Wash laundry	Kitchen – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up – Outside Stuff	Bathroom – Make Bed – Sweep – Counters – Dishes – Pick Up – Fold Laundry – Grocery Shopping

I love to planning out my days so that I can focus. For me this truly helps me to enjoy my day because I know what needs to be done in between all the things that I want to do or need to do like work. On the weekends we typically like to plan something fun with our boys and we play little board/card games during or after dinner throughout the week. Yes I could just let things go. I mean, having stuff around the house like toys or knick knacks isn’t that big of a deal, but eventually it adds up over time and that’s when I find my anxiety starts to spike a bit and I have a hard time focusing on the more enjoyable things. I know, I know, I may have some issues but that is the very reason I look for ways to help myself such as lists and daily tasks. If I handle things little by little the bigger end result is not so overwhelming.

I am always curious as to what others are doing when it comes to making life simpler. Drop me a comment, share what you do when it comes to cleaning and taking care of your home. 🙂