A few thoughts on organization from a mom who is still getting her act together...
I hesitate to share about organization because I am by no means the world's most organized person. However, in the last year, some real strides have been made, and, with a lot of trial and mostly error, I've figured out some things which work for me. Here's a peek:
This is the cover of my home management binder (compliments of Mrs. Wilt). In this binder, I keep my simple system for the upkeep and management of our home. It is nothing elaborate as I've found simple works best for me.
The first section is our weekly household plan and routine. I've assigned a different project or goal for each day and these are written up on the Weekly Household Plan page as a reminder in case I forget.
Sunday is our rest day. We got to church, share a meal with church families, and then come home and rest, relax, read, talk, have family time, and often sleep. The computers stay off and we have very simple food to eat. I often even leave the dishes until Monday morning!
Monday is laundry and ironing day. Though I do a load of laundry most days besides Saturday and Sunday, I usually do a few on Mondays to catch up from the weekend. I also wash all the bedding on Mondays. I save all of the ironing to do on Monday afternoons.
Tuesday is our baking day. This is one of my favorite days! Kathrynne and I usually spend around 2 hours baking in the morning. If I come across a recipe throughout the week I'd like to try, I usually write it down to save for Tuesday. If we've gotten a good deal on ripe bananas or something at the store on Saturday, I save them to be baked into something on Tuesday. I also bake up anything I might be needing for guests or events later in the week and then freeze. By spending a few hours one day a week baking up stuff for the freezer, it guarantees I usually always have baked goods on hand for Jesse's lunch and quick snacks throughout the week.
Wednesday is our deep cleaning day. Though I always do a little cleaning, stay on top of the dishes, and straighten up things everyday and have certain jobs assigned for each day of the week, Wednesday I spend a more concentrated effort on cleaning all the bathrooms, vacuuming the whole house, and doing any other deep-cleaning which needs to be done. If a job wasn't able to be done earlier in the week, I can move it to Wednesday. By having at least one day a week set aside to clean the house from top to bottom, it ensures that our home stays pretty clean and company ready most of the time.
Thursday is our crafts, sewing, extra household projects day. This is the day I try to spend at least a short while doing something to beautify our home or to work on a current craft project. This is also the day I usually organize my coupons, look over the sales for the week, and plan the next week's menu and grocery list.
Friday is website/business projects day. Though I always do some business work everyday, Fridays are usually slower and allow me some extra time to focus on a larger project. I usually will do this during Kathrynne's naptime. I try to also get all of the loose ends wrapped up and all of the pending orders taken care of, so that I can take the entire weekend off.
Saturday is our family day. We usually go out to breakfast or lunch, do our grocery shopping, run errands, and just spend time together as a family often doing something a little special or out of the ordinary (visiting quaint little shops, going to the pet store, sight-seeing, etc.)
I've found that by having designated days of the week for various projects, it allows me to accomplish more, gives more variety, and gives more structure and order to our lives. If I come across something which needs to be cleaned and I can't do it right then, I'll just make a note in my planner to do it on Wednesday. If I think of a business project I need to tackle, I write it down on Friday. Remember, of course, that this is our home and what works for us at this season of our life with a 2-year-old, a baby on the way, and a home business.
I'm out of room and time here, but if I have a chance, I'll try and share more about our daily routine and how I use my Day-Timer. Speaking of routines and organization, if you are a mom, you must read these just-posted encouraging email responses from Jennie Chancey on getting it all done. They are packed full of encouragement and helpful ideas from a mom who has been there, done that.
This is the cover of my home management binder (compliments of Mrs. Wilt). In this binder, I keep my simple system for the upkeep and management of our home. It is nothing elaborate as I've found simple works best for me.
The first section is our weekly household plan and routine. I've assigned a different project or goal for each day and these are written up on the Weekly Household Plan page as a reminder in case I forget.Sunday is our rest day. We got to church, share a meal with church families, and then come home and rest, relax, read, talk, have family time, and often sleep. The computers stay off and we have very simple food to eat. I often even leave the dishes until Monday morning!
Monday is laundry and ironing day. Though I do a load of laundry most days besides Saturday and Sunday, I usually do a few on Mondays to catch up from the weekend. I also wash all the bedding on Mondays. I save all of the ironing to do on Monday afternoons.
Tuesday is our baking day. This is one of my favorite days! Kathrynne and I usually spend around 2 hours baking in the morning. If I come across a recipe throughout the week I'd like to try, I usually write it down to save for Tuesday. If we've gotten a good deal on ripe bananas or something at the store on Saturday, I save them to be baked into something on Tuesday. I also bake up anything I might be needing for guests or events later in the week and then freeze. By spending a few hours one day a week baking up stuff for the freezer, it guarantees I usually always have baked goods on hand for Jesse's lunch and quick snacks throughout the week.
Wednesday is our deep cleaning day. Though I always do a little cleaning, stay on top of the dishes, and straighten up things everyday and have certain jobs assigned for each day of the week, Wednesday I spend a more concentrated effort on cleaning all the bathrooms, vacuuming the whole house, and doing any other deep-cleaning which needs to be done. If a job wasn't able to be done earlier in the week, I can move it to Wednesday. By having at least one day a week set aside to clean the house from top to bottom, it ensures that our home stays pretty clean and company ready most of the time.
Thursday is our crafts, sewing, extra household projects day. This is the day I try to spend at least a short while doing something to beautify our home or to work on a current craft project. This is also the day I usually organize my coupons, look over the sales for the week, and plan the next week's menu and grocery list.
Friday is website/business projects day. Though I always do some business work everyday, Fridays are usually slower and allow me some extra time to focus on a larger project. I usually will do this during Kathrynne's naptime. I try to also get all of the loose ends wrapped up and all of the pending orders taken care of, so that I can take the entire weekend off.
Saturday is our family day. We usually go out to breakfast or lunch, do our grocery shopping, run errands, and just spend time together as a family often doing something a little special or out of the ordinary (visiting quaint little shops, going to the pet store, sight-seeing, etc.)
I've found that by having designated days of the week for various projects, it allows me to accomplish more, gives more variety, and gives more structure and order to our lives. If I come across something which needs to be cleaned and I can't do it right then, I'll just make a note in my planner to do it on Wednesday. If I think of a business project I need to tackle, I write it down on Friday. Remember, of course, that this is our home and what works for us at this season of our life with a 2-year-old, a baby on the way, and a home business.
I'm out of room and time here, but if I have a chance, I'll try and share more about our daily routine and how I use my Day-Timer. Speaking of routines and organization, if you are a mom, you must read these just-posted encouraging email responses from Jennie Chancey on getting it all done. They are packed full of encouragement and helpful ideas from a mom who has been there, done that.
posted by Crystal Paine at 7:49 AM
13 Comments:
Thank you for the helpful organization tips Crystal! I have just started working on my home managment binder and am really excited. I too feel like a pretty organized mommy, with a LONG way to go. Praise the Lord that he gives wisdom to us when we ask!
Love, love, love the way you plan things out. I'd be jealous if I were a stay-at-home-mom for sure. *sigh* As it is, I rush out the door in the morning, drop the kids off a t 2 different places, go to work, pick up the kids at the end of the day, rush in the door, starting making dinner, eat, see all the things that need to be done (laundry!), wash the dishes, play with the kids, put the kids to bed, fall asleep in a heap on the floor. *chuckle* Well, it's not quite so bad, but some days it feels it. *grin*
I want to be like Crystal!!!!!!Organized.
You know, I keep telling myself, 'I'll get more organized and it will be GREAT!' I just never made the time before, but now that I'm a stay at home wife for the time being, I do believe it is time to put together that homemaking binder I printed off and set up so many months ago....being organized would have saved me the headache of having to file amendments for our taxes because I inadvertently left a W-2 out that was misplaced. :(
Crystal,
Thanks for sharing your binder with us and your weekly schedule. I think I will borrow your idea of a different focus each day as well as I find myself not having enough variety in my day.
I would love to see your updated "daily" schedule if you don't mind sharing.
Have a great week, L
Reading about other's housekeeping routines is always such a fun learning experience! Thank you for sharing yours :-)
I like the simplicity of your routine. When I try to get too rigid with mine, it all just falls apart. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for sharing, Crystal, I always have "more organized" on my want list. =) Some days go well, and others.....well, not so good. =) But with 3 young children and a home business and a husband with crazy work hours, I am learning to create my own way of doing schedules, instead of relying so much on copying other people. Because we're all different. But I always love to get new ideas!
Great ideas, this system looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing =)
Crystal, I so much enjoy reading your blog. I've learned so much from you and your readers. From what I read in todays post, it appears that you do your shopping on Saturdays and stay home Monday through Friday. When you talk about going to various stores (Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Aldi, etc and getting fresh raw milk), is any of this shopping done during the week or is it all done as a family on Saturdays. I have 3 children (6, 3, and 6 mths) and it is easier for me to leave the older ones with my husband or for all of us to go together, but I always feel like this is a job I should have done during the week so that our family time on Saturday is not spent doing something I should be accomplishing during the week on my own. I just feel bad asking my husband to go shopping with me when he has worked all week. Just wondering what you and your other readers of younger children do to accomplish this.
P.S. Thanks so much for recommending the Financial Peace University course in a previous post. My husband and I found a class being held nearby (on Saturday mornings) and it has been such a blessing. I would love to host a course in our home sometime in the future.
Anonymous: My advice - do what works for you and your family. I used to do all the shopping on Mondays and this worked out just fine when Kathrynne was younger, but now that I'm pregnant and Kathrynne is a bit older and more adventuresome when we're out shopping (!), my husband made the decision for us to do all our shopping and errands together on Saturdays. He enjoys making it a family affair and it is most certainly easier for me. This is what works best for us at this season in our lives. In a few years, we might be doing something totally different. One thing I do is to make sure I have all of my shopping well-planned ahead of time - knowing where we are going, the order most efficient, coupons prepared, etc. This way, we can always get it done quickly.
Thanks for sharing the details of what works for you! Very much appreciated!
I really appreciate you sharing your tips. As you prego buddy (same due date sort of) you encourage me and keep me going. Even when I feel like this has by far been a tough pregnancy. I am 25 in half weeks and still sick to my stomach. :( I was trying to get things going again in my home now that due date is soon to be here. I love how you schedule in baking and crafts. I always try to make planning my cleaning so hard that it overwhelms me then I don't have a chance to get some things like crafts and baking in. I too like to clean in one day my whole home. But with my sick stomach and exhaustion I feel wiped out the next day after. Thanks again.
Chrissy
Boy do I love this! It really reminds me of the control journal from Fly Lady! Thanks for the ideas...I have saved them into a Word Document! :)
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