Conquering Household Chores- A Tip from the Lady of Redwoodshire

As Lady of Redwoodshire, there are always many things that need to be done to keep up with daily life and upkeep of the house...  And quite honestly, it can get a little overwhelming.  One thing leads to another, and when I get a chance to think (and lady genevieve is asleep), I realize it's been a month since the lavatory has been attended to.  Which then reminds me that the upper level carpets are in need of some attention as well.   And the stairs have a layer of dust on them... "how on earth do they get so dirty considering we remove our shoes upon entering the house?" And suddenly I remember it's been a few weeks since they were cleaned as well.  Sound familiar?  This is my life.

  Prior to Lady genevieve's arrival into our lives and our move to Redwoodshire, I had a schedule of chores designated for each day of the week.  Which allowed me to keep a fairly tidy home; just the way I like it.  Years ago, an old friend suggested the principle of assigning each day of the week with 1 or 2 different tasks; which allowed for the whole house to be cleaned each and every week.  Vacuum one day... dust another, and so forth.  AMAZING and so simple!  Cleaning an entire house each week.  Wow!

  It's time to revisit this principle and introduce it to life here at Redwoodshire.  The reason this principle works so well, is that it breaks down the daunting task of "cleaning the house" which would take a couple hours, into manageable small tasks that can be done during small chunks of time each day of the week.  The beauty of it is that each task gets done each and every week.  Mopping the floor only takes 10 minutes, especially if the floors have already been swept.  But if I have to sweep and mop, this is more than I have time for in this moment.  And so it goes undone.  And that list of chores "to do" gets longer and more overwhelming to the point of paralyis, and then we think to ourselves; "it's been 3 weeks since I cleaned that toilet, what's one more?"

STEPS to the Efficient 

Accomplishment of Household Chores:

1) Make a List of all chores

2) Designate a couple chores to different days
(balance time consuming chores with small chores on the same day)

3) Make a chart or note cards 
with each days chores & post in visible place

4) START with today!
Even if the bathroom hasn't been cleaned in over a month- it will get done within the next week, if you stick with each day's tasks!

One reason this works so well for efficiency is that rather than thinking about and then deciding what you "should" do to clean the house today, (amidst all the many things that "need" to be done)- your LIST has already decided what is to be done today.  The time to think & decide is eliminated, and you just get right to work.  I like to list the shorter/ quicker tasks at the top, in order to check those off the list and then move along to the next thing.

I like using note cards!

It's so empowering to finish my "To Do" list, and makes me want to finish it again tomorrow.  With a couple tasks each day, the burden of cleaning my home is lifted a little bit.   

Breaking the "whole" of cleaning the house down into small tasks- one task at a time.