House chores/organization

[calv]

Not sure if this has been posted/asked before but what type of a list/setup do you have to keep yourself motivated?

I'd like something like http://www.motivatedmoms.com/2006-full-size-sample.pdf

but I really don't want to pay for it, LOL. Cheap, yes. ;)

[kcandz]

Why not print that out or copy it if it is working for you? Not to steal others' work but if you really like it....

Personally, a list like that would give me an anxiety attack. :) It looks like so much when it is written down like that, but when I'm doing it all, it doesn't seem like as much, KWIM?

[niccig]

I post on a clean challenge forum on organizedhome.com

On the days I can do it, I post a list of what I want to get done that day and then I update as I go. Everyone gives encouragement. I do have 2 lists - one of things that get done everyday (unstack dishwasher etc) and another that is weekly (scrub bathroom). I just did it in excel and I put a tick beside it. The idea is that if I can't get to something, I can easily see and schedule it for another time. I say "idea" as I don't check it as often as I should. But I have found that since having my lists, things get done more often, which means it's easy to clean the next time as not as much to clean.

[sethsmom]

I have a list up on my fridge. It is a check-off sheet for seven days that I typed into Excel. I have it in a page protector and just use a whiteboard marker to check off things as I do them. I have categories for:
"Daily-Around the House" (dishes, make the bed, sort the mail, etc.)
"Daily-Personal Care" (it's a way to force myself to take some ME time, otherwise I won't IYKWIM!)
"Daily-Prepare for Tomorrow" (put out clothes, pack diaper bag for outing, do a quick pick-up of toys, etc.)

On the bottom of my daily list is a list of 14 chores I'd like to get done each week. I just check them off as I do them, once again with the whiteboard marker. I try to do two a day, but if I miss one on Tuesday, I can just do three on Wednesday. I like not having "Laundry Day" be scheduled for Friday. I like having the flexibility to change Laundry Day to Tuesday one week if the need arises, or clean the bathroom on Thursday if it really needs it.

[kijip]

I am motivated merely by a fear of messes I guess. :P So we have some things we do every day and then we also have things we do less often. Usually once a week, some things more and some less. Right now we have 5 people staying with us and the parents (brother and SIL) are not the neatest people I have ever met to put it mildly. So I have a list and I task out jobs twice a week (Sunday afternoon, Weds or Thursday evening) to keep me from committing fratricide. I find that the list helps them think of things they normally would never clean.

I was raised in a messy, messy home and when I was in college and learning to keep clean on my own, I used a detailed list to keep me in the habit. It was like a cleaning schedule. I did that for long enough, that I don't need a list anymore for the most part. If it is just us and no long term couch surfers we have the list in our heads. I think the best, cheapest system is the one you create yourself. Only you know what cleaning you want done and how clean you want it (frequency). I would use the motivated moms to jump off and find your own style.

Some people like FlyLady.com and it seems cool. Still, it is a little regimented. I prefer flexibility.

****Rocking out while parenting my smart little munchkin Toby. Just trying to do good in the world, a little at a time. Words to live by: it is *never* the wrong time to do the right thing :)