After several failed attempts and a whole heckuva lot of frustration, I am beyond {thrilled} to say that I have finally found something that works for me. And I'm going to share it with all of you!
The idea for this type of chart came from this post at Jen's IHeart Organizing blog.
The basic idea is to figure out what household tasks you need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis, and put them on a handy-dandy little chart. Obviously, what goes where is going to depend on your own family's specific needs. For example ~ we are a 2-dog family, so vacuuming really {has to happen} every day or we're dealing with dog hair tumbleweeds. It ain't pretty. If your home is pet-free, vacuuming once a week might suffice. Figure out what works best for you, and go from there!
Also, you'll notice that the tasks are pretty simplified. The words "Wipe down Kitchen" and "Clean Bath Counter" are simplified versions of what I really probably need to do. But it's awfully hard to wipe down a counter when there's stuff on it...so clearing it all off and putting everything away is implied. I did this for a couple of reasons. 1 - Hopefully I can get to a point where the counter is usually clear to begin with, so wiping it down is all I need to do. And 2 - It's important (at least I think it is) to keep the number of items on the daily list down to a manageable amount. There's nothing more demoralizing that feeling like you're failing every day because you can't get to everything on your list. I put the {bare minimum} on the daily list ~ the things that will make the most impact if I don't get them done on a daily basis ~ and then I do my best to get to those things every day.
There are so many {fantastic} things about this chart. I love that it keeps me on task on a day-to-day basis, and that I have a visual reminder of what I've already taken care of and what I have left to do...especially when it comes to some of the monthly and quarterly items. Let's be honest, here. Things like dusting ceiling fans and vacuuming registers...those are the kinds of tasks that I'll put off until the job is so disgusting that I feel the need to shower after I've finished. I love knowing that things aren't going to get that far-gone again! I love that using this list will most-likely help our appliances work better and last longer, because I'm being reminded to take better care of them! My most favorite thing about this chart is that, because I popped it into a page protector, I can mark items off the list with a dry erase marker, and erase the marks when it's time to start over again...so I'm not re-writing the same things over and over again, or wasting paper by having to print it out again and again.
Now...I didn't make a printable of this to share with you all, because it wasn't {my} idea. If you love this idea, but you're not so handy with the computer and what-not, you can head over to Jen's blog and follow the link to her Etsy shop. She has all sorts of amazing and wonderful {goodies} in her shop ~ check-lists, logs, calendars ~ you name it, she's got it. Everything she offers is reasonably priced, and {pretty} to boot.
As for me, I made my own printable in Photoshop & had it printed at Costco (b/c we don't have a color printer at home). I have found that a few of the tasks on the list need to be shifted from daily to weekly or vice-versa, and that there were a few items that I wanted to add to the list, so it's still a work in progress. Not a big deal ~ I'll just keep working off of this one until I have a new one printed.
So, there you have it! I'm not saying it's {perfect} ~ I tried to allow myself a "day off" last week and it took me a lot longer to get everything back in order than I thought it would ~ but it's a major improvement over where I was before I started and I feel like it's something that I can stick with long term. I hope it works for you, too!
Thanks for the shout out! Glad you liked the idea and that it is working so well for you! :)
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Jen