Thanks for taking the time to write out your idea (and glad it’s got you thinking about doing it at home) but that’s exactly what I used to do and drove myself nuts. At home, I mean. Work’s not a problem - had that nailed long ago. Home’s totally different. There, I always have too many plans and the constant carrying over of list items was depressing and/or infuriating. It’s what put me off looking at my lists since they always had antique carry-overs.
Nah. It just depressed and frustrated me since very often the things got bumped in the first place because something else more important came along. In fact, that is one of the bigger problems - fine to make plans, but when life changes them on ya, so much for the plans. My life is (touch wood) a little less chaotic now so maybe I can go back to lists.
System that is (sort of, for the moment) working for me is an Excel spreadsheet. I really hate paper and wasting paper so making endless paper lists isn’t my thing. However I went through my very long ‘everything’ list and picked off the priorities and put them in one column of a separate worksheet. Next to that, I have columns for Errands, Repairs, Shopping, Chores, and Paperwork. I move some items from the Priorities column to the columns by type. Below the Types columns, I have Monday through Sunday columns. I copy or move items from the other columns to the Monday through Sunday ones and delete them when they’re done.
If I have a list of errands to do when I go out, I write them on a small piece of paper but otherwise I don’t need to worry about losing the paper or having it clutter up my desk. I really like being able to move the cells in the spreadsheet - it makes reorganizing so easy! Now if I can just manage to not get bored or glaze over using this list system…
See that’s what put me off in the first place.
Yeah me too. It just seemed like new priorities always kept leaping onto the top so older things were pushed down endlessly.
Interesting. A spreadsheet would drive me seriously batty. Guess I’m just an old-fashioned girl.
We’ll see – I just got home from running errands, and took care of the “stop by Staples and get a nice notebook for at-home to-do lists” entry on the mental version of the list …
Whereas I’ve set up my daily and weekly computer reminders. For my non-gym days, of course. Paper lists do me no good whatsoever; I lose the paper, or if they’re in a notebook, I lose the notebook. And I’m talking about in an empty room, I can lose things; I’m talented that way, I guess.
I’ve been doing laundry today; I still haven’t worked up the energy to straighten up my office, but it’s not like I’ve just been sitting on my ass, either (since I’ve been folding it and putting it away, plus doing my regular paying work in between trips to the washer and dryer). My life is so exciting, I can hardly stand it.
Vacuumed the whole house, ran a load in the dishwasher. Changed and washed the bedsheets (and MADE the bed!). And lastly-cleaned out my rolling dump of a car, that includes lugging the shop vac outside and actually vacuuming it.
As someone who has been using “systems” like FlyLady and such off and on for a few years I am pretty happy with the routines and results I have now. However I commute a total of about 9 hours a week. All that time in the car results in lots of clutter and mess. I haven’t found a system yet that helps me get that under control.
Oh well, it looks nice for the moment. ( I still haven’t put away that nagging basket of clean clothes though )
I have thought about this, and I came to the conclusion that my need for routine and systems is probably why I don’t get as much done as I like. While we sit here discussing what routines would or should work, what kind of lists we use, and what kind of gadgets and widgets make the job easier, the people with clean houses are probably…cleaning their houses! :smack:
But please, keep the conversation going, it’s keeping me from putting that damn basket of clothes away
One ‘advantage’ of being very nearsighted is that you usually can’t see the crud in the shower when your glasses are off or contact lenses are out. The disadvantage of this is that when you do see it, you are almost touching it with your nose. :: shudder ::
I went to Canadian Tire today and bought a new bottle of Fantastik and a scrub brush. Time to clean the bathroom…
The tiled walls around my bathtub/shower enclosure are half-washed. I discovered to my delight that the scrub-brush removed most of the discoloration on the grouting between the tiles. However, there seem to be deeper issues at the caulking between the tiles and the tub. I may go around this problem by re-caulking it.
Ditto on the issues with shower caulking. I live in a rental house, and they ALWAYS have tiled tub walls and the tile ALWAYS has gobs of caulk and there is ALWAYS black mildew wedged behind the caulk. Tilex and a toothbrush doesn’t get rid of it, so I assume nothing will.
I have achieved a state of clean bathtub and shower enclosure!
Well, as clean as it will get… the floor of the tub is rough and slightly stained and I suspect that the smooth surface of the enanel has been broken there… I cannot scrub it white. I’ve tried many times before. The black gunk in the caulking must await new caulking, I think. I have new caulking… it’s just a matter of scraping off the old applying the new.
This is only the beginning of cleaning the bathroom, though. There are a lot of tiled surfaces in that room. The floor alone… and then there’s the toilet enclosure… and around the sink…
Oh my goodness, that is me. I got contact lenses for the first time in a few years a few months ago, and wore them in the shower. What a shock! There was mildew spotting and crud all over! I had never seen it before, because I can’t see more than about an inch in front of my nose; the wall is all blurry whitish-color. I spent part of the morning scrubbing with bleach and now I can wear my contacts in the shower without fear. (Why my husband, who can see just fine, never noticed it I cannot say.)
For me it was today, when I went to have a bath and actually sat in the tub and saw the area around the soapdish up close…
It still doesn’t beat a place I lived for a few weeks once. I thought the bathtub had artwork in it, an abstract brown and white zebra-stripe work, possibly applied back in the seventies as an anti-slip feature.
Nope.
It was hardened soap scum. With channels through it where the water flowed.
I moved as soon as I could.
Oh, that’s the Guy Dirt Filter. It’s completely normal. We have to have it, because it’s our job to go out and fight our battles amidst the dust and heat of the world. Being able to tolerate dirt makes us stronger and more able to survive, and win!
Today, I have:
Cleaned and bleached the kitchen counters and the area around the cat-food bowl on the floor, wiped down cabinets.
Tidied up the dining room and cleaned the table.
Tidied the living room.
Cleaned the guest bath.
Washed and folded the colored clothes (multiple loads).
Tomorrow, I hope to:
Finish laundry.
Clean bedroom and master bath.
Things I’d like to get to:
Clean up my office/craft room.
Clean out closets and set up donation bag of clothes.
Things I’ve asked Himself to do:
Finish cleaning out the garage so I can park in there again.
Vacuum the house.
I ended up not cleaning my office, but instead I washed and dried four loads of laundry, and folded them and put them away, plus folded and put away the underwear load that had finished late last night. Plus I finished the last pickup/declutter in the bedroom and vacuumed it, and also did lots of spot picking up as I moved around the house – just taking things from the wrong room into the right one as I’d go from one room to another. That was a very good suggestion from whoever it was earlier in this thread who pointed it out!
So tomorrow it’s the office, and sweeping/vacuuming up the dog hair on the hard floors. Then <shudder> there’s nothing but the dining room and scrubbing bathrooms left. <ulp>
Wow, everyone is doing a great job here! I’m feeling a little like a slacker, but my husband and I have actually gotten a lot done.
The table is 90% clear. What’s left on it is some stuff to be mailed tomorrow, and the last remnants of things we’re trying to find homes for. The laundry is largely done. I’m trying to figure out where/how to dry the things that need to line dry or dry flat.
Our bedsheets are in the washer right now. I roasted a chicken last night, with broccoli and mashed potatoes. It’s date night tonight, but we’ll have shepard’s pie tomorrow night. And with that, I’m amazed I managed to plan for multiple meals (two is multiple!). I’m making chicken stock with the carcass now, and that’s fun. I’m still not sure what we’re going to be eating for the rest of the week. I may make chilli and see if I can get my husband to make lasagna.
Oh, and while I was cooking last night, the Kangaroo_in_Black worked on cleaning/decluttering the living room. It looks a lot better, and I’m very glad he’s chipping in.
Finally, I hope this counts, I went into my craft box and pulled out three unfinished projects and started what it takes to finish them. Two of them are intended as gifts (from a very long time ago, but they got lost right before Christmas that year), so as soon as they are done, off they go! They should be done and gone by the end of the week, I hope.
My friend who organises the fridge was over last night, so my fridge is all organized. Probably the pantry is, too. I haven’t checked yet. Anyone want to rent her?
:checks:
Yup, she organized the pantry and under the sink.
Today is my Day Off. Tomorrow is laundromat and work.
This morning, I cleaned the sink area in the bathroom (the countertop and tiles).
Also, I stripped the bad and prepared another load of laundry. And I started on clearing the paper crap off my drawing table. And did the morning dishes.
I am going out to get some fresh air, some gym socks, pepper, and maybe another bottle of Fantastik. I need to draw this afternoon, as well as cook meals for next week. (As a test, I’m saving enough money that it’s cutting into the excessive amount of money I’ve been spening on fast food, restaurant meals, and at the caf at work. So I need to spend less.)
My goals: go through the ‘in’ basket (actually a biiiig cardboard box) to find and pay all bills. Then I will go through at least half a drawer’s worth of the file folders in my filing cabinet, and ruthlessly throw out stuff I no longer need or care about, as well as all the receipt parts of all bills prior to 2006.
At a half drawer per week, my filing cabinet will be finished by mid Feb. Then, I figure, a week or two to file (or directly trash) all the papers piled in my four ‘to be filed’ boxes that’s been building up since the file cabinet was full.
Which means it’ll be March before my home office looks decluttered. Oh, well, it took a lot longer than two months to create this mess.
Today is work-at-my-desk day. Not paying bills or sorting paper, but getting the big rush job done that I kept getting interrupted on what with get up and check the washer, get up and check the dryer, get up and check the washer, get up and check the…well, you get the idea. So today I’m going to get caught up on my paying work. And hopefully do at least a bit of picking up in my office. Whiterabbit is being kind enough to sweep up the big clumps of dog hair – as she said, “It looks like we’ve been invaded by tribbles!” – in preparation for a more thorough vacuuming, but we’ll save the heavier work for tomorrow.
Oh, and I have to go to the gym and at least do my cardio. Which doesn’t get my house clean, but makes me feel better so I want to get my house clean.
I’m waiting for an empty machine in the laundry room. Meanwhile, I have put a big pot of potatos on the stove to boil (and eventually become mashed). I will prepare some hamburger hash. And now I’m going to cut up some carrots and put them in containers, then dice some onions for the meat.
Packaged lunches for next week! (I have to now… I spent the rest of my lunch money on music CDs today: Arabic chillout and Finnish folk.) And I forgot about the gym socks and shoelaces.
)
