Like many people, chores around here have got a bit slack during the last six months. Between isolation learning, being pregnant and never seeming to have enough time, the chores around here have almost been about surviving and keeping the house at some controllable level rather than actually getting anything properly tidy.
For a large chunk of lockdown, our kitchen table was our school classroom, so in the corner of the room there was a large tote bag with all the print outs, workbooks and pens we were using each day. This definitely annoyed Chris as the corner was never tidy but it was definitely a bit easier than putting everything completely away each day and getting it out the next day. Chris and I would regularly discuss how Jaxon learns better getting up and doing rather than sitting at the desk and learning that way. (Anna at The Whimsical Cloud has definitely been helping me with that – her two little ones are home-schooled and they do a lot of “up and doing” rather than worksheets at a desk).
So now Jaxon is back at school and Rex arrived about ten weeks ago. When I started this blog post, I was about 6-7 weeks postpartum and was still trying to take it easy. I was being told off by a friend via IG that I was overdoing it and needed to chill. I’m also trying to restore some order to our house. Rather than writing all 101 jobs on one to-do list and getting overwhelmed, I decided I needed a plan of sorts to follow and having seen KatyKicker mention #TeamTOMM on her Instagram Stories, I headed off to Google to see what it was about – I also found TOMM (The Organised Mum Method) printables which would help me organise that to-do list into different days.
So starting a few Mondays ago, this is what my to-do list looked like when I got up in the morning. Yes okay, so some of that might have been a little heading towards the overwhelm but it was okay – I’d got it under control.
As the weeks have passed, the list has got shorter. There’s a list of 5 or 6 household tasks and then I just add the other errand and tasks that need to get done. In the last week, we’ve been getting into more of a routine with Rex’s naps so it’s been a little easier to block out time to clear my to-do list (or get distracted and do lots of Christmas prep stuff). Prior to this, I was spending a lot of nap time sat on the sofa reading or working my way through my YouTube subscriptions. (Right now I have Trent and Allie playing in the background. I’ve been working through their back catalogue ahead of their new videos on Mondays and Fridays).
Today is Thursday, so it’s all about the kitchen. Well, at least it would be but for now I just need to muddle my way around the rest of the downstairs to try and restore some order. The weather this week has been really wet so I have still got washing drying in the kitchen for now. I managed to get a load to dry outside and the dryer is currently running to clear the underwear and towels which always take up the most space/pegs when trying to dry either inside or outside.
The great thing about The Organised Mum Method is that after “Level 1 Jobs” (these are your frequent/everyday jobs), you then focus on one room a day (minus the weekend) so that you can keep the house on track. This definitely helps than trying to tidy the whole house in one go and then feeling overwhelmed (and then if you’re like me procrastinating!). You can find the printables to get started here.
I’m hoping to properly get onto the chores on a daily basis and hopefully find that the house is a heap tidier overall.
What do you do to make sure your living space is clean and tidying? Do you have any tips or tricks?
