Keeping Things Organized on a Busy Schedule

Well my son is almost 6 months old now and I feel like I am finally getting a handle on everything. For those past 6 months I have felt as though I had to re-learn who I was, who this new "mom" version of me was. How can I be a mom, a wife, a fashionista, a business owner, and keep the house clean, do the grocery shopping, prepare meals for my family, etc. I know many of you moms out there feel this way whether you stay at home or go to work full time. It is a huge balancing act and women have been doing it for years, but we all need to find the best solution for us as individuals.

Once I felt as though I had a pretty good handle on the bigger things, I struggled with the 'keeping the house clean and organized' part. There was so much going on during the day that I could never get to the cleaning. My son would go down for bed at night and there would still be a mound of dishes in the sink and all I wanted to do was pour a glass of wine and melt into the couch.

I woke up every morning M-F at 7am saying to myself, "ok, today you need to clean the kitchen, unload the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, vacuum, mop, clean the bathroom, do a few loads of laundry...ya that should cover it" and then I would walk through another room in the house and think, " oh and dust, and clean that mirror, and clean out the microwave." All these thoughts by 7:30am and I was overwhelmed!! The next thing I knew it would be 2:00pm and all I was able to get to was unloading the dishwasher and starting one load of laundry. By 7:00pm that load of laundry was still sitting in the wash just waiting to be thrown into the dryer. The OCD in me knew I couldn't live like this for long and then it hit me, I needed a cleaning schedule.

So I planned it out to start on a Monday, yes I am one of those people who can't start anything mid-week. Whether it be a new diet, work out, cleaning schedule, etc. it has to start on Monday...LOL. Monday it was and my new cleaning schedule for the week looked like this.

Monday: Laundry (all loads of laundry must be done on Monday. Normally I do 4; darks, lights, whites, and sheets)

Tuesday: Vacuum and Mop (vacuum the entire house and mop where needed; mainly high traffic areas)

Wednesday: Bathroom (I do a quick once over on the counters, mirrors, toilet, bath, etc. Not a deep clean, but enough to make it sparkle)

Thursday: Dust (I walk the entire house and dust all surfaces)

Friday: Misc. (I normally pick something for the week that needs a deep clean or something that doesn't need a weekly cleaning such as the microwave, the ceiling fans, a messy cupboard that has been driving me nuts, etc.)

I know it looks simple. One thing per day M-F. But it works! I don't wake up feeling overwhelmed by ALL of the things I need to do that day. I have one focused goal. And after a few weeks of doing this, I started to see how clean and organized my home felt. My husband even praised me for how great the house looked all the time! It was great and I felt like I was a better mom and wife because of it. And because I didn't feel overwhelmed, I spent more time playing and teaching with my son.

This might be old news to some of you 'mom pros' out there, but it is new to me and I am sharing this in hopes that I might be helping any mom out there struggling with this.

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