7 Days A Week

The concept of having certain days for certain tasks is one that will revolutionize your cleaning.  When you always do the same thing every Thursday it becomes so routine you don't even have to think twice about it.  This is a concept I've learned from the book Large Family Logistics.  At first, I was resistant to the idea.  Then I remembered, if nothing changes, nothing changes!  So, I thought I'd give it a try and haven't looked back.  Check out my lists and use them as a guide to create days that meet your needs.

Tuesday is Kitchen Day at our house.  I'm not into sprouting my own grains and making my own yogurt, but I am into having a clean floor.  If you spend an extra 15 minutes in your kitchen every Tuesday, that is 1 hour at the months end.  It adds up and makes a difference.  If your cabinets are overflowing, set your timer on Tuesdays for 15 minutes and start tossing the things you don't really use.

Wednesday.  In LFL that is Office Day (pay bills, make grocery lists, etc).  After having an "office day" for nearly a year and never doing one single thing on my office day list, I changed it.  Now, Wednesday is my day to be intentional about relationships.  It is Bible Study day, I get to hang out with a super fun college girl, and it's a day to spend intentional quality time with my boys.  Today was the first day of the new Relational Wednesday and it was so fun.  I snuggled with the baby this morning, spent more time talking with the big boys, and we had a fun dinner complete with ice cream sundaes. 

Thursday is Town Day.  You could call it Errand Day but Town Day just sounds more fun.  It is such a good idea to put all your errands together so you run them in one chunk of time.  It saves lots of time in the long run.  Having a day that you go to the store every week helps too.  It gets you organized and forces you to plan the menu for the week.  You spend less money this way!

Friday is cleaning day.  In a perfect world the bunk bed sheets would get washed every week.  Not at my house though.  I'm going to try washing them on the 1st and 3rd Friday and cleaning the bathrooms on the 2nd and 4th.  Part of your morning routine should include putting all of your beauty products back under the sink and wiping down the counter quickly when you are done. 

The Dollar Tree has clear, plastic shoe box like storage bins.  I bought 2, threw the lids away, and store my Chi, hair dryer, hair wax, velcro roller, brushes, combs, hairspray, etc...so I can pull the bin out...create the big Texas hair...then put them away.

Saturday-Garden Day.  Saturday is a great day to do the outdoor work.  This includes cleaning out the car and garage.  I hope to start implementing this this week!  You also need to think ahead to Sunday on Saturday.  You need to know what is for lunch after church and what is for dinner Sunday evening.  Saturday is a great day to make a big meal that makes left-overs, or plan a crock-pot meal for Sunday.  You don't want to be caught off guard.  Lay the kids church clothes out Saturday night.

Sunday-The Lord's Day.  At our house Sunday is the best day of the week.  We have set parameters around Sunday to make it different and set apart from the rest of the week.  It is a day where we worship together, we rest and we have fellowship with friends in the evening.  I plan ahead because there is no cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping or computer time for this Mama on Sunday's.  TV is on the list but during sports seasons we love some Sunday Night Football (with Nachos!).

If your current housecleaning system is not working, think about giving this a try.  It's as simple as taking out 7 sheets of paper and writing a day of the week on top of each piece.  Then think about how you want to divide your week up.