Sorting out a cleaning schedule

We have moved into our new house, been here just over 3 weeks, and I think it is time to create a cleaning schedule.

I first came across the idea of "zones" with FlyLady a very long time ago.  Her zones never suited my house so I learned to make my own.   Having just moved into a new house the old zones from a 100 year old house don't suit a modern home with a proper laundry and 3 bathrooms.  (Yes, a Proper Laundry and 3 bathrooms!)

I have taken my old schedule and tweaked it a bit.  It generally takes a good few hours and a bar or two of chocolate to sort it out, but it is so nice once done to have a plan.  And of course the motivation to get it done is high when you have just moved out of a house and noticed just how much dust there was on the tops of the books and how many cobwebs were hiding on walls where I couldn't reach them before.

My scribbles:

I have now created some lovely pages which I will print out and bind with my menu plans for a complete housekeeping book. 

I know there are prettier ones out there but I just wanted functional and easy to understand.  This will work quite well for me for 6 months when I will most likely decide to tweak it.

Now to finish those boxes, create a plan for the new homeschooling authority I need to work with, and figure out how I am going to get enough time to do Uni studies in 2 week's time.

Best wishes
Jen

Colornote and Routines Part 3

Sorry this took a while to get posted.  After the GTC (Great Tablet Crash) of 2013 it has taken some time to get everything flowing again.

In part 1 I explained how I create Colornotes from a Word document on my Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet.  Notes can also be created from any sort of text file.  I have sent files to my son's tablet as a text file in an email and he has been able to save them as notes after a little editing.  In part 2 I showed you how I lay out my notes on the screens of my tablet for easy visibility.

In this part I will show you how I use them on a daily basis.  After the GTC I have subtly changed how I lay out the notes on my screens but I still use them in the same way.

Every morning I do my First Things list.  First, of course!  Usually as I sit and ponder if you know what I mean.  It doesn't take me much longer than 5 minutes to quickly change the routine notes, check the weather, check the calender and add any little jobs that I think of to my Next Action list for the week.

I then steadily work through my lists, marking things as done.  There is a big sense of satisifaction when a note is greyed out due to all its items being marked as completed.  Some times I have to mark things off because I realise that they just won't get done.  That is okay!  I just keep moving, prioritising as I go.

At the end of the day I sometimes take a screen shot or two to save in Evernote to have evidence of the good days.  But I usually just take the option of List, Uncheck all items, and I am ready to go again for the next day.

If I need to change the plans for the day I will put in an extra item like this,  "~~~Doctor's Appointment~~~" and cross off any items that will need to be dropped for the day so I can make the appointment.  At the end of the day I delete the special bit/s and uncheck all the other items again.

Big Tip:  Do not use the sort by status option for routine notes.  It will mess up the order you do things in and you will have to reshuffle it all again for the next use.  I do use the sort by status option on task lists so that the completed items drop to the bottom but then again I won't be reusing them and it keeps the top of the list uncluttered by complete items, leaving only the ones I still need to action.

I also have the week's cleaning laid out on one screen.  I try to work my way through the list by the day I usually do that room but sometimes I do things out of order.  I generally don't uncheck these lists until the next time they come up in my 4 weekly rotation.  That way I know what has been done recently and I can prioritise tasks that keep dropping off the list.

 

So there you go!  It all takes quite some time to set up but once I have it sorted it doesn't take much to tweak it for seasonal changes or a house move.  Or just the little day to day speed bumps in the path of the day.  :-)

Best wishes

Jen

 

Before and After Public School Day 1

6.40am
I had a horrible night's sleep, nightmares about trusting people I don't know.  This is not going to be easy, handing my two precious bundles to strangers who I am supposed to trust just because they are part of the government.

Well, their uniforms are all ironed, they have worn their shoes for short stretches (that reminds me, pack them both some band aids!), lunch boxes are in the fridge packed, water bottles in the freezer chilling and now we need to have breakfast, get faces clean and hair respectable, and put it altogether before 8.45.

Why am I writing a blog instead of getting going?  Because the baby still likes his morning moo and it is not worth his or my stress levels to rush him.

1pm update
Well the boys got settled fairly easily.  No tears, just a quick kiss and off they went.  It is awfully quiet at home with only 2 boys and 1 of them on the computer playing.  It was even quieter when the youngest decided to have a middle of the day sleep for an hour.

This is going to be very interesting, working to someone else's timetable.  But then again it could be very useful because as homeschoolers we haven't really had much of a sense of urgency about anything regularly.

I will start the teenager on his school next Monday, once the dust has settled and things are happening more smoothly with getting to school.

8pm update
Jack said it was a fun day although I think now after gymnastics as well that he may be a bit tired.  I don't know if it was timing or the speed my boys eat at but they didn't have long to eat lunch before going to play.  Lunchboxes came home with a lot still in them.  Of course, it could have also been a panicking mum worrying about my kids starving and packing too much.  lol  Anyway on Grandma's suggestion they have finished off their lunch boxes this afternoon.

Jack (my 10 year old) knows someone in his class from another activity.  I don't think Harry (7) has made any friends yet, but he is my shy one who really doesn't mind playing on his own either.  He has always been that way, even as a toddler.  I would quite often panic because I couldn't hear him when he was about 1.5/2 years old and then find him quietly playing by himself in the sandpit or with a pile of rocks.  So cute!  And not very demanding after the Aspie and the jumping kid!

I am gradually figuring things out like where to meet them for pick up and what "toys" are allowed.  There seems to be a lot of restrictions but the boys will learn.  I guess it is like visiting at someone else's house and having to learn the house rules.

Well, got to wrangle some boys to bed for a story.  Why does cleaning teeth take so long?

Best wishes
Jen

Combining Franklin Covey and FlyLady

Reposting an old idea:
I need to revisit this now I am back to using an electronic organiser.

Over the years I have tried many ways of planning.  A paper binder worked well bk (before kids) and my Tungsten E Palm was good too, but I got to a stage as a homeschooling, stay at home mama that neither of these tools were working for me.

That is when I transferred all my planning pages to index cards and created a paper version of the Franklin Covey software I like to use. I was finding that 20 minutes of daily planning was taking 2 hours of also checking emails, surfing links set in said emails, etc, and then signing off with several games of Spider Solitaire. Not a good start to the day!

Here is how I have worked it so if you're really not into the whole idea of mission statements, goal setting, prioritising etc this could be over the top. It is sort of a combination of FlyLady's CJ and a Franklin Covey planner.

I have my routines written on index cards and inserted into a photo album. The cards are in this order...

1. Morning Routine for me
2. Morning Routine once kids are up (or need to be kick started lol)
3. Breakfast and post breakfast routines
4. Chore Time only written on card
5. An empty space that I put that zone's card into each day as I do my planning (I have my house broken into 6 zones Mon - Sat and then have 4 different weeks that I rotate through for monthly tasks)
6. Yard Time routines
7. School Time only written on card
8. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
9. Morning Tea and School Time
10. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
11. Lunch and post-lunch routines
12. Table Time space for Science/History activities, Art/Craft ideas, Preschool activities, again with post it notes with prompts
13. Project Time space for my personal project time, time for kids to use PC or watch pre-approved DVD, or work together on a bunny trail from our lessons
14. Afternoon routines
15. Dinner and after dinner routines
16. Bedtime routines
17. My personal time routines

How I do my day...

On card 1 I have personal planning time. In this time in the morning I look through some index cards from a file box. These are:

1. Mission Statement/Inspirational Quote for this period of my life
2. Values eg Family, Education, Service with a short statement of what each means to me
3. Roles eg Mum/Teacher, Homemaker, Individual, Church Member, Family Member, Wife, Community Member each again with short brief statements of areas that are important to me in each role eg as Mum/Teacher giving my children basic skills in personal hygeine, 3Rs, etc suitable for their age
4. Project/Long Range Goals with tasks/steps necessary
Eg Homemaker Project 1
Goal: Tidy and catalogue outgrown boys clothing
Tasks: - Sort clothes by size into boxes
- Make a list for each size noting item brand, style of clothing, colour, condition
- Type up lists in Excel for analysis
- Send lists to my mum
- Put list in HMB (Home Management Binder)
- Move boxes to garage

I have cards for all sorts of projects and regularly check through them, pencil in dates when I write a step on a post it note for in my photo album, then cross off as done or rub out pencil because it has dropped in priority and I must do some other Project task more urgently.

I also have a Misc project card for those things that I want to do that are only one task to complete, like posting a letter off or hemming a certain skirt for instance.

Next I insert the appropriate zone card and write up lessons from my Homeschool binder onto post-its in a very brief summary form, sticking them in the appropriate spots in the photo album.

A list like in Franklin Covey overwhelms me or makes me want to do it all now and my routines fly out the window. Having only routines with no place to record big goals/projects or one off tasks wasn't working either, so this is my way of combining the two. Now I know to leave projects till the afternoon, to not get caught up cataloguing clothes when school hasn't been done yet, and other similar dilemmas.

Ok, was that overwhelming?

For me I needed to put it all in one place and my to do lists kept clashing with my routines and I was running around stressed but not doing anything important. So far this seems to be working for me.

Ask away if you have any questions.

The Bubble Routine for Term 1 2012

I don't like time limitations on how I organise my days.  I have learnt that having a toddler or baby almost constantly for the last 13.5 years means days do not run to a clock.  I do however want to have some routines in place, a flow to our day that means I can hopefully get my more important things done regularly.

I have created what I call Bubble Routines, a flow to my day with expanding and shrinking bubbles of time that include certain tasks or events but do not have set times for them to happen.  For example I have my boys all do Language Arts together.  Some days it may mean the 6 year old needs more time and the others will get less, sometimes it is the 9 year old or the 13 year old.  And some days the 3.5 year old may be very demanding and I prune our Language Arts list down to the bare essentials that can be done with very little involvement from me.

Here is my ideal routines for the first term of 2012.  I am very hopeful that I will be able to act on this as I have created matching cards for myself as I find I can get very easily sidetracked.

Believe me, every day doesn't flow as well as my table does but it sure helps to see the map even if sometimes we have gone bush for a while.

Best wishes
Jen

Making change easier on your family

I am looking around a lot at ways to make changes in my family.  I am not happy with some of the habits we have such as late bed times, irregular meals, and general lack of order.  In the past I have been overwhelmed by the resistance I get when I try to change things around here so I thought it was time to learn how to best to implement changes successfully.  

Most of my searching is coming up with corporate solutions but then I realised that the dynamics in a family can be quite similar.

This quote below I found in an article on a business site about the resistance that we get from subordinates when we try to change things and how to implement major changes more effectively.

Anytime we are interesting in introducing any major change, there are three things we must do:

    1. Solicit support from the people who will be affected by the change thereby getting them "on board."

   2. Train them effectively (in terms the staff will understand).

   3.  Follow-up and support the people until the change becomes a natural part of the culture. 

 By doing so, we set at ease concerns people have about the merit of the change. If this is not done, people will either ignore the change, or even worse, deliberately sabotage it.

 Implement as much change as the people affected can assimilate. Too much change may be too difficult for people to cope with. In this event, stage your changes over times. Always remember, "You eat elephants one spoonful at a time."

   

The advice I am finding is helping me to know how to go about changing things in my family.  Sure, it won't be easy, but if I can get the older ones to "buy into" the vision I have for my family and how much better it will be for all of us then I will be happy.

Best wishes
Jen

 

Routines with Very Young Children

When your children are very young the clock can seem to be your enemy. Try this idea for managing your day. Organise your day with small routines inside bubbles of time.

For example before and after breakfast routines that include making beds, cleaning teeth, getting dressed etc leading on to cleaning for you while he does independent play. The amount of time for cleaning/independent play flexes to a longer or shorter time depending on his ability to play on his own that day or how long the earlier parts of the morning routine took. End that bubble of time with morning tea at a set time of day.

Use the same idea for the next bubble of time between morning tea and lunch and so on.

It gives your little one a sense of structure and familiarity to each day but you are not clock watching or forcing an activity to continue when it is a lost cause.

(originally published Dec '09 when my baby was only 6 months old)

My Routine Bubbles

I divided my day into 5 bubbles of routines. Each has a preferred time on the clock but I am realistic with 4 boys, ranging from 2 years old to 12 years old.

My bubbles are:
 - Morning Routine (covers getting up to clean up after breakfast),

 - Cleaning Routine (covers self care and chores in zones (FlyLady principles)),

- School Routine (broken into 3 blocks of about an hour, 2 blocks before lunch, 1 block after; L.Arts first for all, Maths second for all, and Science/History/Creative Arts or independent work for my eldest in the afternoon),

- Afternoon Routine (cleaning up at day's end, for our house and ourselves),

and
- Evening Routine (covers from dinner right through to bedtime).

It helps on the "bad" days to just skip a bubble, usually one of the school blocks or the Afternoon Routine, but the rest I find are essential to keeping our day running well.

Just to make it easier for the boys I created bundles of printed index card sized pages for each of them with their colour as the front card.  They can clip them onto a lanyard to take with them as they work through their list.  I hang the whole lot on the front of a cupboard in my dining room in clear view.

I am finding that my older 2 are really getting the hang of  it now, although I can tend to be slack on following up (and there I go confessing my biggest weakness - inconsistency!).

Best wishes
Jen

Lots of Laundry

With 6 people in the house there is almost certainly a lot of laundry to do each week. Here is how I do it.

There are washing hampers in both my and dh's bedroom and the boys' bedroom. My 8.5yo boy collects them and any stray items left under desk chairs, near the lounge (dh's socks!!) and the kitchen towels. He dumps it all on the floor of the bathroom/laundry.

I sort the dirty washing into 4 washing hampers along the wall and a basin on the floor. My washing hampers are for darks (navy, lots of it, and black); reds and greens; blues; and whites (including grey and other pale items). I have a separate basket for hand washing and the basin is for linens and wet clothes from messes or playing under the hose.

In the morning I put in a light load from the whites or blues basket. When it comes out it gets either hung out or put in the dryer depending on the weather, my mood and how busy the day will be. Next to go in is a dark load from the red, green or darks basket. And it comes out around lunch time to be either hung out or dried.

Each afternoon the washing is folded from the basket near the dryer, which also happens to be next to the back door, where the big boys put it if they had to bring in washing off the line. I sort the washing into a trug per person, and then 2 extra trugs for kitchen linen and baby linen, and, bathroom and bedroom linen. Some days I fold the contents of all the trugs, sometimes one or two, and honestly some days none, but at least the kids are only looking through their own trug for clothes if the drawers or wardrobe are bare.

In the evening just before going to bed I put a load of linen in along with any wet messy things from the basin. I try to get the kitchen towels in but I sometimes forget. I put them on a long hot cycle so all the nasties are gone. All my linen is dried in the dryer. I just like them soft and fluffy.

Now I can get fussy. I do not put either reds or greens into any other load. They are kept separate. I will mix greys, white and pale blues. I will mix navy and black. I don't like putting a dark load in after the linen as left over fluff in the machine may transfer to the darker items.

I wash all of dh's work clothes on one day of the weekend. The lighter work shirts in the morning and his dark shirt, socks and boxers in the afternoon. His shirts are all hung on the shower rail to dry and in the morning he grabs one to iron as he leaves the bathroom. I Do Not Iron. Well, maybe, but not every week, maybe not even every month but certainly not every day.

I have been inspired to share how I do my laundry after reading items here and here.

Best wishes,
Jen
(originally posted on my old blog 24 Oct 2010)