Have you got a to-do list 5 miles long? Does your weekend feel too short because you spend the vast majority of your days clearing messes, catching up on laundry and mowing the lawn? Stop right there! It’s time to make your chores efficient and to help you learn that sometimes, it just doesn’t matter if the shirts go in the washing machine right this second or in the next hour.
We put huge amounts of pressure on ourselves to ‘keep on top of it all’ to have show-ready homes that could be right out of a catalogue rather than somewhere a family actually lives and grows. It’s not only an unrealistic presentation but it just creates further stress for you when your home should be a place of rest and relaxation. Rather than descend into chore madness, we can help you make your chores streamlined and reduce the stress of maintaining a home.
Get Everyone Involved
Unless your kids are firmly in the ‘can’t walk, can’t talk’ age range, then everyone in the family can get involved in the chores. That’s not to say you should immediately send your three-year-old out to go and clear the gutters but instead, consider what they are capable of and make chores into a fun, engaging game.
If you are pairing socks or picking up messes, this can easily become a fun activity as you race to be the first to finish or the one with the highest number of matched socks. As they get older and their motor skills improve, they can be trusted to do bigger chores such as hoovering, cleaning the windows or taking out the rubbish.
Simplify Big Tasks
Have you got a display cabinet that takes you hours to dust or is the lawn just not quite taking, no matter how much you baby and meticulously care for it? These kinds of big tasks can be simplified by;
- Reducing the amount of clutter on display. There’s nothing wrong with having items out but why not make it easy for yourself and keep the number of items to a minimum. You can rotate different items for different seasons, giving you a good opportunity to give everything a proper clean when you swap the items over.
Alternatively, reduce the number of items in a single display and set up a display in another room. This way you can at least tackle different rooms on different days and average the time taken to clean.
- Swap your fussy seeded lawn for low-maintenance artificial grass. No mowing, no watering, no fighting with weeds (when installed with a sufficient weed membrane). Artificial lawn not only saves you time but it will save you money and with a variety of products available, you’ll find one that looks just like the real deal.
The No Empty Hands Rule
How many objects do you put down in a room that just sort of stay there, indefinitely, until you finally get onto your chore list and put everything back away? For most people, the number is pretty high but this can quickly make rooms look cluttered as things pile up. Regardless of whether they are that morning’s post, last night’s dinner plate or a pillow you used on the sofa.
The no empty hands rule is as it sounds, you don’t leave a room empty-handed, especially if you are headed past or in the direction of the item’s original location. This can quickly streamline your to-do list and helps keep clutter and mess to a minimum.
Make sure to reward your kids and yourself when you reach the end of your to-do list! Everyone loves to achieve and receive reward and there’s no reason you can’t introduce your own chore reward system to motivate yourself and your family members. Work smarter, not harder when it comes to maintaining your home and spend less time doing the things you dislike and more time doing the stuff you love!
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