First, put your hair up like this...
The DAILY DUTIES of the HOUSE SERVANTS are as follow:–
The beds are stripped, and slops emptied in all the rooms. Then bed-making follows ; then the sitting-room not used for breakfast must be swept, dusted, and arranged ; and then the routine cleaning of the day must follow. Every household has good reasons for each day’s work.
from Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management…
So it could be worse. You don’t have any house servants, maybe (where did mine go?) so you have to do all the daily duties yourself. But at least that doesn’t include emptying the slops in all the rooms.
The Need for Minimums
You need daily and weekly minimums in place in order to keep your household functioning at a reasonable level of cleanliness and order. This does not mean you have to follow a 20-point cleaning regime everyday, or work out a complicated rotating chore schedule. If you’re into that sort of thing, hey, knock yourself out. For me, minimums are the way to make sure that 1) we all have clean clothes to wear, 2) the house is at a decent level of order and neatness, 3) we have adequate food, and 4) if I accomplish nothing else today, we’ll still be okay in the morning.
I admit: #4 is usually the most powerful motivator for getting through the minimum work on those draggy days. Hey, as long as it gets done.
Make Your Own Minimum
I’m going to give an example of my daily and weekly minimums, but yours might be different. It’s a matter of preference, lifestyle, and practicality. A daily minimum should be something you can accomplish within about an hour. Weekly minimums are a bit different, as they might include errands and other items that take a bit longer, but just be sure you don’t have to many of them. Remember, this is not your “all of these things will happen in an ideal week” list. This is your minimum list. Get through it, and then you can get started on your ideal list. Just don’t get caught up on item #3 of your Ideal List before accomplishing your minimums. First things first.
My Daily Minimum:
Make bed
Do one load of laundry
Straighten bathroom
Sweep
Prepare dinner (or figure out an alternative!)
Clean kitchen (do the dishes, wipe down counters, put away food)
Straighten kids’ room
That stuff is usually accomplished within the first hour or so of the morning after the kids get up; sometimes laundry isn’t finished until afternoon or evening, but it gets done. Having it all accomplished as early as possible frees me up to write, make phone calls, go outside and play with the kids, take a nap, sit and relax with my husband when he gets home from work. I also have a minimum list for before bed.
Before Bed Minimum:
Clean up kitchen
Make coffee for tomorrow
Sweep in d.r.
Pick up toys, straighten
That’s it. I’m tired at night; I keep things to a minimum of minimums. But it’s worth trudging through those brief activities, even when I’m dead-tired, because in the morning I can get up to a fresh pot of coffee, a clean kitchen, and a neat house. Not perfect, but calm and in decent order.
My Weekly Minimum:
Clean bathroom
Sweep and mop all hardwood floors
Wash rugs, towels, sheets
Collect and empty trash
Plan menu, get groceries
Run important errands
I don’t like running errands; it’s a big waste of time, as far as I’m concerned, and it’s a pain to unload and load two small children for five-minute stops. I eliminate as many errands as I can, or save them for the weekend or evenings when we’ll all be out together and Joe can stay in the car with the kids while I run in and out. We also do grocery shopping in the evening most of the time, a quasi-family outing. Hey, the kids like riding in the cool-car grocery cart, I get help with the loading, and Joe gets to throw a few extras in… It works for us!
So how do you set your minimums?
I don’t have a list; I just think about the things that I are repetitive, day in and day out. There’s a certain level of order that I must have, and that’s what makes up my daily and weekly list. There are probably a few items I could add that would make life a bit cleaner and smoother, but I like to keep my minimum streamlined.
If you’re not sure where to start, follow yourself through a morning and evening, and note what you do automatically (empty dishwasher? make sandwiches for lunch?) and what really irritates you when left undone (no clean socks? messy bathroom?). Make a short list and walk through it every day; it will become habitual quickly, since most of the items probably are habitual already. Just start including those other few items that really should be done every day and cause frustration or problems when not accomplished. Keep it short and sweet, and do it consistently.
Share your minimums! Leave a comment or link below!
Image courtesy of KarensWhimsy.com.