Keeping House with a Daily Minimum

Jun 26, 2009

Part 4 of the series: The Get-Your-Life-Together Plan

The idea comes from, well, who knows, originally, but I picked it up from a great book called Totally Organized by Bonnie McCullough. This is a great book, by the way, look for a review of it soon.

Here's what McCullough says about what she calls...

"...MM (minimum maintenance) can set you free by 9:30 in the morning or have you ready to leave for work on time-and that means with breakfast wiped away, children dressed, dinner planned, and the clutter cleared."

Oh beautiful for spacious skies. I want to be set free by 9:30 in the morning, don't you?

Let's continue with Ms. McCullough:

"The MM system is easy to use. It calls for daily, organized house "keeping" rather than weekly or seasonal house-cleaning ordeals."

I like avoiding anything that can be referred to as an "ordeal" because, well, that's just not my cup o' tea. However, even with daily minimums, I still have a need for a slightly lengthier weekly cleaning time. But when I'm faithful with that daily deal, my weekly cleaning is quick and easy; and if I have a week where I simply can't get to it, the house is still presentable, just not quite as clean as I'd like it to be.

We'll return to a bit more advice from McCullough momentarily. For now, I'd like to walk you through my version of a Daily Minimum.

My Best Days

My best days are those when I rise early, follow my morning routine, and dive into my Daily Minimum as soon as the kids and I finish eating. Some days I dawdle, and drink another cup of coffee, and give orders to my imaginary maid; those days I don't get through my minimum by 9:30. Some days I get sidetracked and decide to clean out Mara's closet halfway through the minimum; those days I don't get through by 12:30. Some days I go with the urge to flee the house rather than clean it, and load up my pajama-clad children so we can "take breakfast to Daddy," which is really a great excuse to buy myself a latte; those days I don't even remember what minimum means until bedtime, when I rediscover its importance. But all failures aside, the DM or MM or whatever you want to call it is a great tool for keeping a house running without hours of effort. A good routine to add to your arsenal.

My Daily Minimum

(I begin directly after breakfast; I put the breakfast dishes in the sink as I'll return to the kitchen at the end of the routine.)

Kids: send Mara to go potty and get dressed; take Zeke and Robbie with me and change diapers and dress them when I get to their room.

Laundry: start one load.

Bathroom: Hang towels, clear out laundry, swipe counter/sink/toilet with peppermint cleaner, shake out rug, sweep.

Master bedroom: Straighten, put away clothes/shoes/Joe's random stuff/my books, make bed

Kids' bedrooms: Pick up clothes, make beds, straighten, put away toys/books/etc.

Entry/living room: Straighten, return toys to appropriate spots, sweep.

Dining room: Clear off and wipe down bench and table, sweep, mop.

Kitchen: Empty drainboard, empty dishwasher, clean breakfast dishes, get dinner started (I try to get as much done as I can so evenings are easier).

Laundry: Switch load to dryer.

Done.

The Professional Method

Now to return to the professional. McCullough says to "give each room five minutes before leaving for work or starting any major project of the day. You put away, straighten up, and wipe off." That's basically what I do with each room of the house.

McCullough recommends starting with the entry, but since my entry way consists of a 2 by 6 foot space with nothing in it, I don't work that way. I start at the messiest point in the morning - bathroom - and work my way back around to the kitchen, so when I start working on dinner, I already have my cleaning done.

Determine Your Daily Needs

So how do you determine your daily minimum? Experiment. Watch yourself. What actions are you repeating anyway? What part of your house needs attention on a daily basis? If you have kids, and they spread their toys around, you'll have more to deal with and you need to remember that a daily minimum doesn't mean a picture-perfect house all day long. You do have to live there, and so do your kids.

A few more pointers from McCullough:

Don't get distracted by deep cleaning projects.
Make the dinner decision early (even if you don't start on your prepping early, as I do).
And this advice is my favorite: "Don't let the needs of others control your life. ...Don't just drop your world. Do the maintenance first. ...Learn to reward yourself after, rather than before, your MM is finished."

Remember, too, that there is flexibility here. As McCullough points out, a working (outside the home) person could half of the DM before work and half upon arriving home in the evening. Since I work from home, I like to get it all done so I can relax and eat chocolate while ordering my kids around relax and focus on writing and playing with my kids for the rest of the day.

Get started

You can be as simple as you want about this. Make a list on a piece of paper or an index card, post it somewhere obvious (bathroom mirror? kitchen cabinet?) and just be sure you complete everything on it sometime by the end of the day. The sooner, the better. This and your morning routine are your new best friends.

You can also download a couple of printables here to help. They're all in one downloadable file: one is a daily minimum routine check list you fill in yourself, and there's also a partially filled-in version; the other is a daily minimum check list that's already filled in, you just have to check it off as you go.

I've made them weekly so you don't need a separate sheet of paper for each day. Also, if you see you missed an item on Monday, say, you can be sure you get it completed on Tuesday.