Getting Motivated to Keep up with Housework

It's flylady.net for me too! I completely empathize with you. I really thought that when I became a stay at home mom I would always be organized and on top of housework and paperwork because, what else would I have to do all day? Well, the kids sap most of my energy and time, and I find plenty of other ways to unproductively fill the rest of my time (like spend way too much time putzing around on the computer!).
FlyLady only works if you actually do it, I've found. Her system (FREE, by the way) really does work. But just reading her emails and testimonials all day doesn't get the housework done. :)
Good luck!
K.

Sorry but I laughed out loud reading this. I can't say I'm EVER motivated to clean my house but I do it because it has to be done. I try to make it easier by doing a little bit each day but that doens't always work out. I work full time, 3 days from home and 2 days downtown, have 2 kids under 3, another part time job a new house a dog and a husband so time is limited! Many times I will dedicate a Saturday or Sunday morning and hubby and I will put the kids in front of the tv or toy and power clean. He takes one side of the house (usually the easier side!) and I take the other and we meet in the middle. Here are some time saving tips and way to make it more fun.

Get those swiffer things, put on some fuzzy socks put one under each foot and shuffle around your hard floors a few time. Use your toes to get the baseboards or the edges which you can't usually get with the actual swiffer pole. I also keep a couple in each hand as I'm shuffling I dust down anything that's at arm level as I go.

Turn on and up your music and dance while you clean. My daughter loves this. We dance around the house, I give her a dry rag and she just follows along behind me.

Clean top to bottom. I will clean from the mantle down in my living room and then go clean one more room the same way and come back to my livign room and then vacum or do the floors. I figure by leaving the room long enough for the dust I've just swirled up to settle then when I get back to vacum it I feel pretty good that I've gotten all that dust! Speaking of dust, keep it down by changin your furnace filters often and keeping windows closed. Though I can't take this advice in spring/summer. Too nice not to open the house!

Use scrubbing bubbles. If I am doing deep cleaning one day, I will spray scrubbing bubbles on my bathroom sinks, counter top and toilet and then dust my bedroom. When I'm done with that I will go back to the bathroom and everything is pretty easy to wipe up since the scrubbing bubbles already did the hard job. I use a lot of it too! Then I polish it up with windex. I also use rubber gloves for all my bathroom/kitchen cleaning. Use the ones like doctors they're easier to work with then those dish washing gloves.

Every morning start off being productive. Get up, get dressed, get kids dressed and fed, do dishes, wipe down kitchen counters, throw in one load of laundry and vacum one room. You'll be moving nonstop until about 10a.m. but then you'll have everything in fairly good order and still have the rest of the day to play with your son or be on the computer.

End your day being productive. Dinner, baths, kids in bed, wipe down counters, fold laundry from the morning, load dishwasher, start it. Go to bed/relax!

Keep staging areas. For instance. Get some baskets. If you have stairs, put one at the bottom and top of the stairs and as the day goes, throw whatever belongs upstairs/downstairs in the basket. At the end of the day take the basket up/down, empty it and put back at the bottom/top of the stairs. That way your making one trip per day and the basket keeps it tidy until your able to empty it. Just EMPTY it every nigh or it becomes a place where clutter lives.

Keep certain areas organized all the time. We have a mud room which is where our laundry is and we pass through there from the garage into the house. It can get unamangeable easily if we walk in and drop everything so that's the one place I always try to make sure is organized so that we can easily hang our coats, put our keys on the hook and take our shoes off. Doing it this way keeps those items off the floor and strewn throughout the rest of the house.

Finally! Ask for help! Just because your a SAHM doesn't mean your husband shouldn't assist with some chores. If you can do your chores together they go so much faster, just don't micro-manage. Be glad it's getting done, don't worry about HOW or HOW WELL it gets done and you'll really appreciate it.

Those are just a few of my tips. I hope at least one of those things helps things for you. Don't fight it, find ways to make it more pleasant and it won't feel like such an awful chore. That's the attitude I try to take about most things and it does truly make it easier to manage when you look at the larger picture. Your home is comfortable/safe/clean for your family and guests and that's certainly something to take pride in! Good luck!

One of the best ways for me to get motivated is to invite people over. Then I feel like I HAVE to get the house presentable for guests. Also, I have to remind myself that it's okay sometimes to just do one or two things or to do just a quick pick-up now and then instead of it always being a huge chore.

M.,

I would highly suggest getting a cleaning service. I am in the exact same situation as you are. I hate cleaning my house and have no time to do it. After researching nearly every cleaning service out there I discovered that Maids on Time located in Naperville and Plainfield, does the best job at the most reasonable price.

J.

Hi M.,

I too worked outside of the house, but now I'm a SAHM with a licensed daycare in my basement. I keep EVERYTHING for the daycare downstairs. I notify the parents to remind their kids that "playtime and toys" are located downstairs. You'd be amazed how many compliments I get on my home, you can even see the vacuum lines in the carpet everyday. I put myself on a schedule. On Wednesdays I do cleaning, then again on Saturday morning (because I"m so use to getting up early ..around 5:00 a.m.) thru the week I still wake up early on the weekends. So I get up early on Saturday morning, do the laundry, load the dishwasher, do all vacuuming, sweeping, swiffer wet jet, dusting, bathroom disinfecting, water plants, etc. before my family gets up. I'm listening to soft music and can actually hear myself "think", it's my only "ME TIME" and I look forward to it. Then I still have time to take a hot shower without having to rush or be disturbed by the family. When I get done, sometimes I can even sit back in the recliner and read a book before the family wakes up. By the time they are up, I've laid out clothes for them to wear and they wake up smelling bacon or maple sausage on the griddle, hotcakes, get the picture? It may sound like alot to do at 5 in the morning but hey, I'm awake and can't to back to sleep so I might as well utilize my time wisely.

Here's the sweet part, I don't have to spend the remainder of my weekend doing laundry, housework or any of that NOT FUN stuff, just quality family time with my children and sweet hubby. It also helps that he does alot of the cooking too!

good luck!
B. H.

Remember when you worked outside of the home and you HAD to get it done within a certain amount of time because you didn't have the time? Set yourself up the same way. Make a schedule for yourself that by a certain time, you must have the kitchen floor done (or whatever else that you have to do). Give yourself 5 things a day ( more or less) that you must do by a certain time and if you get them completed, reward yourself with time on the computer/playing with your child or whatever. I know that I get the same way and I work full time. I do this and it keeps me on schedule and the house not as messy!

Good luck!

S.

Flylady.net -- it is helping me! She has a day-by-day "recovery" program for what she calls "side tracked home executives" who are living in CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome)! =) I have two at home, and while I have LOTS of decluttering (read: getting rid of unnecessary STUFF) to do, the kitchen is now always clean, and I do a few basic weekly things that prevent the house from being gross. It's all about baby steps. You're not the only one who struggles with this, but it's true what flylady says: taking care of your house *blesses* your family.

T.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but what really helped me was the Fly Lady and her book, "Sink Reflections." She suggests a schedule for cleaning your house. She also has a website where you can sign up for daily emails, but I don't suggest it as the emails can be overwhelming. www.flylady.net

I don't follow Fly Lady to the letter, but I do a about 20 minutes of housework every day (on top of dishes and laundry). That's not much and the house is fairly presentable 90% of the time. Also, I got rid of my idea of perfection in cleaning. Swiffer wet jet and clorox wipes are my friends.

BTW, I'm an at home mom with 3 girls (10, 7 & 5).

I second the previous post...check out flylady.net I have found her site to be really helpful. IT's free, which is great.... Like the pp, I don't necessarily follow all things, but I try most of them and I have found that when I am really following the system, it truly does help.

M.,

I know what you are going thru...I was a stay at home mom and I have health problems....I know work part time to get me out of the house. Iam now lucky enough to have kids old enough to help clean their rooms and a husband to help. The kids clean their rooms and my husband helps with laundry and helps clean the familyroom. But before this is what I did...I found that I was "lazier" in the day time. So at night i would do dishes,and laundry that my husband hadnt done. Now my husband works many long and hard hours. I try not to do any chores on weekends....Good lucks to you and i hope you find something that helps you...

I won't go into detail as I've read through some of the responses below. It sounds like you've gotten some great feedback. My only suggestion is to have a schedule set for the week. If you have a schedule to follow you'll find that you'll be able to keep up on it a lot better. I personally love schedules. I would call myself "lazy" at times. But that doesn't mean that I can't get things done around the house. At least with a schedule you will know what needs to get done for the day. Start small at first and then keep adding things into your daily routine. Find a routine that will work best for you and your family. Maybe you are a fast cleaner and can do more, or maybe you are slower and choose to do only one big task for the day. I find getting things done in the morning is the best for me. That way you have the rest of the day to enjoy with your kids and when your husband gets home. I have Mondays and Thursdays as my cleaning days. I do at least a load of laundry Monday-Friday. I choose not to clean on the weekends so we can spend that time as a family. I of course do dishes every day and always keep the kitchen clean and tidy. As long as the main room, kitchen and bathroom are clean everyday I find it's easier to deal with. And I'm less stressed and so is my daughter. I actually found that when the house is a mess my daughter tends to act up more. Or she has a harder time finding things to play with. She gets really overwhelmed with a messy house. So you don't want that for you kids.

Good luck!
A.