How Using a Timer Helps Keep the House Clean

One of the main reasons that many moms dread cleaning the house is because it is so time-consuming.  It often seems that there just are not enough hours in the day to get the house as clean as we want it, and that can be very discouraging.  How do we overcome this obstacle?

Giving ourselves permission to work for a specified amount of time can help.  We may not be able to clean the entire house in an hour or two, but we can make a significant amount of progress.  And if we commit to spending a certain amount of time on housecleaning each day, our houses could be in the shape we want them in before we know it.

How Can I Use a Timer?

A technique touted by many experts is to set a timer for a short amount of time, usually 15 minutes.  We then concentrate on one room for that amount of time, doing the task that we feel needs the most urgent attention first.  When the timer goes off, the time for cleaning that room is up.  Then we move on to the next room and set the timer for the same amount of time.

This approach keeps us from getting stuck on one room for too long.  It forces us to work on every room a little bit each day without spending enough time on cleaning to get burned out.  We may not get one room deep cleaned very quickly at this rate, but we can keep chipping away on each room each day until they are all really clean.

If you want to tackle larger tasks and get the whole family in on it, you could assign each person a task and set the timer for an hour or hour and a half.   Then each family member can work on his or her respective task for that amount of time.  When it’s all said and done, the house should be much cleaner than when you started.

How Does Using a Timer Help?

When you set a time limit on something, it tends to put you in gear to work more quickly.  That means that you can accomplish more in a short time than you would if you had no time limits.  You may not realize it consciously, but your subconscious will be telling you to hurry and get as much as possible done in the time allotted.

Using a timer also lets us know that there is an end in sight.  This further motivates us to do the best job we can, because we know that it won’t last forever.  And when we’re setting the timer for a short time for each room, it also lets us know that we’ll at least get something done to every part of the house by the time we’re done.

Time Management Tips For Moms That Work Outside The Home

Moms that work outside the home can use many time management techniques to blend a better harmony between their working life and personal life.

* If you find yourself working long hours in order to complete the amount of work that is piled up on your desk, talk to your manager about distributing the work between the people in your department.

* Another option is to hire an intern, such as a local high school or college student to help out with the easier work while you concentrate on the more technical parts.  In many cases, interns work for free, so your manager won’t have to worry about additional salary expenses.

* When possible, collaborate with a team of co-workers.  By sharing the responsibility and work load, you will free up some time for yourself.

* Try to think of your commute as more than “a hassle.” Find some ways to use your commute productively, or at least enjoy it. Listen to books on tape, play your favorite music, or use a digital voice recorder to record an audible to-do list.

* Likewise, try to use your lunch hour in a productive manner. Consider this your “me time” and read a novel, paint your nails, or mediate.

* In many cases, a working mom’s biggest cause of stress is child care issues.  If your hours conflict with your daycare provider’s and you have a hard time getting to the daycare at pick-up time, ask your spouse or another family member to pick your child up.

Keeping an Organized House Maintained

Once you’ve got your house organized and looking just the way you want it, how do you keep it that way?  Getting your home organized in the first place is never an easy task but sometimes even keeping it organized can be just as challenging.  With some work and cooperation from the rest of the family it can be less of a problem.  It will take some time to get used to the new habit of keeping organized, but with some kind, friendly reminders, everyone will get the hang of things.

To keep things running smoothly establish a daily maintenance routine.  Everything has its place but it can’t get there on its own.  So, maintenance is vital to the success of your new system.

Keep the entire family involved.  Even the youngest family members can help.  To help make putting things away for small children, label things.  If they are too young to read use pictures cut out of magazines or the latest circular from the mail or newspaper and tape them to boxes, shelves, or drawers to help remind them where their belongings go.  This will help them to remember where certain items belong.

Assign each family member a particular room or rooms then create a chart showing each room in the house and each family member.  Each family member can then be responsible for making sure that particular room is clutter free daily.  Take a box or basket into the room and anything that doesn’t belong in that room place in the box.  Any other item that belongs in that room but is out of place gets put in its place.  Once everyone has gone through their designated rooms, meet in a chosen area and sort through the items and see what belongs where.  One more quick run through to return the misplaced items and you’re done.  Another method is to have everyone work on each room together, and then each family member can take their own belongings to their room.

Despite your best efforts, dirty laundry piles up quickly.  Designate a single place for all dirty laundry.  Color coding the baskets or labeling them darks, whites and colors can make wash time easier and save you time by not having to sort through it all.  Each family member can then put their clothes that need washed in the appropriate basket and when a particular basket gets full, it’s time to wash.

If you happen to live in a two story home, running up and down the stairs all day can be very tiring.  Try keeping a box at the top and bottom of the staircase, in a safe place of course, so if an item is found that doesn’t belong on that floor it can be placed them in the box.  At the end of the day or when the box is full, the items can be put away without you having to tire yourself out by making several trips up and down the stairs.

Consistency is the key to the organization maintenance system you chose.  In order to keep clutter to a minimum each family member must make the effort everyday to help put things away.