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Post by momof3boys on May 10, 2010 13:31:11 GMT -5
Dear members of s.o.o.s., I am often overwhelmed by the amount of cleaning I need to do and often am not sure where to start.  Today I sat looking around my place not knowing where to start. Somehow I decided that the dishes will be my # 1 start to housework. If the dishes aren't done than the squalor only multiplies from there. If the dishes are done....... The counter is easier to get to I will have every thing I need to prepare meals I will not be as ashamed if someone knocks on the door The sink won't overflow when I do laundry (washing machine hooks up to sink) I will not have the bad smell from dirty dishes No mold, mildew or worse will develope These are just a few reasons I want my dishes done first. How do you prioritize? What is first on your list and why? I would love any comments or feedback. |
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Post by messymimi on May 10, 2010 18:52:27 GMT -5
The three D's -- dinner, dishes and duds (clothes).
I don't blame you for attacking the dishes first. Once that is under control daily, add maintaining the counters. Then add wiping out the fridge and using leftovers so they don't go bad. Or whatever you feel you need next, hook it onto the good habit you have built up.
The same can work in the bedroom. Make the bed, and make it a habit. Then add the habit of keeping your night table clear, or spread it out in any direction that helps you.
Working with what builds up first -- dishes, laundry, junk mail -- gives you some control, and a place to start.
I hope this helps.
messymimi
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Post by notsomessyshell on May 10, 2010 19:00:49 GMT -5
I so agree with you! If my kitchen is not clean I do not want to cook in there. My dishes are again getting done every night. Now when I get up in the morning I can make Youngest his breakfast and lunch for school. The day seems to go just a little better. Then after work I can come home and start dinner without having to clean first. I am a much happier cook.  The table clean is just a great sight, too. Makes me want to make dinner because I know we all have a place to eat. Keeping the laundry done keeps the bathroom cleaner. No piles and piles of clothes on the floor. Makes the bathroom smell worse. Why clean the sink or toilet in that environment? How to clean the floor when their are clothes everywhere? Great thread! |
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Post by moggyfan on May 10, 2010 19:54:53 GMT -5
Another vote for keeping up with the dishes as the #1 priority. Makes cooking SO much easier, plus dirty dishes have an "ick" factor after a couple of days.
Along with dishes, another priority for me is mail--in fact, all kinds of paper that comes into the house. I try very hard to only touch a piece of paper once!
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Post by jkai3 on May 11, 2010 7:53:11 GMT -5
Dear One Momof3boys,  I remember when my three DCs where all under five years!(2,4,&5! Getting anything done was a Hugh effort with three around your ankles all the time!  I like, most of the Dear Ones here, Do the dishes first. I felt that as long as I could do this for my family & I that I was proving to myself that I was a good Mum. Plus it made cooking so much easier, & no searching for silverware or plates, etc. So for me dishes are first, then the laundry. But the laundry is done in the order of importance. DH's work clothes are first, then I do mine & DDS. Finally I do the two DDs, I wait to do theirs anymore till last because they have an overabundance of clothing, & they wear something for two hours, & discard it on floor. Plus the DDs are old enough, (17 &18) to do their own if they would just do it. I think you are doing wonderful Dear One! Do what makes You Feel great to have done!   Jkai3  |
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Post by wtfhappened on May 11, 2010 8:43:53 GMT -5
Hey momof3! Seems like most people hit the dishes with you. I must google this "cooking" thing you folks keep referring too... I have started prioritizing the mail in my house; I look around me and see piles of mail and papers in every single room I walk into and have realized that is Problemo Uno for my situation. After that, I think keeping my car clean on the inside and junk out of the floorboards and back seats will be my next daily task; I've been late with bills because of mail getting lost under the seats in the car, and I feel that it's almost desensitized me to my house. I leave the cleanliness of the hospital and get in my level 1-2 car for the ride home to the level 2-3 house and I kind of don't notice the step up in levels each time. /wtf |
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Post by CaringFriend on May 11, 2010 18:43:28 GMT -5
today, i was thinking of beginning to focus on my purse. as in, if my purse is in order, i'll have my keys, pockebook, etc. if i have those, my life will be easier and i'll be less flustered. if i'm less flustered, i'll make better decisions. if i make better decisions.........etc. That's exactly what I discovered - that if I got one area under control, it lead to another, and another, etc. I also discovered the reverse - that, if I start to neglect just one area, it's not long until the others start falling like dominoes!  |
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Post by razy on May 12, 2010 2:36:45 GMT -5
For me it having clean clothes.
Sometimes I find that if I get my clothes under control I can get started on something else.
And of worse comes to worse I have clean clothes so I can go out and get away from the mess.
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Post by lizzie on May 12, 2010 2:56:56 GMT -5
ah, geraniumgrowing, I have seen videos of cats RIDING on those roomba things, it would indeed be helpful if they would switch them on themselves while the human 'staff' were out of the house.
I find that IF I have done the dishes before going to bed, that the kitchen is much easier to maintain the following day - the 'clean start' helps me to not make more mess and spurs me on a tiny bit to maybe tidy a bit more as well.
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