/**/ The Purposeful Wife: 2 Strategies to Improve My Homemaking Game

Friday, January 13, 2017

2 Strategies to Improve My Homemaking Game


Keeping a neat and tidy home is not my forte. I'm not the messiest person on earth, but I'm a far cry from the cleanest. I aspire to greater order and cleanliness {especially when I spend time on lovely websites like Clean Mama and Just a Girl and Her Blog, for example}. There have definitely been improvements in my housekeeping abilities since getting married and inhabiting my first apartment 8 and a half years ago, but I still fluctuate in consistency, and there is marked room for improvement.

This New Year I'm trying to adopt two major habits to conquer the beast that is housework.


Clean as you go. My husband is definitely the tidier of the two of us, and he is constantly pointing out how much easier my life would be if I just picked up after myself right away. He isn't being mean or unkind, just genuinely trying to help me. So I'm trying to shake off my stubbornness and seriously build this habit.

I've blamed my inability to put clothes in the hamper immediately, hang the kids towels up right after baths, or make the kids put away toys as soon as they're finished with them on the many distractions and urgent interruptions I have as a mom of 3 kids 5 and under. While there is certainly an element of truth to this {hello diaper blow outs, bloody noses, and spilt milk}, if I made immediate pick-up my modus operandi, I'm sure that order would prevail 90% of the time.

When I take clothes off, they need to go in the laundry sorter immediately. Instead of putting dirty dishes on the counter, load them straight into the dishwasher or quickly hand wash. The book I've just finished doesn't go in a pile on my nightstand or desk; it either belongs in my library bag or on the bookshelf. If it takes less than 30 seconds, just do it now.

You might really be encouraged by Katie's article: How I'm Keeping My Home Tidier than Ever When Life is at its Craziest Yet. I know I sure was! I keep coming back to it, both in my mind and as a good reread.


Spend 20 minutes a day cleaning. I first came across the idea in this article {thanks Anna!}. I figured that if a busy homeschooling mom of four could spend find 20 minutes every day for cleaning, and if it made such a big difference in her home, it just might work for me too.

I've jotted down a list of ten basic cleaning jobs that should be done every week in our home. Think bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, etc, divided by area. Each morning after school is finished and the kids are playing I intend to set a timer and tackle whichever two on the list are most pressing.

I'm really trying to develop a good and consistent daily schedule that works for us right now. Thanks to the helpful tools of time blocking my day, a friend to keep me accountable, and this pretty free printable planner, I'm off to a good start.

And if worst comes to worst, we can all take encouragement in this lovely post from The Humbled Homemaker- as long as our family has clean clothes, dinner on the table, and clean dishes, we're accomplishing the most necessary things. Prioritizing our tasks and working hard to do what we can is the goal. Ever-elusive perfection? Not so much.


How do you stay on top of housework? Do you have any new strategies for improvement in this area?

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