One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Nine

Wow.... week nine... the very last week of the cleaning/routine section of our quest to a more organized life.

By now, we've all had a week or two to attempt following a routine. I'm finding it both helpful and frustrating. Helpful because it's a push in the right direction, keeping me focused in my "squirrel" filled days. Frustrating because I have yet to have a perfect (according to the routine) day.

But I think the helpful is outweighing the frustrating. It's just going to take a lot of practice and patience. After all, following a routine is not a new habit. It is simply changing the habit I already have.

I have been following a routine for the last couple years of getting up in the morning and moping for a couple hours, then feeding and dressing hungry kids, then slowly cleaning up breakfast, and on the day would go.... with predictable mopey-ness. That was my routine. So I'm not creating a new habit. I'm changing the old, less healthful habit for a better, more God glorifying one. And changing habits takes time, patience, and repetition.

I have found a few things I need to rearrange on my routine, a few things I forgot to add, and a few things I should probably, realistically remove.

Now it's time to figure out when to do those things that are only needed once a month or once or twice a year.

Fitting in the Monthly, Quarterly, Semi Annual, and Yearly Chores

The first thing to do is decide what day you will perform these "sometimes" jobs. I chose to schedule in a Saturday once or twice a month where my chore focus for the day is the less frequent jobs that I most often overlook, such as vacuuming the bedrooms or changing the furnace filter. I chose this day because, most often these jobs are a little more involved than the daily ones, and Aaron is home to help corral kids, if I need it.

Once you know when you're going to hash out these jobs, you'll need to know what jobs and how often. Your list from week three should help you identify which chores get down how often. But how to keep track of them in an easy to follow way and know when you did what?

Well, I'm going to be honest with you. I really like to create my own charts, so that I have a complete "workbook" of my own by the time this year is over. However, I can not think of a better format than Crystal's over at Money Saving Mom. Her customizable Monthly/Semi Annual Cleaning List is perfect for this. So, until another idea comes to mind, that's what I'll be using.

So, the assignment for this week:
1. Figure out when you'll perform your less frequent chores.
2. Map out which chores how often.
3. Keep following your new routine.

I'd love to hear how you've incorporated monthly/semi-annual chores into your routine.

Next week, we'll be moving on to menu planning, grocery lists, and grocery shopping. Yay! (totally sarcastic)