Ep. 23 Creating Systems for an Organized Home
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blog recap for this episode
In this episode, we’re chatting about creating systems for an organized home. Systems are Kristin’s nerd superpower so we talked about the practical aspects of what Kristin is currently doing to keep her home running smoothly, why a good system works, and how to create your own home systems.
We talked about the key step of being proactive about your home routines and the secret to implementing systems that STICK and how to fix them if they’re not quite working.
Kristin’s daily and weekly home to do list to keep things running smoothly:
DAILY list
Make bed
Unload dishwasher
Wipe counters
Dishes
Sweep
Start DW
Take garbage out
Straighten living room
WEEKLY list (Mondays - “home reset”)
Straighten kitchen/living area
Vacuum
Laundry
Water plants
Meal plan
Groceries
Meal prep
Sometimes I do a “mini reset” on Thursdays if I need to vacuum again, run to the store, or do a load of laundry.
The key seems to be being proactive about your home routines and doing them BEFORE the situation becomes dire! Doing a handful of dishes after each meal is much easier than a pile of dried, extra gross dishes at the end of the day.
Why this system works:
It’s a repeatable system that allows me to NOT think about or make decisions about home stuff throughout the week
Only takes a couple hours in the mornings + laundry throughout the day
It’s proactive, not reactive
I do the task even if it’s not “ready” (like if the dishwasher isn’t completely full)
Some tasks I do more for the effect it has than the worth of the task itself. (For example, making the bed helps me feel like things are under control first thing in the day and I feel great about myself every time I walk in my room and it’s done. It also gives me momentum to do more throughout the day.)
How to set up your own home system:
List the things that you NEED to have done in order to feel under control. (This doesn’t have to be what you SHOULD do -- if you don’t care as much about dirty floors, mopping doesn’t need to happen every week.) I suggest the minimum to start with systematizing is the kitchen/dishes + laundry.
Decide how often each item should be done. Keep it SIMPLE! Just start with daily/weekly lists.
Decide if you’re an “a little everyday” person or a “a lot once in a while” type of person. (Some people prefer one load of laundry a day -- I like doing a laundry day once a week and not thinking about it for six days in between.)
Make the lists visual so your brain doesn’t have to work at all to remember what needs to be done.
Get help! Enlist your kids, spouse, or a cleaning lady to take things off your plate.
Most importantly: notice where you’re getting stuck or where something isn’t working and fix it! Create a step in the system to resolve that part. The key to effective systems is in tweaking and trying again!
For example: What part of laundry day do people get stuck at? FOLDING. I had this problem until I started folding it all Monday evenings after the kids go down while I watch a fun show on my laptop.
links mentioned in this episode:
Kristin's favorite thing this week: Deep focus playlist on Spotify
Laura's favorite thing this week: A fun, clever and thoughtful podcast called Heavyweight it's a great one!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast!
If you have any questions, comments or ideas on this topic we'd LOVE to hear in the comments below or you can join the conversation on instagram @jointheprogressproject
