[Closed] Organise me! Tips for home and work please

Get a cleaner.

Write shorter-term to-do lists and be realistic with them.

Ringfence a bit of time for life admin (making phone calls, answering emails etc).

Sprint the chores.

I can blitz the kitchen in 15minutes or dawdle through in am hour don't read single-track while boiling the kettle wipe the worktops or whatever.

I keep a diary which is half week planner and half notebook. The planner gets the days list and the notebook gets journal entry, what I did/didn't manage, what helped or hindered and how can I alter that.

Its something I swore was a waste of time for ages but now I put in the effort it definitely helps make sense of things. And with clarity come a bit more effectiveness at achieving goals.

That and pomodoro technique if I really start drifting.

Any kids, then it's a constant list of stuff to do. You just have to get quicker at stuff.

Put your phone down. They are horrific time-thieves.

Put your phone down. They are horrific time-thieves.

Yes, this, ironically.

Also do not, or if it's too late, sell your, children.

Physically declutter. Ruthlessly. The more crap there is to move/work around, the less likely you are to bother. That includes the garden/garage/sheds.

Outsource what you hate or can't do. I'd suggest a cleaner. Otherwise you end up either doing regular rushed half-arsed wipe rounds with a dirty rag (MrsMC) or infrequent thorough cleans when it reaches the point you can't ignore (me).

Plenty of retired folk round here will cut lawns cheaply. Several friends get their ironing done by local services (especially the friends with 3 sets of school uniforms and work uniforms)

Work out out who is better at doing something and agree who does what jobs, and then the other doesn't interfere.

And if you have kids, properly allocate tasks, especially at the ferrying them to activities stage. Drop them off, go do the weekly shop, or get a run in, stick the bike in the car to get a ride in, find a gym nearby, pick them up. While they are out is the time for a quick tidy or run round with the duster/hoover.

Put your phone down. They are horrific time-thieves.

This, this, and this! My iPhone tells me every Monday morning how much time I spend on average over the week staring at my screen and it can be horrific!

Regarding chores. Break them down into small distinct tasks of 15 mins or so. Schedule them through the week and you will be amazed how much you can get done. I can get all washing, cleaning etc. done Monday through Friday leaving weekends free, or relatively so.

I would, of course, fix it with technology.

The problem with a to-do list is that it's static. If you do it in something like Excel or Google Sheets then you can trivially reorder rows by priority. Hey presto, your next task is the one at the top - you no longer have 15 jobs to do, you have one.

Then, stick it up on OneDrive / Google Drive. Changes are now rolling so no need to worry about saving the document ever again, and you can share the URL so multiple people can access it in multiple places.

I use an app called Todoist which is great and I also plan all my tasks by time, not completion which I really swear by.

Eg I’ll spend 1.5hrs cleaning on Thursday and whatever is done in that time is done, whether it’s a to a greater or lesser extent than planned. I know I’ll be finished by “x” o clock either way.

I’ll spend 1.5hrs cleaning on Thursday

One and a half hours?! What are you cleaning, a small hotel?

I've used 'GTD' as a system, in Todoist (app). Some of the GTD principles are very helpful for being organised, across home and work. On the other hand for GTD to operate correctly you seem to need a big chunk of time to 'review' all your priorities and actions, every week. This doesn't really happen nowadays and I hope there is something better for me - soon to be implementing 'EOS' (Gino Wickman) as I start up a business (whilst being a sole trader + 2 primary age kids + having a sporting/social life + endless DIY/maintenance projects to deal with).

Split the chores. I do cooking and shopping, mrs does ironing and washing clothes. Get a cleaner it makes sure you tidy up a least once a week, we really missed that during lock down.

If you have kids split the drop offs and pick ups. I do everything on Monday Thursday and Friday mornings and Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Wife does the opposite. The spare time is ours to do as we please guilt free. Every night involves multiple drop offs and pick ups as we are about at peak after school activity with three kids.

Some stuff I've found that helps me (but my family would still say I'm a messy and lazy layabout) -

Reduce washing...if working from home then the tops can last more than 1 day of wear - unless you stain it somehow. This reduces the amount of washing and drying needed - easier with no kids.
Set 15 minute blocks and work on a task for that time then move on - whether task is done or not.
A digital planner can help...I've a Google device thing that shows what I have on that day and that helps with planning when to do things.
Try not to stress about the whole list of things to do...focus on the one to do in that 15 minutes then move to next one.
Don't worry if you decide to have a break but make sure you end the break and get back on it.
Play some music to help move you along.
Routines can help, but you have stick to them until they become standard.
I'm amazed at how much work can be done when a time limit is set.

I just try to have especially low standards.

Robot hoover was a revelation for us. Got a Lefant from Amazon and the Shark hasn’t been used since

This might not help, and might be abhorrent to you (as it is my mother and mother in law)

Look at the things you do and determine if you do them because it is what, as a home owner, you are supposed to do (programmed to do) or that you truly see the benefit in doing it. If the answer is the latter then do it, if it is the former then reduce, get someone else, or stop doing it.

The example I always remember was when my mum came to help up out when we moved house and the removal men took away the furniture. She was disgusted by the dust gathered behind the items, I was like "Didn't even know it was there mum until the sofa was moved" my Mum "I used to hoover behind the sofas every week as well as cleaning the bathroom every day and the kitchen and the...............add every thing that would be in the good housekeeping magazine"

The thing to remember is that we live very different lives to our parents with both partners working more than they ever did along with busier, and more active social lives but we are expected to follow the same rules with regards to keeping house.

Do what is right for you and your lifestyle, not what we perceive as being the right thing to do.

Have I managed to justify my disgusting housekeeping routine by hijacking your post? 🙂

Never leave a room empty handed. If you do little things all the time they don’t build up so much.

Never leave a room empty handed. If you do little things all the time they don’t build up so much.

Similarly,

Set yourself up. You've got stuff to take upstairs but no other reason to go up there. Leave it at the bottom, grab it on your way past when you do need to go upstairs. Two trips just became one.

It's piecemeal of course but little chips like this can quickly add up.

The thing to remember is that we live very different lives to our parents with both partners working more than they ever did along with busier, and more active social lives but we are expected to follow the same rules with regards to keeping house.

Do what is right for you and your lifestyle, not what we perceive as being the right thing to do

Very true

This might not help, and might be abhorrent to you (as it is my mother and mother in law)

Look at the things you do and determine if you do them because it is what, as a home owner, you are supposed to do (programmed to do) or that you truly see the benefit in doing it. If the answer is the latter then do it, if it is the former then reduce, get someone else, or stop doing it.

The example I always remember was when my mum came to help up out when we moved house and the removal men took away the furniture. She was disgusted by the dust gathered behind the items, I was like “Didn’t even know it was there mum until the sofa was moved” my Mum “I used to hoover behind the sofas every week as well as cleaning the bathroom every day and the kitchen and the……………add every thing that would be in the good housekeeping magazine”

The thing to remember is that we live very different lives to our parents with both partners working more than they ever did along with busier, and more active social lives but we are expected to follow the same rules with regards to keeping house.

Do what is right for you and your lifestyle, not what we perceive as being the right thing to do.

Have I managed to justify my disgusting housekeeping routine by hijacking your post?

We're much the same. Meh. We don't have kids or pets though so the only mess and muck is ours 😂

Get a cleaner, even when I got my first crappy 3 room apartment, I got a cleaner. Life is too short to be pushing a hoover around.

Never leave a room empty handed. If you do little things all the time they don’t build up so much

This. I'm the only one in our house who does this though. 2 repeat offenders in our house dump their shit all over the place and just leave it there. Does my head in!

Also if I have any kind of significant electronic admin to do, it is way more productive to go and sit down at a proper computer than struggle and faff on a phone. Tend to store this kind of admin up to do in an hour or so at the weekend as I can't face being at a computer any longer after WFH all day.

The number of people on here saying get a cleaner, really?
As others have said it's a mindset change, carry stuff upstairs when you go, wipe worktops waiting for the kettle to boil, take the recycling out, clear up as you go when cooking etc.

Trouble is when you live with others, my two up kids cause a lot of the mess, wife isn't great at putting stuff away and can take a ridiculous length of time to do stuff badly.

+1 on phone use, so easy to lose a couple of hours in the evening which is effectively wasted that could be a ride or breaking the back of the weeks chores. Do stuff as soon as you get in, don't stop, if you do it's very difficult to start again.

However there is no magic bullet, many have grown up not appreciating keeping a house straight does actually take some effort. My parents generation often had someone full time (the woman) doing it, however with today's Labour saving devices it should take a tenth of the time.

Put your phone down. They are horrific time-thieves.

This, mine stays in a different room if I need to do productive stuff. I've got a smart watch but I've limited the notifications. Also turn off notifications on your phone for non-essential stuff.

I just try to have especially low standards.

This is the way to go

As others have said it’s a mindset change, carry stuff upstairs when you go, wipe worktops waiting for the kettle to boil, take the recycling out, clear up as you go when cooking etc.

Yeah I do all that. There's a difference between being tidy and cleaning. I can be as tidy as the next man, but scrubbing a loo or pushing a hoover around can frankly get in the sea. I will do it if I have to, but not only do I not have to, it still gets done.

I find the best approach is to go mad for 30 minutes whilst dinner is in the oven or that dead 20 minutes before going to work. You can do as much as you can during a 3 hours on Saturday when you should be riding 🙂

You don’t say if you have kids, but if you do, get them to do chores. Even if they’re really young they can be taught to put bricks in a box, puzzles in a cupboard, whatever. Make sure there are clear places for everything to live, so there’s no pile of stuff to accumulate because there isn’t a shelf to keep it on, or whatever.

Getting older kids to take some responsibility for ‘collective’ benefit tasks rather than just their own rooms is good too. Hoovering, emptying the dishwasher, taking the bins out are all good tasks for kids. If they have to clean up their stuff they are less likely to make mess in the first place!

The only time I have ever felt on top of the house and not drowning in chores was when I was a stay at home mum, and my job was to run the house and look after the kids. It was full time and full on, but it did mean that weekends were free for leisure activities. I think there’s a reason people in other societies, and many animals, live in groups - it takes a lot of effort to run a home and look after kids. The modern way of expecting people to live as a couple and both work and keep house… no wonder so many are burnt out.

And now, I am going to get off my phone and tackle the Laundry Mountain of Doom. I am yet to put away the clean clothes of my partner, who flew home to the USA a month ago…

I always try and tell my OH that a clean house is the sign of a wasted life. Issue is the in-laws are VERY judgemental when it comes to stuff all over the place and tidying. So she feels as though she needs to tidy. Like others have said, we have very different lives to those of our parents.
I'd rather be out riding, fishing, walking etc.than stuck indoors cleaning and tidying all the time. Part of it is lowering standards but also a little and often approach. We cannot afford a cleaner at present so as a break from work I just whip the Hoover round or quick tidy. Breaks the day up.

This looks interesting...

I wonder it could do a fork service, or even just the lowers?

We had a cleaner. She robbed us. We lost ££thousands worth of family heirloom jewellery, clothing and other belongings

We no longer have a cleaner.

Issue is the in-laws are VERY judgemental when it comes to stuff all over the place and tidying.

An obvious solution presents itself, give them the vacuum and a duster on their way in.

Seriously though, have you considered suggesting they wind their necks in or just ignoring comments even? Let them be judgemental, who cares, no-one will die. It's your house and you're both grown-ass adults, if they have the gall to come round and turn their noses up then they're cheeky bastards and are more than welcome to **** off somewhere tidier.

I don't know why people tolerate this stuff. I love my mother dearly, she's the only family I've got, but if say she lectures me on getting my hair cut (which she's started doing recently) she'll get told to bugger off in short order. Not nastily, we both know it's in good humour (which is likely in part why she does it), but at rapidly approaching 50 now I'm too old and grouchy to be told what to do by anyone.

We had a cleaner. She robbed us.

For balance,

A mate of mine had a cleaner. They got engaged yesterday.

One and a half hours?! What are you cleaning, a small hotel?

1.5 hours for a very cursory clean, I suggest.