Working Person's Housecleaning Plan

Also see: [Housecleaning Methods]

 [Stay-At-Home Housecleaning Plan]

 When life is confusing, overwhelming, and home management time is short (or non-existent), there is still opportunity to have a neat and clean home.

Use the Working Person's Housecleaning Plan to help you function as a higher level, keep the house neat, and perform your home management tasks with a regular routine.

First, acquire the following:

    1 index card box (3" x 5" size)

    1 Working Person's Housecleaning Plan PACKET (available on this web site)

    1 Working Person's Housecleaning Plan DIVIDERS (available on this web site)

Second, label the index card dividers:    

Third, put the WORKING PERSON'S HOUSECLEANING PLAN packet cards behind  the appropriate WORKING PERSON'S HOUSECLEANING PLAN index card dividers.

Beginning tomorrow morning, do as many of the "Daily DO" jobs as you have time for before you leave for work.  Return the cards to their appropriate place after the jobs are done.  When you return from work, finish the rest of the "Daily DO" cards.

On the second day, start over again with as many of the "Daily DOs" as you have time before leaving for work.  Return the cards to the appropriate place after the jobs are done.  When you return from work, finish the rest of the "Daily DOs" and continue with the "Daily Chores" cards (cards labeled Daily 1-7) as time allows.  When these jobs are done, return these cards behind the other "Daily Chores" cards so you will know which job to begin with next time (as that card will now be in front).

When you have extra time to tackle your housework on your day off, complete the "Daily DO" cards, then tackle the "Daily Chores" cards, then start the "Weekly DO" cards.  If you have more time, begin the "Weekly Chores" cards (cards labeled Weekly 1-31).  Return the cards to their appropriate places after you have done these jobs.  If you don't get all the jobs done, put the cards for jobs that are done, BEHIND the other "Weekly Chores" cards so you will know where to start next (as that card will be in front).

If you have time past that, begin the "Monthly DO" cards; and finally, tackle the "Monthly Chores" cards (cards labeled Monthly 1-7).  Return the "Monthly DO" cards to the appropriate place.  Put the "Monthly Chores" cards for the jobs completed behind the other "Monthly Chores" cards so you will know which job to begin with next time (as that card will be in front).

On wash day, do the "Laundry DO" cards.  These you will write up (using the blanks provided) according to your current laundry situation.  Then tackle the "Laundry Chores" cards (cards labeled Wash 1-4).  As each kind of wash is done, put these cards behind the others so you will know which "Laundry" job to do next time.   

As each month passes, do the jobs listed on the "Monthly" cards (those which are done annually:  January, February, ... those which are done semi-annually:  Jan/July...  and those which are done quarterly:  Jan/April/July/Oct) as time allows.  Refile these cards behind the next appropriate divider after the job is done.  If the job doesn't get done, file the cards anyway so you can approach the job the next time it comes up for doing.  

For instance, Mary works 8-5, Monday-Friday.  She purchased the "Working Person's Housecleaning Plan" PACKET and the "Working Person's Housecleaning Plan" DIVIDERS.  She set up her index card box and index cards dividers, and filed the housecleaning cards behind the appropriate index card dividers.  

On Monday morning she did her "Daily DOs" and got three of the "Daily Chores" cards completed after work.  She filed these three "Daily Chores" cards behind the other "Daily Chores" cards so she would know where to start next time.

On Tuesday morning, she did her "Daily DOs" and finished the remaining four "Daily Chores" cards after work.  These cards were filed behind the other "Daily Chores" cards so she could start at the right job the next time.  She continued this routine as the week progressed.

On Saturday she did her "Daily DOs", then her "Daily Chores" cards (she was getting the routine down quite well now), and finally her "Weekly Do" cards.  Then she started on her "Weekly Chores" cards.  She got ten of these jobs done before she had to divert her attention elsewhere.  These ten "Weekly Chores" cards she filed behind the other "Weekly Chores" cards.  The next week she would tackle more "Weekly Chores" card jobs.

On Saturday afternoon she asked her husband to help her with some of the "June" jobs (as this was the month in which she set up her card system).  He agreed and they got four of these jobs done.  She refiled these cards behind the next month in which she was to tackle them and planned to finish the "June" jobs (with her husband's willingness and as time allowed) on the next Saturday evening.  

Sometimes Mary got ill and although she went to work, she did little at home but sleep, wash, and get ready for the next day's work.  But when she got well again, she approached her housecleaning by doing the "Daily DOs" first, then the "Daily Chores" cards as time allowed.  On the first Saturday after she was well, she finished the "Weekly DO" cards and then started on the "Weekly Chores" cards where she had left off.  Soon she was in control again of her routines, her home, and her life.

As each month passed, she did as many "Monthy" jobs as she could, moving the cards forward to the next appropriate place.  Sometimes there wasn't time to do all the jobs, but mostly she was making great progress.

Working outside the home presents tremendous challenges, but with the plan in place, good routines established, and persistence, any woman can gain more control and find a greater sense of peace than ever before.

Tell me your story by writing me at marie@houseoforder.com.  

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