Housework motivation, sharing ideas!

When my daughter was young we used to do a family cleaning on weekend mornings.   We'd each choose, or draw, a room and then set a timer for 20 minutes and get going.   We'd also take turns picking what music we put on for the 20 minute blitz.    My daughter had "age appropriate" lists for each room so she'd know what to do.    It was a fun way to get everyone involved and knock out a bunch of tidying all at once.   Do that 2x and that's 6 rooms (more if you have a bigger family!).    Keeping up with it that way meant freeing up time later for bigger projects or family outtings, and also meant that the effect was cumulative and each week a bit more of the tasks for each space got done.

Now that I'm single with grown kids out of the house,  I do this more in a tracking task chart for myself.    20 mins, per room, per week.   Set a timer for 20 minutes, stay on task, and check it off the chart!  Here's my block for Dec (in my bullet journal).  Nothing fancy.   I include yard work and an "extra" box for thing like closets, utility room,  even my car counts.

Heather Staas wrote:
When my daughter was young we used to do a family cleaning on weekend mornings.   We'd each choose, or draw, a room and then set a timer for 20 minutes and get going.   We'd also take turns picking what music we put on for the 20 minute blitz.    My daughter had "age appropriate" lists for each room so she'd know what to do.    It was a fun way to get everyone involved and knock out a bunch of tidying all at once.   Do that 2x and that's 6 rooms (more if you have a bigger family!).    Keeping up with it that way meant freeing up time later for bigger projects or family outtings, and also meant that the effect was cumulative and each week a bit more of the tasks for each space got done.

Now that I'm single with grown kids out of the house,  I do this more in a tracking task chart for myself.    20 mins, per room, per week.   Set a timer for 20 minutes, stay on task, and check it off the chart!  Here's my block for Dec (in my bullet journal).  Nothing fancy.   I include yard work and an "extra" box for thing like closets, utility room,  even my car counts.

Cool idea Heather.

I like a tidy place too, and found instead of wearing myself out going from room to room constantly bringing stuff to their respective places, I now make piles for individual rooms. When I am done cleaning that room, I then cart the piles to their rooms and put it away.

It may not seem like it would be much different, but it saves a ton of walking back and forth, and saves a lot of time.

I do this at work too since I hate a messy place. Luckily, I only have one other coworker at my location and he likes things organized too which is nice.

We got 'cleaning Sundays':
I swep floors and clean dust, my wife does the toilets and the laundry. No timing. If it is dirtier it takes longer that day.
And we got 'deep cleaning season' in Spring and Fall:
that's cleaning the insides of the fridge, the kitchen filters and greasy furniture, the bathroom walls and glasses, tidying the cellar, shake the carpets

Anything that gets dirty by the day we try to clean it immediatly: the dishes after every meal, the kitchen stoves after cooking (not always, and may be left for next cooking if we are in a hurry). If there's a chocolate stain on the door (little surprises of our little critters), we clean it on the spot.

Althought the baby is messing with our schedule, we try to keep at it.

Steve, that's part of my reasoning for the chart too, lol,  so I STAY in one area and focus on it hahha.   Keeps me on task and not losing time.  Otherwise I'd take something to the kitchen,  do something "while I was there",  hear the washing machine go off,  take a load outside,  bring the dogs with me,  decide to look at the gardens...   and the living room would go UNTIDIED lol.    Having a space and a timer keeps me efficient and is more effective for me ;)    I get a lot done in 20 minutes when I'm not wandering away.  

Right now, I have a few themed days, like "Wash It Wednesday" for laundry and catching up on dishes if need be. For "Thoroughly Clean Thursday," the house is divided into 5 zones, and I focus on 1 zone per week. It helps me stay focused and not to get overwhelmed. Some basic things like sweeping are done more regularly.

I have a toddler, so a lot of my cleaning either involves her messes or teaching her how to help, so it takes longer. But because of her, I also find myself trying to make it more fun. Sometimes we just need to throw all of the clothes in the air before we fold them or have water play on the floor before we mop.

Ah,  Nikki I miss those days <3    My daughter is mid-30s and no grandkids on the horizon.  

You made me smile thinking about all the "activities" that chores turned into.    Pots and pans drums...   laundry forts...  

Our daughter lived in a three bedroom two bath house.  When she sold it and moved into our two bedroom two bath house she was amazed at how much easier it was to keep clean.

What helped me most was I found Fly Lady.  Her principles and advice made it so easy for me to accomplish what I had to do.  Mostly she helped me learn how to get it done.

Back then, she recommended putting your shoes on before you do anything else.  That is the one thing that stands out that I think helped me.

I hate keeping shoes on, but I like FlyLady's other advice. Straightening the bed first thing in the morning probably makes the biggest difference for me. Still working on emptying my sink every day, but it does feel good to wake up to a clean kitchen when I do it.