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Last updated on April 10th, 2022 at 04:14 pm
During the past few years, I’ve become more practiced at managing, well, life. I’m often asked how I find time to manage it all —work, home, homeschool, and everything in between. It’s taken several years of trial and error and discipline to figure out how to manage everything. And I’m by no means perfect at it. But I’ve developed 4 practices to streamline home management and organization.
While it seems boring and humdrum to do the same things all the time, rhythms and routines are how we begin to thrive. Creating habits around home management is how cleaning and organizing become less of a big deal …most of the time.
Today I’ll share with you the 4 practices that help me streamline home management and organization.
Planning
In recent years, I’ve learned just how valuable planning is. With so much adult responsibility, I can’t fly by the seat of my pants.
While it takes effort to plan, the payoff is tremendous. Our days are much smoother and a little more stress-free if I make time to plan.
Here’s what I plan:
If you want the details on my full planning process, read this post: How I Use My Day Designer Planner for Weekly Organization
Batch Days
So that my must-do tasks get done, I batch them into specific days of the week. Although there are many things I do each day, this list consists of only household tasks. And many days are missing because I don’t do household tasks every single day.
Sundays: Planning & Prep
Most of the planning listed above happens on Sundays. It’s also the day I do my weekly meal prep.
Monday: Laundry
Lately, I’ve fallen into a rhythm of doing laundry at the beginning of the week. One way I get it done quickly and early is to use the delay start on my machine. I load the washer in the evening, and when I get up in the morning, it’s ready to move to the dryer.
Wednesday: Groceries
I’ve fallen out of this rhythm a bit, but I try to get groceries on Wednesdays (because of double-ads). Groceries take a bit of time, not just from shopping, but because I wash a prep the produce as soon as we get home. This saves time later when I cook.
Thursday: Cleaning
I detailed in this post my current cleaning routine. We start the laundry early, go for a jog, then clean the house all before lunchtime.
Friday: CEO Day
I sort through all the mail and papers in my Actionable Paper Hub. After sorting through, I pay bills and update our monthly budget. Once those tasks are complete, I’m free to focus on my other responsibilities.
Learn how to create your own batching schedule in this post.
Outsource/Automate
To save time, I use online ordering and subscription services.
Walmart’s grocery app allows me to add items to my cart all week. Then I set my pick-up time for the same day I shop for my other groceries so I only make one trip.
I use Amazon’s Subscribe & Save (through Amazon Family) for items I don’t want to keep trying to remember to buy. The nice thing is that Amazon gives a discount when you order 5+ items on Subscribe & Save.
Daily Rhythms
There are certain tasks I do every day that isn’t a big deal …they’re just part of life. Some of those things are washing dishes every evening and adding papers to my Actionable Paper Hub.
These habits are paired together in 4 daily rhythms:
- The 1-Minute Rule
- The 10-Minute Tidy
- “Before we leave”
- Nightly Reset
You can learn more about each of these rhythms here.
Using these 4 practices consistently, I’ve been able to streamline home management and organization so that I don’t get overwhelmed with too much to do. The hardest part is sticking with it!
Want help getting started? Download the FREE 10-Minute Tidy Habit Tracker here >>>
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