Ahhhh. Friday. Winding down from the week and looking forward to the weekend. Or are you? Do you have a laundry list (no pun intended) of household chores to catch up on? You’re supposed to kick back on the weekends, not spend it cleaning. The keys to staying organized through the week is delegating and managing your time. Here are some tips for making your weekend more relaxing:
1. Divide and Conquer.
Everyone should have their own daily chores. For example, kids should clean their rooms, put away their clothes, and pick up after themselves (everyday!) Parents/partners should make and stick to a schedule for the rest of the chores; perhaps the start or end of each day. We all know how quickly laundry and dishes pile up…and that’s not a good recipe for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
2. Clean multiple rooms at a time.
When dusting, sweeping/vacuuming, and/or mopping do all rooms involved at a one time. This is much more efficient than stopping and starting, one room at a time.
3. Multitask! (That’s right men…you can do it too!)
For example, you can get your laundry done while dusting or vacuuming. Or load the dishwasher while dinner is on the stove.
Reward yourselves and your family on the weekends for doing such a good job during the week. Like go out for dinner Friday nights instead of cooking at home. Or remind them that if chores are done during the week you can all go for a movie on Saturday afternoon.
We have a weekly group that meets in our home on Tuesday nights, so I like the house to be its best that day. As a stay-at-home mom, I have some flexibility, but Monday is officially “cleaning day.” Though I do pick up during the week and clean the kitchen every day, I do all the laundry, dusting, sweeping and vacuuming on Monday. My husband sees the frenzy and usually helps (at least by folding laundry). The house looks great on Tuesday, and the rest of the week (especially the precious, short weekend) is free of cleaning worry to focus on other projects and having fun!