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organisation

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Three Item Task List

Posted on April 24, 2018

Do you find yourself constantly getting overwhelmed by your to-do list and getting nowhere? If you’re stressed out looking at your list of To Dos that never seems to end you’re not alone. I’ve sure been there before many times. When we get overwhelmed it’s important to pause and ask ourselves what is truly important and prioritise.

Here is a system I first heard about from Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist to help keep you productive whilst taking out the stress of your to do list. Instead of writing a huge to do list with no structure or real plan, give this Three Item Task List Planner a go. See how to use this worksheet to manage your time and achieve your goals without the overwhelm.

How to Use the Three Item Task List

Simply save a copy of the file and print a copy of your Three Item Task List.

Pick up to three tasks that you need to do for each day of the week. The most important tasks that if you did them you would feel like you got ahead today and feel slightly less under the thumb. Write in what week you are in at the top and fill in the three tasks you need to do each day for the week ahead. You can mark in a rough time to get them done in the box to help you spread them out over the course of the day.

Of course if you get your three tasks done that day and feel like you could tackle more go ahead, the idea of this worksheet is to help you prioritise your task and tackle a small number each day so over time you make progress.

Grab your Free Three Item Task List Printable below!

And that’s it. Nice and easy, hey 🙂

Let me know in the comments below, if this system helps you to get on top of your to do list and what other organisational tolls help you to stay organised?

For more tips on how to get organised check out 4 Tips to a More Organised Life and 13 Time Management Tips to Get Organised

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

 

Organising

A Beginner’s Guide to Meal Planning

Posted on April 23, 2018
Photo by Bookblock on Unsplash

I used to be one of those people that couldn’t seem to get myself organised in the kitchen and failed miserably at any kind of meal planning.

We would go shopping whenever we got around to it, usually once a fortnight, and walk out with $200 or more of groceries for two people and still end up ordering more take-out than we felt we should. We had our grocery list, but there was no real plan in place which meant we often ended up buying a lot of things on impulse once we hit the stores.

The end result was that our pantry, fridge, and freezer were always overflowing. Our disorganisation was costing us big on our grocery budget. We rarely had a complete meal planned out and dinner was a stressful event. We found ourselves constantly wasting food at the end of the week that we didn’t get around to eating, along with it our money.

After watching War on Waste and seeing the level of food waste in Australia, I wanted to do more to reduce our household waste. I hated how much food and time we were wasting and wanted to take the stress out of mealtime and save on our grocery budget. I was determined to give meal planning another go with my newfound motivation.

How I got started meal planning

I tried to keep the process as simple and quick as possible. I wanted to be able to do our meal planning as close to on autopilot as possible. Here’s what I did:

  • Grabbed an old recipe folder I had tried to use in the past and removed any recipes that I didn’t want
  • Organised my recipe folder by category: Vegetarian meals, Soups/Side Dishes, Pizza/pasta, Meat dishes, and Desserts so everything was easy to find
  • Photocopied some new recipes from my recipe books and added them to the folder
  • Made a master list of about 15 recipe ideas that we loved and had cooked before and listed under the title every ingredient we would need to make that meal. I also included vegetarian versions of recipes for my husband so we could cook the same, or at least similar meals more often.

Keep It Simple

I couldn’t believe the first time we did our meal plan with my newly prepared recipe folder it only took five minutes! Over the weeks I learned what did and didn’t work and came up with some techniques to keep us on track without meal planning goals. Instead of getting stressed over what three meals a day we’d make, we kept it simple.

  • We made easy things for breakfast like toast, cereal, or had yogurt.
  • For lunch, we brought our leftovers to work, which once we started cooking at home leftovers seemed to be in abundance.
  • For dinner, we would cook on the nights we were home and if we were extra prepared, we would make double and save ourselves cooking an extra night the next day.

Of course, we still ate out and bought our lunch occasionally, but we felt so much more organised with our meal planning than we had previously and didn’t feel the need to run and get takeaway. We were prepared.

Beginners Guide to Meal Planning

If you want to try our meal planning for yourself and your family, check out these 5 simple steps:

Step 1. Decide on the meal plan frequency

Decide what planning schedule is most convenient for your family. Do you like to buy in bulk and do a big shop once a month or are you more of a take-it-in small chunks kind of planner? Set your meal plan to weekly, fortnightly, or monthly – whatever suits your pay cycle or shopping preference.

Step 2. Check your schedule

Use this printable, a whiteboard, notebook, or anything else to write down what days you will and won’t be at home to eat for the week ahead. Put a cross on the days you will be out of the house.

Step 3. Assess your meal options

Go through your pantry, fridge, and freezer and check what food you have to work with and what meals you can make from them. If there is something you bought a while back and it is close to expiring put that option on your meal plan now. Check your recipe folder or books for meal ideas for some inspiration.

Pick your meal ideas and write them on the days that you need to cook. Here is a Weekly Meal Planner Printable you can print out and use. Be sure to consider what days you need something easy and quick and what days you might have the time to put on the slow cooker or prepare something a little more time-consuming and plan your meals accordingly. Don’t forget to check your local grocery store catalogs for current specials to save you money.

4. Write your shopping list

Armed with your meals list, check each day and write out a shopping list of what you need to buy to make up those meals. Recheck your pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what you need to get from the shops and leave out anything you already have at home. You are only buying the ingredients to fill in the gaps in your recipe. Don’t forget to be creative and think outside the box. If you don’t have mince in the freezer maybe you can make some vegetarian tacos this time instead.

And most importantly, only buy what you need for your allocated meal period, if it is a week only buy food to use up over the next 7 days. If you do end up buying extra because some items were on special, make sure you use them up in the next week’s meal plan and spend less on next week’s budget.

5. Stick to your shopping routine

Make a new habit of shopping for your list on the same day. It might be every Thursday night or every second Sunday afternoon. Try to stick to a routine with your shopping so you know exactly what you need to shop for and when. Avoiding hitting the shops multiple times a week will save you on unnecessary purchases.

Start saving money today with your Weekly Meal Planner Printable!

Start saving money today with your Weekly Meal Planner Printable!

Meal Planning Tips:

Here are some extra meal planning tips that will help you on the way!

• Include your family in the meal planning process. There is nothing worse than planning a meal only for everyone to complain about it on the day, after all your effort planning, shopping and cooking. Perhaps you can give everyone a choice once a week of what they’d like on the menu to keep everyone happy.
• Put a reminder in your phone for when you do your meal planning so you don’t forget to do it.
• Keep a master list of recipes and ingredients close to your kitchen or office so you can quickly glance at the ingredients for your favorite meals when making your shopping list and avoid forgetting anything!
• Keep your meal plan in sight, such as on the fridge or your command center so everyone can see it. This will also avoid the ‘what’s for dinner’ question every day 😉
• Avoid overcomplicating your meal plan. Don’t feel like you have to plan a month in advance, just stick to a week if that is easier for you. Stick to 10-15 simple recipes that you can cook on a rotation and save the new or more time-consuming meals for special occasions or times when you have the energy and motivation to cook something more exciting.

This week’s question: Do you meal plan at home? What tips do you have to make the process even simpler? Please share your tips and tricks in the comments below 🙂

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

 

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Freebies

Your Freezer Inventory Worksheet

Posted on February 6, 2018

Do you ever really know what is in your freezer? If you are anything like me, you are short of space and sometimes would rather just avoid going into your freezer altogether. But don’t fret there is an easier way to know what is in your freezer without having to pull everything out each meal planning day.

Check out my Freezer Inventory Worksheet.

Reduce food waste with this Freezer Inventory Worksheeet!

Simply print out your own copy, write down the items in your freezer by category, note when they were frozen, how many days you have to use them (e.g. if you freeze chicken breast on the 8th and the use by date is the 12th I write +4 days so I know once it is) and then mark in the quantity as a weight or number. Then stick it on the front of your fridge or in your planner.

If you do your freezer inventory worksheet once every month or so you will be able to see what you have in your freezer at a glance, plan meals around it and reduce food waste. Not to mention you will avoid having an overstocked freezer where things start falling out or your door doesn’t close!

Don’t forget to check this blog post for tips on how to reduce food waste in your home and save money on your shopping budget!

Thanks Minimisers,

Jess

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organising

How to Clean your House Fast with Speed Cleaning

Posted on August 28, 2017

Six years ago I moved out of my parents home into a house of my very own. I was expecting to be on top of this new adulting domestic lifestyle, but to my surprise that wasn’t quite my experience. Now don’t get me wrong I was no stranger to domestic duties. When I was five I was in charge of sweeping the floors, raking the leaves, making my own bed as well as tidying my own room. I was so fiercely independent that at five years old I’d climb up on our kitchen counter tops to reach the plates or what I needed so I didn’t have to wait for someone to get it for me.

By fourteen I was doing my own washing and vacuuming. I did try and get out of the vacuuming for as long as possible but my brother saw through this and taught me how to use our Kirby so I couldn’t get out of that chore much longer after that. I thought I was pretty well adept at this house work stuff and moving into my own home would be a breeze. I knew – I’ve got this!

Going from having the responsibility of looking after a bedroom and bathroom to my own entire home with a backyard was not so smooth sailing as I had hoped. We had a humbled sized abode with a kitchen with limited bench space which made trying to cook a juggling act. Add a newly vegetarian husband to the mix with limited bench space and you’ve got an even bigger challenge trying to keep up with separate meals and excess washing up.

Although we loved out new home, we struggled with limited bench space and cupboards for storage and had a lot of difficulty making our space work. Things were piling up on the bench that we were also trying to prepare food on. By the time we added a microwave, kettle and toaster we had lost half our kitchen bench space and 1/3 of the rest was taken up by our very necessary stove. For a while we just lived day to day through chaos. Being in our mid 20s, we had a busy social life on top of band commitments and full time work and finding the time to clean a home, even our reasonably sized one, seemed like some kind of alien task we were just never going to figure out.

It was at this point I just cracked it and knew something has to change. Trying to cook dinner with dirty dishes piling up everywhere and laundry mountains in multiple rooms had to stop. There had to be a better way and I needed to find it.

HOW DISCOVERING SPEED CLEANING CHANGED MY LIFE

I was determined to end the chaos that was our life and get back some control. I started researching everything I could about cleaning efficiently. Becoming a bit obsessed, I was soon watching  YouTube videos on how to clean your home (seriously Minimisers I was watching people clean! This included the How Clean is Your House show – oh the shame!)). Pinterest also came to the rescue and not before long I had stumbled across the idea of speed cleaning.

I am a massive fan of efficiency and let’s face it, who wants to spend more time than they have to on cleaning their home. This idea of cleaning your home fast really resonated with me. I hated the fact that to have any visitors we had to clean for an entire day and wipe ourselves out. Not to mention that visitors don’t always give you a days notice.

With nothing to lose, I went home that day and gave this speed cleaning a go. I set my timer for ten minutes and started speedily cleaning my kitchen. Looking at the mountain of dishes waiting for me I thought to myself who on Earth can clean a disaster of a kitchen in under ten minutes. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to clean the entire space within the time allocated. After months of just trying to keep up and putting off the inevitable dreaded cleaning, I realised that this was not something I needed to put off, procrastinate or devote a lot of time to for results.

I had seen the light and this new discovery was not forgotten and certainly didn’t end at the kitchen. I gradually tested for each task until I had found the quickest way to clean all areas of my house in only a small amount of time each day.

HOW TO SPEED CLEAN YOUR HOME

The time is totally up to you and may need to be increased if you have a larger home or a two story home (check out how your cleaning time can be reduced with a smaller home) but anywhere from 5-20 minutes should get you well on your way to a tidy, visitor ready home!

Set your timer for fifteen minutes. Now get started  – you don’t have time to spare if you want to get back to enjoying your day!

1. Walk around your home and grab any dishes, cups and cutlery lying around and run them to the sink.
2. Scrape off any food scraps off your plates and bin any rubbish or anything else no longer needed in the appropriate bins (even with efficiency we still have to recycle :)).
3. Open your dishwasher and empty it as quick as you can if you haven’t already. If you can do this task in the morning it can save you the hassle in the afternoon. (Skip this step if you don’t have one ;)).
4. Start re-loading your dishwasher. If it is full chuck in your dishwashing tablet or soap and let it run. If you don’t have a dishwasher start washing up. Leave clean dishes on the rack to dry. Ain’t nobody got time for dat (hand drying).
5. Spray your benches and sink with your Home-Made All Purpose Cleaner.
6. Run to your living areas and do a quick tidy. Fold the throw rug, straighten up your cushions, put your shoes and any bags or toys, where they belong. Grabbing a washing basket can help you collate any stuff that needs to go back to it’s home elsewhere in the house.
7. Return to the kitchen and wipe down the benches, dining table, stove and sink and if time any marks on the kitchen cabinets.
8. Bask in your newly cleaned living space that hopefully took only fifteen minutes and get back to Netflix and Chill or doing whatever the hell you wanted to! 🙂

Speed Cleaning can be applied all over your home. Whether it be your bedroom, bathroom, laundry, garage – where ever. Just set your timer, get cracking and see how much you can tidy up in a small amount of time!

SPEED CLEANING TIPS AND TRICKS

Here are some extra helpful hints to making speed cleaning work in your home!

1. Speed clean a little each day.
A little goes a long way. If you spend 10-15 minutes a day speed cleaning you are going to make amazing progress in your home with very little time and effort!

2. Ask for help.
Can you imagine what you can get done with two speed cleaners???? I get my husband to help me when I set the timer which means we can cover a lot more in a smaller amount of time. And let’s face it, I am just a weirdo that enjoys racing the clock and any helpers only help you win! Involve your kids and make it a race. I recently watched my friends 3 kids speed clean their toys before bed and they seemed to love it and it was certainly entertaining to watch them race the clock.

3. Grab as you go
Save yourself some hassle by thinking ahead. If you’re walking past a dirty dish in the lounge room and on your way to the kitchen, take it with you! This will save you running back and forth grabbing them during your speed clean. Get your family to adopt this one habit and you’ll be on a path to clean-houseville in no time!

4. Minimise your clutter.
Having less stuff in your home is guaranteed to make your cleaning tasks that much easier. The less you have the less there is to wipe, dust, move, vacuum around and so on. Keep it essential! Check out this list of 101 Things to Declutter to get you started.

5. Apply speed cleaning all over your home and mix it up.
One day clean your bathroom in 10-20 minutes. Even if it’s just a tidy up and wipe down of surfaces. Spend one day on the bedrooms. Another on the living area and so on. If you went out to eat for dinner and the kitchen is spotless from last night pick another are that needs some TLC. Don’t save everything up for one horrendous cleaning day unless you prefer that. I prefer to do things in small chunks and find it more rewarding to have near instant cleaning gratification.

6. Take note of how long it takes you to do each cleaning task.
Knowing that folding a load of laundry only takes 10 minutes might make you less inclined to put off doing it and letting your pile get out of hand. Most chores feel like they take a lot longer than they actually do. You might dread cleaning the shower (isn’t it the worst job guys?! My number 1 disliked chore right there!) but realise that it actually only takes 15 minutes. Maybe your partner and kids would help out around the house more if they knew that vaccuming the entire house only took 18 minutes instead of whatever horrendous figure they have dreamed up.

Do you speed clean your home? Has this helped you to become more efficient in your cleaning routine? Has this helped you get your family on board with cleaning? Share your experiences in the comments below!

If you liked this you may like – How an Organised Space Can Save You Money + 10 Benefits of Natural Home Made Cleaners.

Organising

12 Easy to Maintain Car Organistation Tips

Posted on August 15, 2017

Does your car resemble a highly portable rubbish tip? I know your struggle. I used to struggle to keep my car neat and tidy and often shuddered with sheer embarrassment at the thought of having anyone looking into my car let alone entering it.

When everyone was arranging car pooling on a work lunch outing I would wait silently, hoping someone else would volunteer and save me the impending doom that awaited me once anyone saw the state of my commuting “situation”.

When other people would give me a lift I often marveled at the beauty or their organised back  seat, not a thing out of place. I wanted this car sanctuary for myself. I wanted to walk into my car and feel relaxed knowing I could find everything I needed, when I needed it and take on unexpected passengers without ultimate fear of being judged.  

After decluttering my home, I began to transfer the organisation habits I had developed in my home to my car. It was a space that I drove around in every day, and was visible to the world. I felt the need to bring it into alignment with my new-found love of organised spaces.

After implementing these small changes over time I have managed to keep my car tidy on a continual basis which allows me to stay unexpected passenger shame-free and enjoy a space that I spend on average 10 hours a week in.

Try these 12 Easy to Maintain Car Organisation Tips to keep your car organised that only take a small amount of planning and very little work week to week.

    1. 1.

Utilise Note pads

Keep a note pad and pen in your middle console to have handy for any quick notes you need to jot down. This will save you having random pieces of paper strewn around your car (and handbag).

2. Make a plan for loose coins 

Keep a small coin purse (even a zip-lock sandwich bag will do) in your middle console for loose change. Whenever you get any change through the drive through etc, put it in this bag for handy change for next time or parking.

3. Get a bin for your car

Use a large cereal container for a bin. It will only need to be emptied once or twice a week and will keep your car looking much tidier than having rubbish thrown all over the floor. Each time you get to the petrol station or walk past your outdoor bins at home (ours are right next to the driveway) assess your car quickly for any rubbish and take it with you. It’ll only take 20 seconds and make a huge difference! Since becoming more involved in recycling I now generally empty my rubbish each day so I can recycle it if possible.

4. Get some compact reusable shopping bags

Ditch the large re-usable shopping bags for small fold-able ones that fit neatly in your glove compartment or boot and save valuable boot space!  

5. Store loose items in a container

Keep a small container in your backseat to collate loose items like books, kids toys or jackets. Having them in a container is a lot more appealing and practical than having them fly around the seat and floor of  your car.  

6. Organise your returns

Keep a medium sized container in the boot to store any returns you need to take back to the store. It’s pretty amazing the number of times I’ve been at a store where I needed to return something and realised I had left it at home! This way when you are at a particular shop and you know you need to return something you can easily return it and grab it from your boot on the way in. This can also be helpful to store things that you need to give to a relative or friend and keeps it from cluttering up your home.

7. Keep your electronics together

Have a small cosmetic bag or similar to keep all USBs, cables and media that you have in your middle console or glove compartment. This will make them so much easier to locate and save tangled messes.

8. Prepare for unexpected passengers

Leave a microfibre cloth in your car for those last minute emergencies when you need to pick someone up and the car is looking a bit dingy. If you keep a small spray bottle of water handy for those unexpected lifts, most of the marks and dust will clean right up in a flash.

9. Go digital

Digitise your music collection or limit the number of CDs you keep in your car at a time. After buying a car which had no CD player (I somehow didn’t realise this until too late but have adapted ;)) I now keep all my music on USBs or copy them onto my phone to minimise the CDs that seemed to be strewn about the car previously. Before this I used to keep about 8 in my car and swap them out as I needed. You can also get CD wallets to help store extra CDs you want to have handy, whilst avoiding the mess.

10. Consider alternative organising solutions 

Use back seat organisers for organising additional items such as car air fresheners, pocket tissues, kids snacks, stationery etc. Or consider repurposing a cleaning caddy to keep in your boot for longer trips and to keep pens etc tidy when not in use. 

11. Limit what you store or leave in your car

Keep accessories to a minimum. By all means, have your Pop Character, bobbling head or stuffed toy on display but avoid cluttering up your vehicle with excess plush toys or trinkets. Aim to keep only what you need in your car, this will also help make it a lot easier to keep tidier and presentable. Don’t use your car as storage for your stuffed toy hoard.

12. Do a stock-take of your car regularly

Clearing out your car on a regular basis can go a long way to keeping your car organisation in check. Remove your gym clothes from your last session or the clothes you got changed out of on Saturday night at the end of the week. Ask yourself do I need three jackets and 2 pairs of shoes in the car or would one of each be enough to save you in an emergency. Don’t let your car turn into a closet or laundry basket. If it has started to look like that it’s time to clear out the excess!

What tips do you have to keep your car organised? Share them in the comments below! Please share this article if you found value in it 🙂

If you liked this you may also like 13 Budget-Friendly Organisation Tips for Your Home or How An Organised Space Can Save You Money 

Organising

4 Daily Habits For a Tidy Home Now!

Posted on May 29, 2017
Do these 4 habits for a tidy home now to get on top of the mess and clutter and make your home a place you love

A few years back I was in a bit of a cleaning and organisation rut. It seemed as though I could never get on top of anything but it was really only because I hadn’t implemented daily habits for a tidy home. I wasn’t failing at adulting, I just hadn’t quite figured out the “hacks” and habits to keep on top of everything.

The dishes would pile up on all of our extremely limited bench space. We would fish out our clean, now wrinkled clothes each morning from the bottom of the basket as there never seemed to be time to put them away. Just hoping that what we were looking for had been washed that weekend. If we had guests coming over it was a huge ordeal getting the house into guest-ready status. We were convinced we needed a bigger home. One with more bench space and bigger area to wash up, a larger laundry room and more cupboard space. It would surely solve everything.

I quickly realised that more space was not the answer (in fact more space = more cleaning and work!) and seeing as we were hoping to own our home sooner than later up-sizing was not going to be an option either. I had to find a way to make what we had work. Coming home to mess, attempting to cook and make dinner with dishes everywhere and trying to use what scrap of bench space I could find could not go on. Life wasn’t meant to be this hard, surely!

Let me tell you it is not! There is a way to get on top of things before they get out of control. The key is to not let is get out of control in the first place and to do a little bit each day. A small amount goes a long way. And it doesn’t take hours and hours! Read on for 4 Habits For a Tidy Home Now! 

4 Daily Habits for a Tidy Home

  1. Do a general tidy daily

Let’s not build cleaning up to be more difficult than it is. Sure vacuuming and mopping and the rest take a lot of time but we don’t need to have show homes 24/7. A daily habit of doing a general tidy up is good enough. Spend five minutes a day doing a general tidy of the main areas of your home. You’re not going to be able to clean every space, surface, crevice but you will make your home look much more tidy with a small amount of effort.

Set your timer. I use the one on our oven so I know when to stop. During your general tidy go to each area of your home and pick up what doesn’t belong. A clothes basket can work great so you can chuck everything in there and move a lot of things quickly.

THINGS I DO IN MY GENERAL TIDY

  • Hang up the towels in the bathroom and clear the vanity counter.
  • Make the bed.
  • Straighten up the couch cushions and fold the throw.
  • Pick up any clothes on the floor and either throw them in the hamper or hang them up again.
  • Put anything away that’s lying around.
  • Bin any water bottles
  • Move any cups or plates to the kitchen
  • Pick up mess from the floor

If you just do five minutes a day or even just as often as you can, you will be amazed at how much tidier your home will look. If your spouse or kids can help out you will make even more progress. Everyone living in your home adds to the mess- get them involved, delegate!

If after your five minute general tidy is up and you are on a roll then keep going. You’re better off tidying when you feel like it or have the time than to leave it for a day where you just rather not move from the couch.

Minimise With Me Facebook Group

2. Clean as you go

This is such an important tool for keeping your home tidy. Get in the daily habit of cleaning up as you go. When you are finished with something in the bathroom of a morning, put it back in the drawer or vanity. When you are walking from one room to the next take a second to look around and see what doesn’t belong and grab it to take with you on your way. Are you going out to the car? Grab that bag of donations you’ve had sitting at the door for the past week.

If you want to save time on cleaning and getting back to more enjoyable tasks think ahead and find ways to be more efficient with your time. Are you waiting for the microwave for five minutes? Go and clean up the mess from your meal prep or empty your dishwasher. Utilise what little time you have! Once you get used to this daily habit it will become part of your routine.

>>  If you are interested in getting organised you might find value in

4 Tips to a More Organised Life!

3. Clean your kitchen 

For me, cleaning the kitchen was the one daily habit that drastically changed my cleaning habits and stress levels. I used to feel completely overwhelmed with dirty dishes and marks on our bench tops that had hardened and become difficult to clean. I would struggle to cook and prep dinner with our limited bench space covered with last nights dishes that I just had not got around to yet. And try cooking anything when your sink is over flowing. It’s just going to make your daily life much harder than it needs to be.

A chaotic kitchen can add so much unnecessary stress and being the hub of the home, it’s rare that you can ever walk past without seeing the mess piling up. Set yourself a new daily habit of tidying the kitchen. I used to put this off as it would get so out of hand that I would need a good half hour to get it back in order but now i set the time for 7-10 minutes and knock it out as fast as I can. I find it a challenge to work against the clock and love how efficiently I can clean my kitchen with a bit of forethought.

ALLOCATE YOUR TIME

Work out a time each day where you can spend 10 minutes on your kitchen.  Whether it be in the morning, when you get home from work, or before you go to bed. Whenever is most convenient for you. The key is doing it every day so there is no mass of dishes you have to sift through. Set the timer and get started.

MY KITCHEN CLEANING METHOD:

  1. Grab all your dirty dishes from wherever they may be (save yourself some time and effort insist on a rule after meals all dishes and cups are returned to the kitchen!). Soak any in hot soapy water that you need to wash.
  2. Spray all surfaces with an All Purpose Cleaner so that can break down your stains whilst you get onto the dishes.
  3. If you have a dishwasher quickly unload it (if you unload it in the mornings and load in the afternoon this will make like easier :)) and put all your dirty dishes in. If you don’t have one, quickly arrange your dishes into plates, cups, cutlery and bigger items like pots and start washing.

I let my dishes dry on a drying rack and put them away when they are dry (hey ,we’re trying to save time and make life easier here, let’s not do things that we don’t have to ;)).

4. Then wipe all surface areas. The stains should easily come off after being broken down by your All Purpose Cleaner.

Hopefully you’ll be done before your timer goes off. If not I promise you it won’t be more than a few extra minutes and the next morning when you see your beautifully clean kitchen and when you go to cook the next night you will not regret the effort 🙂

4. Don’t let your laundry pile up

I’ve never really understood why people have wash days and tackle their entire laundry pile in one horrible sounding day. I like to plan ahead for my washing. I certainly don’t wash everyday (thank you Minimalism!) but I prefer to do it in manageable chunks.

Make it a daily habit to do your washing. Now I personally don’t have enough washing to wash daily, but it’s certainly a daily habit to check if I do or don’t. I normally throw on a load of washing on Friday before I go to work and hang it out in the afternoon (Love that timer function!). By Friday I have a full load of darks so hold off until I have a full load.

Saturday morning I’ll then wash and hang out another and set another load to go before I head out for the day. Sunday is then just a catch up day for towels, sheets and anything else that needs to go in. Again get someone to help out if that is possible. My husband and I both do washing. I work full-time and have more important things to do than spend hours each week washing.

BONUS TIP

Consider decluttering your wardrobe! If you have 50 shirts to wear and 10 pairs of jeans you are going to be washing 50 shirts and 10 pairs of jeans in a never ending pile of washing. Set yourself a more realistic laundry limit and wash regularly.

Don’t let that pile get a mile high whether that be washed or unwashed, as it will just be so much harder to tackle and get motivated.

If you chip away at your washing, load by load, and make it a daily habit to at least check your clothes baskets to see if you have enough for a load, you will save yourself the stress of endless baskets in your laundry and waiting to be folded.

These are the four daily habits for a tidy home I have implemented in my routine and I have never felt more on top of things in my home.

What are your top daily habits for a tidy home that you have implemented and that help you keep on top of mess and clutter in your home? Let me know in the comments! 

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