Keeping the House Clean With Kids - Day 5: Pencil it In (with weekly planner tutorial!)

If you plan to clean the house the same way you plan all of your other important schedules, it will be more of a priority and get done!

I am a "soft scheduler", so I like to just write down the things I need to do that day in a general order but without a specific time (aside from scheduled meetings, etc.,).  But do whatever works for you.

Think about it beforehand though, then you can plan realistically.  The other day I made my list of things I wanted to accomplish each day, and then put them in a realistic order.  It's helped a lot!  I then took that list, and made it into a very cute weekly planner (included in the end of this post).

Here is a sample of my list of daily goals:

Make Beds -this is first for obvious reasons
1 Load of Laundry
Blog & Read
Dinner- this comes next because I prepare dinner when the little one goes down for his nap.  usually make it in a slow cooker so it's done by eating time.
Empty Trash
Stretch
Exercise 30 min. - All things I can do during the little ones nap
Bathroom clean-up - Done during and immediately after bath time
Clean 1 room
Home Improvement/Craft project

As you can see, I tried to list them in order of what works for my schedule throughout the day.  There is no set time for each (but if you're that kind of person, do it!  For example, if your kids are in school, you know there are certain times that will be easiest to clean- write it down!) they are just on paper for me to see everyday and get done!

Now the fun part!  Yesterday I talked about incorporating crafts and fun things into the work.  Here is something I did to get myself motivated and as a reminder of what my goals are.  The best thing is I was able to use things around the house so it didn't cost me a dime.

What You'll Need:

Unused picture frame
Scrapbook paper (or fabric, wrapping paper, wallpaper, whatever you like!)
Some markers
Glue
Dry-Erase marker


How-To:

Pop out the back of the picture frame.  Most have a cardboard backing of some kind, this is what you want to use to measure out the paper you will be using to go inside the frame.

Lay out your design on the board and cut it to fit the frame.

Write or print out your list of "Daily Goals" and "Weekly Goals".  On my frame, I had a long list of daily ones (picture on the top right) and a shorter list of weekly goals which I placed beneath them.   When you print your list out, you may choose to glue it on to a piece of colored paper that co-ordinates with your frame background.

Write or print out a small rectangle for each day of the week you want to include on your planner.  You may also choose to glue these on to a cute paper.

*If you want to make a full month planner* Arrange the goals and days of the week on to the background paper accordingly and glue them in place.


You may choose to use a simple ribbon, small paper rectangles, or vinyl over the outside of the frame to section off squares for each day of the month.  Adhere them to your project.


*If you want to do a weekly planner with a section for reminders* Find a cute divider which can be ribbon, a scrapbooking border, or simply a different colored paper rectangle cut-out and placed on to the background paper and arrange it near the bottom half of the frame or wherever you have chosen to place the reminders section.


Cut out an additional word rectangle that says, "Notes", "Reminders", "To-Do" you get the idea.  Arrange all of the strips on to your paper background.  When it looks good glue them all in to place.  

You may choose to add additional embellishments or decorating on to your project at this point.  For me, I added some little birds to represent me and the members of our family, a nice little reminder that accomplishing my goals for the week bless me, my home, and my family members.

Put everything together in the frame and hang on the wall.  Mine is in the kitchen, where I can see and update it throughout the day.

Use your dry erase maker to write your appointments over the frame, erase when needed!  Now remember the daily goals we put up?  They're not just there to remind you, they're there to help you keep track!  When you accomplish your daily goal, draw a line through that item for the day.  At the end of the night, erase all your strike-thrus to begin again the next day and not have to re-write your list!