I've decided to stop spending all this time thinking and just start doin...

So I wanted to have a goal of completing a daily checklist of household chores.... But wasnt sure what should be on list....since its me and H and dog and cat living in a small house I was thinking....

Fill dishwasher and clean counters and stove
sweep kitchen floor and vaccuum
wipe down bathroom sinks
clean toilets

is there something I've forgotten? I want to get an app to help me to track myself...

[hvert]

I was thinking of the same thing today! I guess spring is in the air?

I was wondering how often it was 'normal' to sweep and wash floors. I am too embarrassed to say how often I do mine, but if you looked at them, you'd get the idea that it's not often enough.

I set a goal of tidying for five minutes in each room, but I never quite make it. I've tried the FlyLady, but it gets overwhelming for me in about three days. If you find an app you like, please let us know!

Home routine. It has been around for years. It works on an concept where you work on a different area each week and only for 10 minutes at a time. The idea is to be less overwhelming.

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[peeps757]

I have been wanting to do the same thing! I was thinking of spending a set amount of time for each area of my house though. Like bed room, bathroom, dining room, etc. and then keeping up with laundry. I have wood floors and 5 animals so sweeping has to happen a lot with around here. I think it's a great idea though to make a list. Getting an app sounds awesome too!

[Perna]

My 2 cats got fleas a couple years ago and we did not discover it for a long time, until the house was really badly infested. I did not want to use bombs/chemicals (other than flea medicine on the cats) so did a whole lot of vacuuming several times a day and other stuff; finally I got a cleaning company to come do a whole house complete clean. My husband suggested I have them come regularly as I was wearing myself out -- I could not clean the bathrooms well anymore and his job, to mop the kitchen floor, he was getting too old to do easily too. So, now I have a maid every other Tuesday (this morning!) and it is great because I always get ready for her to come and that is part of my routine; I look around every other Monday and see how the overall household is looking/running.

Do you have a good litter box cleaning/changing routine for the cat and taking out household/kitchen trash/garbage?

I have a couple areas that I use more heavily (this table where I do my work; often cluttered with papers and books, etc.) and storage areas that I can always make better. One of my bedrooms is the cats' room but also I have "stuff" in there that needs working on - throwing away, putting away, giving away, etc.

I do the common laundry -- bathroom, kitchen towels, sheets, etc. so organize that somewhat so our bed gets changed, etc.

Planning meals and food shopping is my job and I keep on top of that; I have our food delivered but I keep a running list so we don't run out of any of the basics.

Today a charity is coming to get a bag of old clothes; I clean out my closets and drawers every so often, constantly try to keep on top of my habit of stuff coming in and never going out

[thinker00005]

awesome idea. what app works the best? thanks for sharing..

Originally Posted by thinker00005

awesome idea. what app works the best? thanks for sharing..

"Home routine" is an app.

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[almarquez]

Daily cleaning is a tedious task. Unless there is something for us to remember what to do, something that must have done will be forgotten. I used to write down what all need to be done for the day, the previous night with a stick on note. But writing almost same the same thing every day was also not a great idea. Now I am using memo app in ipad for the writing a house cleaning schedule, sunrise-cleaning.com. It is not a great idea, but unless I know about some better app for ipad, I don't have any other option. I just checked home routines app on the appstore and found that it is a paid app worth $5. I am not much interested in using paid apps. I hope I will find a free app with similar functionalities.

I just came back to this thread I started because in April and May I did this massive clean because I had relatives coming to stay.. 3 months later my house is so messy again... Not nearly as cluttered but needing a deep cleaning again. So here I am spending the last weekend of the summer cleaning. I never did get a routine going. So I decided to get the "home routine" app. I spent some time customizing it to my home and schedule and after the deep cleaning this weekend, I will start doing the zones cleaning weekly so I just have to spend a few minutes every day and my house would stay clean.... I absolutely love this because it has reminders and routines you can set up that don't have to be about cleaning but kids schedules.. Self care...etc. I hope to check in next week to post my progress.

[hvert]

Wow, I would to love to hear how this works. I hate paying for apps too, but it sounds like this is a good one. I never got into a routine either.

[hamster-bamster]

What does this app do that a simple excel file or a google sheet spreadsheet cannot do?

[hamster-bamster]

So I have a spreadsheet (it ought to be easier to make your own customizable spreadsheet that is free than pay for an app and then have to learn it).

I have a sheet called CHORES.

I fill it out in advance for one month out. 4-5 weeks.

Across the top, as column headings, I have chores. They have different frequencies assigned to them.

I live alone with two cats and have three litter boxes, as is supposed to be (number of cats +1). One litter box is shallow and fits in the dishwasher (DW). Two others are very tall with lids that have an opening. The lids fit in the the DW but the boxes do not.

So my cats like the shallow (regular) litter box more, because they do not have to climb anything.

Because the shallow box is easier to clean AND needs cleaning more often, I run it through the DW weekly. I do not put my plates or cups in that cycle, obviously, but I might throw in empty cat food cans to avoid rinsing them off by hand before recycling.

So I have a column heading "Flat Box DW".

In rows, I have dates and days of the week. I have DATES in column A and DAYS of the week in column B. Both columns are frozen in my view.

Obviously, I do not type up each date for 30 days. I type up today's date, and do "+1" in the cell below and paste it down for the whole month. I then copy the column and paste back in place as values only. If the terms do not sound familiar, I can explain.

So I run the shallow box through the DW once a week on Thursdays. Therefore, at the beginning of the month, I will put "x" in the column "flat box DW" every time it intersects with a row titled "Thursday".

I have to wash the tall litter boxes in a 1:16 chlorine solution by hand, in the bathroom, and rinse well. I do it once every two weeks, alternating weeks. So I would put an "x" on two Fridays in a month for what I call "tall box L" because it stands on the left, and an "x" on two or three Fridays in a month for "tall box R", alternating weeks.

Cat litter has to be taken out at least once a day. So I have an "x" going down that column.

I have found, via trial and error, that trash needs to be taken out once every three days. So at the beginning of the month I fill in the "trash" column throughout.

I water flowers daily and cacti weekly, so two columns, one with "x" every day and the other with "x" every week.

When I complete a chore, I type "done!" over "x", and the cell turns green thanks to conditional formatting.

It is a happy sight when the table gets greener and greener.

I won't go into detail because I have covered the idea sufficiently.

[hvert]

Wow, that sounds like a pretty neat spreadsheet! I've also used Excel for to-do lists and scheduling and like it pretty well.

I wound up buying the Home Routines app, although I haven't used it for much more than a to-do list. I like it because it works across all my devices. I find that I am most likely to remember random stuff I need to do when I am out and about. I also know that I tend to get distracted when I am on the computer, so having something that I can access on my phone helps me stay focused.