Weekly Household Planner

The week after Christmas, several of my friends posted a link on Facebook to this planner from The Confident Mom.  (ugh, I hate trying to edit a post from both my phone and my computer - just FYI, it is impossible!)  I knew that something needed to happen. My Household Management Schedule - which was laminated and hanging on my fridge - wasn't working for us. It just seemed overwhelming, even though things were broken down into daily, weekly, monthly and periodic tasks.

When I looked at this weekly planner online, I thought it was something that might work for us. I had no idea how incredibly helpful it would be!! We have been using it for five weeks (we are in week 6) and it has radically changed how we (kids and I) look at - and do -  our housekeeping tasks.

I heartily recommend this planner! She has two versions you can download: the blank one and the "Just Tell Me What to Do" version. I downloaded them both, but had a hunch I'd be using the "Just Tell Me What to Do" version - and I do. :) The nice thing is, even the Tell Me version is customize-able.  Now, if you want to insert a weekly task, or if you want to add something to the daily tasks or you want to remove something -- you have to do it for every week. But, Ctrl+F (on Windows) makes it easy to find and edit.  Because of that, I recommend printing out two to four weeks, see how you use it and how it would best be modified to fit your family and homemaking "quirks" (we've all got 'em!) then edit the rest of the year, print those and bind them. 

  

As an example of how I used my housekeeping quirks and the specifics of my home to update my planner, I deleted all references to the "2nd floor". The Shoe only has one floor. Also, I have to sweep my kitchen floor at least once a day. I usually sweep it two or three times a day. Sometimes I sweep it before I go to bed and then sweep it again first thing in the morning. OCD much? ;) So, I added "Sweep Kitchen Floor" to my daily tasks. Yes, I know to do it - but having a checkbox for it helps guide me and my kids.

The kids look at the tasks each day and ask "what job can I do, today?" I was concerned that the "new" of this planner would wear off in a couple of weeks for all of us - but so far it hasn't. We are all more motivated than ever.  I find the public areas of the house stay more tidy, laundry is caught up which makes my bedroom and bathroom (laundry staging central) more tidy...I just wish I could figure out what needs to happen to make the kids' bathroom and bedrooms stay picked up!! :) Fairy, perhaps? 

Anyway, I know household management is often a struggle - even for those whose jobs are solely their home and family - so I wanted to throw this resource out there for everyone to check out. I think it is worth it. It is worth the ink to print it. It is worth the cost to have it bound. I highly, highly recommend it. If she goes back to selling this in the future (apparently it was a product she used to sell), I will buy it. Seriously. For our family, it is worth it.