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Homemaking struggles while working and homeschooling.

Homemaking is a dreaded word.  Well for me it is.  I work outside the home and homeschool the kids.  It is very hard to fit in homemaking in there.  This post is for all moms no matter if they are working outside the home or working from home or stay home moms or homeschool moms.  I have tips for you that will help you accomplish your homemaking duties.  These tips helped me to become a better homemaker.

1) Write down your to-do list the night before

Writing your to-do list the night before was a huge game changer for me in my homemaking duties esp while working and homeschooling.  Make sure you keep the to-do list short and simple.  I keep it to 5 things I need to do the next morning.  Why do this the night before? Do you feel like thinking when you get up the next morning?

When you do this the night before, it helps you get started on your day the next day without any thought.  When you have 5 things listed and ready on your fridge, the sooner it will be done.  This was so helpful to get a head start in the mornings.

Here are my 5 things I do every morning:

1. Start a load of laundry
2. Unload or load the dishwasher
3. Feed the cat
4. Take the meat out of the freezer and put in the fridge for next day
5. Make coffee for family

I have an amazing tip about laundry.  If you have a washer with time delay, utilize it!!!  When I get home from work I always check the washer to see if it’s empty.  I load it up and have it start by the time I get up.  If not empty then I wait till morning.

Having the 5 things list helps me stay focus on what I need to do in my homemaking duties.  With working outside the home and homeschooling, I can get sidetracked very easily and easily overwhelmed by my homemaking duties.  The list helps me to keep things moving in the right direction with the home.

Try listing 5 things you know you want to get done the next morning.  Give it a try.  Let me know how it worked for you in the comment below.

2) Set up your cleaning routines

I have two different cleaning routines that help with homemaking duties.  One is an evening routine and the other is a weekly routine.  I do have a morning routine but that is my to-do list as stated above.

The evening routine is for my family. The weekly routine is for me to do once a week. Having an Evening Routine and Weekly cleaning routine helps me to maintain order in my home and accomplish my homemaking goals.  Without these two routines, I can’t maintain order in my home.  It helps me accomplish one of my homemaking goals for my home.

Evening Routine

The evening routine is for my husband and the kids.  I am working outside the home in the evenings.  I am not home in the evenings with them.  Each member of the family has a homemaking duty to help maintain order in the home.  I have the list on the fridge and they know what they have to do in order to help me keep on top of homemaking duties.

Here is the list I have on my fridge:

Kid #1

• Empty dishwasher and put clean dishes away
• Load up dishwasher with dirty dishes and start if almost full
• Wipe counters and stove
• Clean sink

Kid #2

• Gather up towels and clothes from hall bathroom
• Sort them into bins in laundry room
• Start washer
• Wipe bathroom counters
• Check toilet paper and soap supplies

Kid #3

• Pick up the living room(this means fix pillows, fold blankets, cups/trash from tables)
• Take trash out
• Swift the hardwood floor
• Help Kid#1 or Kid #2 if needed

I keep the evening routine very simple. This keeps the house in decent shape for me when I get home.

Weekly Routine

The weekly routine is very basic cleaning for me.  I do delegate this to the family depending on their schedule.

An example of the weekly cleaning of bathrooms are:

• Clean toilet
• Wipe down the tub/shower
• Empty the trash
• Wipe counter and clean mirror
• Sweep the floor

Here is one for the living room:

• Dust shelves
• Dust lights
• Clean the tables
• Swift hardwood floor
• Vacuum rugs

Sometimes all of us work together to get this done if this is done on a Saturday.  I try to do this during the week if I have time.  Make your cleaning schedules work for you.  Consider what duties of homemaking that you need to do each week.

3) Consider Zone cleaning

Have you heard of FlyLady?  If you haven’t heard of her I highly recommend her book and website.  Zone cleaning is a deep cleaning rotation that happens in one zone a week.

I have 12 zones which means I divided up my home into 12 zones to deep clean on a schedule.  The zone cleaning is a 12-week rotation due to the size of my home.  It’s a huge help for me to make sure every room in my home gets a good cleaning.  It’s a game changer for my homemaking duties.

With Zone Cleaning, I take one zone each week and work in the assigned zone for that week.  This is not basic cleaning for me.  This is decluttering and deep clean in that particular zone.

Here is an example of Zone 1 which is Master bath and hall bath.

• Monday: Wipe baseboards
• Tuesday: Clean grouts on floor
• Wednesday: Clean out drawers and declutter
• Thursday: Declutter and check supplies in the bathroom closet
• Friday:  Scrub and clean tubs/shower

I will spend 15 min a day to do the Zone task for that week. Once that zone is done I do not do this until 11 weeks later.

During Zone cleaning, you are on doing a task for 15 min a day.  You decide what tasks are important to you.

Do not replicate other people’s zones or the Flylady’s zones.  Make your own that works for you.  This is so important not to copy other homemaker’s zone cleaning schedule.  I did that and I got way overwhelmed by their schedule. It didn’t fit my schedule and life.

If you need help with figuring out how to break up your home into zones please comment below and we can chat about it.

I have to do zone cleaning for my home due to working fulltime outside the home and homeschooling my children. It helps me to stay on task and complete this homemaking duty.  Have you tried Zone Cleaning?  How did you like it?

Here are more helps for chores and zone cleaning for kids.  NEATLINGS Chore system which is a visual chore chart for young kids.  Another one from same company is the chore cards.  This has 54 household chore cards for your little kids.  I wish I had these when the kids were little and not reading yet.

4) Lower your expectations

When I went back to work fulltime, hubby told me I have to lower my expectations of how my home should look like.  It is very easy to allow your homemaking duties to frustrate you and raise your expectations.

Remember, nobody else is you.

You have your own schedule and your own duties whether you are homeschooling, taking care of toddlers, staying home and homeschooling your children or working from home while homeschooling.  Whatever it is you have going on in your life, you must make your own schedule and have realistic expectations of your homemaking duties.

Also, delegate your homemaking duties to your family.  Divide it up and decide who gets what chores.  This is where you will also have to lower your expectations of how they clean.  It may not be perfect but it’s ok because it’s done. Perhaps not to your expectation and this is where you will have to let it go.  Don’t be afraid to delegate.

Delegating my homemaking duties and lowering my expectations made things go much smoother while I was working and homeschooling the kids.  I encourage you to give your family a chance to help you with your duties.

If you have to get a housekeeper then get one.  There is nothing wrong with outsourcing help.

5) My favorite books about Homemaking.

These are the books that I have read.  I already mentioned Flylady’s book.  I love Simply Clean by Becky Rapinchuk which is my 2nd go to book.  Becky Rapinchuk also wrote The Organically Clean Home which is great for cleaning with non-toxic chemicals. I love this book too!!  I have an asthmatic husband and kids so this book helped me to clean toxic free.

The 3rd favorite is Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson.  She has several lists in her book on what to do for spring and fall cleaning.  I use her list as an example for my home and helps me remember about spring and fall cleaning.

These are my top 3 books for homemaking.  There are others I like but the three I mentioned are enough for you to get started to have a smooth running home.

I hope these tips help you get started on enjoying homemaking duties.  These tips have saved my sanity time and time again esp while I am homeschooling and working outside the home.  Comment below if you have any tips that help you with your homemaking duties.