Regimented scheduling.

[Mrs-M]

Redfox, is my inspiration for this start-up.

I know for some, regimented scheduling, pertaining to tasks and chores and things around the home, is all in a days work, but now that my kids are getting older and more independent, I'm finding the old days of regimented scheduling to be somewhat of a thing of the past. I simply do not have to incorporate regimented (anything) into my life so much these days as I used to, and what a liberating feeling that is!

So here's my question. Do you work better- and find yourself more efficient in relation to chores and duties and things (in and around the house) when you base your scheduling on a regimented program, or do you just wing-it (like me) and do what needs doing when you have the time and/or get around to it?

[Rosemary]

I do household tasks when they need to be done. I was regimented enough when I was a full-time engineer and do not care to be that tightly scheduled, ever again. Vacuuming is not an emergency!

[herbgeek]

I tried the scheduling thing, and it just made me feel weighed down with too many "have to do's". Now I do stuff when I see it needs doing, which is well after most people would do it. :laff:

[jania]

I grew up with a routine of cleaning. It seemed easier that way with a family. Now that I'm on my own I clean whenever I want to, observing what needs to be done and then doing it. Laundry however is always done on the same day and in the morning (I go to a laundromat).

[Mrs. Hermit]

I have set weekdays for accomplishing some chores like cleaning floors and bathrooms. I lose track of time very easily, so if I have a set day for the chore, I am sure it will get done in a good time frame & things will stay reasonably caught up. I use Google calendar to remind me of less frequent chores (like changing the furnace filters), so they get done on schedule.

[Mrs-M]

Rosemary. One area of regimented scheduling I don't miss is babies! I think out of all household scheduled duties/chores, raising babies/young children has got to be the most challenging and taxing.

Herbgeek. Me too! I tried scheduling certain things and quickly cashed-in the idea soon after. Way too weighty for me.

Jania. You make a good solid point Re: family life and scheduling. The two really are so integral to one another aren't they.

Mrs-Hermit. I envy you. Maybe if I didn't have so much on the go and such a full-house, I'd be able to focus on one or two chores/things and establish a set day (time frame) in relation to doing it/them.

[Mrs. Hermit]

It was while I had 6 kids under 12 running around in the house that I started with the days! Even if I have to let the chore slide a day or two, it would still get done. Once I had set up kind of an "automatic" chore list, housework got a bit saner. I would post a written schedule for everyone's chores--including mine--and we had a time at some point during the day when we would "do our dailies". The habit has become so engrained in me that I just continue with the pattern.

[Mrs-M]

First things first, how cool is it that you (Mrs-Hermit), Mrsflib, and myself, Mrs-M, all have 6 children!!! AND, that we all start our usernames off with, Mrs! What is the chances of that! :)

Anyhow, I'm finding that now that the kids are getting older and are more than capable with helping out where they can, my workload has eased up substantially. More and more I'm finding that I'm able to ask any of the six to help out with doing something, and they are always so obliging. If only they knew how happy that makes a mom! :)

[catherine]

I am definitely not regimented, but I love the thought of it--I think DH and I are the same way. He's kind of a flock-of-loose-parts free spirit, but he joined the Marines when he was young because he felt he needed the discipline and the structure. His dad had died and his mom had a hard time dealing and left him to watch his little brother a lot.

I'm also kind of disorganized and go-where-you-will, but my some of my favorite memories involve my summers with my great-aunt--we had a very structured day starting with formal breakfast, where we ate exactly the same thing every day, followed by chores, followed by the same trip "up down" to go to the bakery or the grocery store, followed by lunch at the same time (where we would go either out to lunch at a diner or eat a big meal at home, followed by "free time" in the afternoon, followed by a light dinner at the TV, and finally, bed time at 10pm every night.

Because my home life was very chaotic, these visits with my greataunt were wonderful oases of predictability and stability. So based on my DH and my experience, it seems that perhaps children do need some semblance of structure. If the core of the family is solid and stable, you can probably be free-spirited in daily routines, but I think it might help if your family is an unstable situation to create some structure with daily routines/meals, in my opionion FWIW

[leslieann]

When I had three kids at home, I was pretty overwhelmed with the work involved in addition to my paid employment. I used the Sidetracked Home Executives' model, which I think has found an online home at Flylady. It was basically a list of everything that needed to be done around the house, set up in a tickler file. That worked pretty well for me, even though I like the planning a lot better than the execution.

Now that it is just DH and the alternate weeks stepteen, we mostly do things as they come up. Oh, and this DH does housework as a matter of course so that is different than in my younger days. I have always liked the idea of being very structured: Monday wash day, Tuesday ironing, etc. but I am not living that way.

[Mrs-M]

Catherine. I know exactly what you mean about structure related to schedules and time frames surrounding older relatives/family. There's something almost magical and romantic about it now that I think about it, and seldom was there a sense of urgency to rush. Everything was done in such a relaxed and calm manner, yet everything always got done, and with plenty of time left on the clock to fit in all of the other things. I can definitely see me being the same once all the kids are on their own.

Leslieann. The part about structure and living that doesn't sit well with me, is how rigid it could become. I dislike rigidity at the best of times, but having to apply myself religiously (day after day) in a rigid/strict form, I just know I'd be unhappy. I tend to romanticize a lot about things like this whenever I think about them, conjuring up images of grandeur, formality, and a sense of never-ending days, but it simply isn't reality for most.

[Stella]

I have been trying out different schedules for a while and I've finally hit on something that works for me. Monday is our family's big cleaning day. When Zach is working I hire a friend of mine to do his share and when he isn't working he does it. I do the kitchen, entry, bathroom and dining room level. Zach and the kids do the family room, living room, kid's rooms and other bathroom. The kids pick up and dust and Zach vacuums or sweeps and mops (depending on floor type), takes out trash and cleans the tub and mirrors. Cheyenne or Zach usually do the toilet.

I like this because on Tuesday I start our school week with everything looking nice. It's just easier that way. The rest of the week is not as regimented. Zach and the kids do laundry a little each day and my grocery shopping day varies. Some maintenance cleaning is done daily. When Zach isn't working I do schooling, childcare and meal preparation and he does bigger projects, for example he is cleaning out the garage this week.

[Mrs-M]

Stella. In relation to scheduling, I also love the idea that everything in the home is clean and fresh and done at scheduled times/days. I know when weekends come, I like everything done so I'm free to engross myself with family affairs/things. Reading through everyone's posts who work around a scheduled format, definitely inspires me.

[Marianne]

My critters force me to have a schedule. Everyone wants fed, let out, whatever.
I have some other routines. Monday's I put Clorox tabs in the well, a bit of bleach in the water softener thing. First of the month we change filters.
The rest of the time I move when the spirit says move.

[Mrs-M]

I like it, Marianne! The last past about, "the rest of the time I move when the spirit says move", now that's me, the older I get! :laff: One schedule related to domestic duties I follow strictly, is cleaning the furnace filter. I like the filter clean and fresh for Christmas, at the first sign of spring, and once again, early in the fall. Aside from that, very little in the way of regimented scheduling.

[Gardenarian]

I go back and forth. I put myself on a schedule for a while and it becomes habit. Then life intervenes, and I find the clutter and laundry piling up - so I put myself ona schedule again.
I do agree, that it is very freeing to be able to live without a schedule!

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Gardenarian.
I do agree, that it is very freeing to be able to live without a schedule! Thumbs up to that!

[Spartana]

I don't do scheduling for home or yard chores but do for most of my other activities. And then I am VERY regimented to the extreme. I try to do my household chores inbetween other activities but generally just leave everything until I can do them all at once in a cleaning, yardwork & chore blitz all in one day. But being a single childless person who lives alone and is gone almost all day, everyday from sun-up to sun-set means there is really not much domestic chores to do anyways. My social life is pretty unscheduled too but I try to keep some time open between my other activites to do social stuff - usually keep some time open on the weekends for social stuff.

[Charity]

I wing it. I have an aversion to the days thing that I think stems from my childhood. My mom had "days". They were so regimented that nothing could move her from them. I'm 54 and I still know them by heart. Monday - Laundry, Tuesday - Ironing, Wednesday - shopping at Sears, Thursday- floor washing & vacuuing, Friday - grocery shopping, Saturday - wash all the kitchen tiles and the baseboards in the house.

I was five and I have a vivid image of my mom watching President Kennedy's funeral while doing the ironing (Tuesday) in the living room. She was annoyed that we were home from school as a result of the assasination because it interfered with her ironing day. Our president was dead and yet she couldn't sit down for a few hours to watch his funeral.

The only day I do is drinks on Friday with 7 of my closest friends.

[Mrs-M]

Spartana. Oh, how I wish I could tackle everything in just one day! Heaven, it would be...

Charity. Scheduling really did have a place in the home way back when didn't it. I remember my mom (and aunts) all had schedules they lived by and abided by, and most everything was done by way of the clock. LOL! Tea at such and such a time, supper by such and such a time, bedtime (for us kids) by such and such a time. Very regimented...

[happy with less]

When I worked a day job, ie 7 to 3, I was regimented; I was even regimented in my steps to get ready for work, but now that I am working an evening position 4 to 12:30 am, it's all gone out the window. Who wants to start vaccumming at 1 am? Wouldn't want to risk waking up the neighbours... condo friends with someone on both sides.

[Mrs-M]

Makes absolutely perfect sense to me, Happy with less. :)