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The life of a mom is busy. Whether you work full-time or you stay home, take care of babies or run older kids here and there, life is BUSY. From sun up to sun down, you have a hundred things to worry about on a daily basis. Am I right? It is so easy to get overwhelmed or to let little things go unnoticed. I have been there. In fact, if you have seen my first two posts in this series (Week 1 and Week 2), you understand that I am still there. Every week is a work in progress. Did I do all 7 tasks from last week? Not yet! BUT, I did print out the printable from Week 2, so I will continue to chip away at those tasks.
In the meantime, I have come up with 7 new tasks for this week for us to tackle. As I mentioned in previous weeks, these weekly lists are just tasks in your homes that get overlooked. You don’t have to catch up or feel overwhelmed. You probably don’t have 2 hours to spend in one area, but maybe 10-15 minutes might make a difference. Smiling when you walk into a room and that feeling of satisfaction when you see your hard work makes it all worth it!
Look over the list and pick a couple things you can work on this week. Sometimes the biggest part of the task is getting over the mental roadblock of “I just don’t have time”. Last week, I kept putting off cleaning the microwave (Task 2/Week 2). I tackled it this morning and it seriously only took me 5 minutes. Mission accomplished because it made me smile when I warmed up my lunch today. Let’s start again in the kitchen!
Task #1-Clean your pantry
Task #1 is cleaning the pantry. Anyone else have kids that love to leave empty boxes in their pantry? Yep, one of my biggest pet peeves. It doesn’t take long for this space to get out of control. It is not very big, so it gets filled up quick (most of our food is actually kept in our downstairs storage room). I start from the top and take it shelf by shelf. Organize, throw out expired food, and wipe down shelves. 6 boxes of almost gone cereal, 5 boxes of expired crackers, several almost empty bags of chips, and 30 minutes later, it is a HUGE improvement. At least until the kids get home. (Every one of them said WOW! when they got home) 🙂
Task #2-Wipe down your countertops
Let’s face it-sticky counter tops with little kids is just reality. Mine get wiped down several times a day, but I don’t move everything very often so the back of the counters get missed. Task #2 for this week is to move everything away from your backsplash and wipe underneath. The top photo is of the area by my stove. The salt and pepper shakers sit there with other items, and salt and pepper collect underneath. The bottom photo shows the dust that has collected under the napkin holder. Yuck! I use Weiman Granite Cleaner and Polish on my granite counters.
Task #3-Clean your outside garbage cans
Task #3 is to clean your garbage cans. We bag all our garbage and yard waste well, but our can still gets grass in it. Take a few minutes to spray your cans down with a hose this week to freshen them up.
I do have a tip to help keep your recycle bin clean. I collect our newspapers in a box by our can. After the recycle bin gets dumped (every 2 weeks here), I line the bottom of the can with the old newspapers. Obviously, the sides still get dirty sometimes but at least the bottom is clean. 🙂
Task #4-Wipe down bathroom vanities
Task #4 is wiping down the outside of your bathroom vanities. It is another area of the house that goes unnoticed. Common messes you may find here-toothpaste drips, hair products, makeup, and dust. Take a few minutes to wipe it down when you do your regular cleaning this week. I like to use Bona Cabinet Cleaner to clean my cabinets.
Task #5-Clean the bathroom garbage cans
I figured if we are cleaning the big garbage cans outside, we might as well clean the small ones inside. We usually line ours with plastic grocery bags, but they still get dirty. Wash them in the tub or wipe them out with an antibacterial wipe to freshen them up.
Task #6-Straighten up and dust coffee and end tables
Task #6 is to straighten up the coffee table and end tables in your living room. The tables in my house tend to collect paper (actually any flat surface is a paper dumping ground). My other end table is the magazine collector. Time to clear them off, dust, and give them a nice polish.
Task #7-Wash your coats
Task #7 is to wash your coats/jackets. I know you don’t want to think about cold weather, but it will be here before we know it. When was the last time you washed your coats? Take time this week to get them washed (or dry cleaned if they need that) so that they are nice and clean when the snow comes.
Well, that’s it for this week! I would love to hear what you are working on this week so comment below. Also, if you would like the printable for week 1 and 2, check out the bottom of the week 2 post!
I just cleaned my pantry a couple weeks ago and smile every time I open the door now! I’m going to try and hit some of the other things on your list in the next week. Thanks!
Isn’t it funny how something small makes us smile. Thanks for commenting!
Housework, Blah! My least favorite thing to do. I have recently moved into a 3000 sq ft home and find it takes me 7 hours to clean it. I definitely need to follow these tips to break it down into smaller daily tasks so it doesn’t become overwhelming. I do plan on just throwing my trash can away though.
I know what you mean. My regular weekly cleaning takes me 2 hours. It is easy to overlook stuff not done on a weekly basis. That is why I started making a list of these small tasks to motivate me to do them. Thanks for commenting!
Great tips! Our kitchen pantry is a disaster zone, and it’s been on the todo list for a good three months. You motivated me to finally get it together this weekend. Something else you could add would be the “junk drawer” I’m not sure if you have one in your house, but it’s pretty much a tradition in my family. I’m not sure how it turns into a junk drawer but we always end up with one.
Mine has been bad for a couple months too. Yes, we definitely have a junk drawer in our house. Pretty sure it will be on the list next week.😀 Thanks for commenting!
This list is great! I’ve been trying to give myself one or two tasks each day to (sanely) keep up with cleaning. It’s amazing how happy it can make you when your kitchen table and counters are completely clean, isn’t it?! 🙂
Thanks! It really does feel great to cross things off a list. Focusing on a small area at a time makes things much more doable!
I have pantry envy! Super post and feeling positive about going forward onto more organisation in my home. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Nicky! 🙂
Thank you for breaking it down into these doable tasks! Awesome idea!
I usually look at my house, get tired just imagining the amount of work to do, give up and go back to my laptop. This way I can print your tasks, cut them into separate sheets, and do a “task lottery” every day by pulling a task out of the jar and complete it!
Great idea to make it work for you! I will have a printable every 2 weeks for my email subscribers if you would like to sign up on week 2.
These are great tips. I have 2 dogs so I feel like I need to clean everyday!
These are all wonderful reminders! It is amazing how much money I save when I keep my pantry organized! I hate finding expired items that were pushed to the back or having 5 of the same thing because I forgot that I had already purchased that item!! =)
Thanks! I tend to buy multiples of items, so we have extra stuff on hand. My kids are always checking things to see if they are expired because I forget we have something. 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration to properly clean my house this weekend! Great tips!
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful.
This is so great! These are areas that are often overlooked/neglected in my house. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Glad to help. Thanks for commenting!
Oh, no… the pantry… my nemesis! Lol, that’s a good place for me to start, but ill for sure have to read #1 & #2 also!
It is my nemesis too since my kids seem to live in there! 🙂 Hope you enjoy Week 1 and 2 as well!
Funny that I read this post tonight, I just did a couple of these things today and it made the house feel so much different. Simple things can make a big difference. Thanks for the reminders.
That is funny! Glad you liked the list, and it is so true that those simple things make such a difference.