5 Easy Ways to Make your House work for you While you are Away

Make your house work for you while you are away? What?! This may sound really strange, so let me explain. When I was a new Mom I was constantly overwhelmed with the amount of housework that went into keeping a home clean and running smoothly. In fact, I remember calling my sister and asking her how in the world she maintains a household of seven children when I was struggling with the lack of sleep and the laundry of three. She laughed a little and told me just to try to clean one thing a day. Brilliant. I could focus on just getting one task done AT LEAST and know that I could chip away at it and then if I got “into the cleaning mood” I could keep on going. I would even take posters and turn them into a big calendar that I taped to the inside of my door to keep track of my days, workouts, what I hoped to accomplish, and the one thing I wanted to clean that day. This approach really helped me build confidence in being able to take on more than one thing a day and I started to find a routine that really helped me keep things in check and I am sharing those with you today.

Make your house work for you while you are away? What?! This may sound really strange, so let me explain. When I was a new Mom I was constantly overwhelmed with the amount of housework that went into keeping a home clean and running smoothly. In fact, I remember calling my sister and asking her how in the world she maintains a household of seven children when I was struggling with the lack of sleep and the laundry of three. She laughed a little and told me just to try to clean one thing a day. Brilliant. I could focus on just getting one task done AT LEAST and know that I could chip away at it and then if I got “into the cleaning mood” I could keep on going. I would even take posters and turn them into a big calendar that I taped to the inside of my door to keep track of my days, workouts, what I hoped to accomplish, and the one thing I wanted to clean that day. This approach really helped me build confidence in being able to take on more than one thing a day and I started to find a routine that really helped me keep things in check and I am sharing those with you today.

1. Run the Dishwasher at Night

I find that I sleep much better at night when I have a clean kitchen. It really seems to start the day off right when the counters are wiped down and ready for a new day. This is why I always try to clean the kitchen and have a load of dishes cleaning before I go to bed. If you are like my sister you may have to run your dishwasher a few times a day, but once a day is sufficient for us. The next morning you can use the dishes that are now clean and start the cycle all over again for the next day. It also makes for a perfect morning chore for your child to empty it the next morning.

2. Vaccum while you Sleep

I have been jonesin’ for a robot vacuum for some time now and would just LOVE to have a friendly little robot vacuum do the work for me while I sleep. I would love to hear from some of you that have used them which one is your favorite. I do have friends that have them and love them!

3. Cook Dinner in the Pot

Start a slow cooker meal before you leave for the day. Slow cooker meals are always so nice on a cold day or even on a hot day when you don’t want to heat up the whole kitchen with an oven being turned on. Plus, I seem to be in a MUCH better mood for cooking when I get it done in the morning rather than waiting until the afternoon to figure out what I want to feed my family. Often times it is too late by that point or I don’t have the right ingredients…I am still trying to figure out how to be better about planning my meals! Here are a few of our favorites:

4. Water the lawn/garden with Automated systems

This year we have put a garden in our back yard and I was constantly forgetting to water the garden. My husband installed an automated drip system for our plants and it has been a life saver! Now I just have to stay on top of the weeding and we are good to go!

5. Start a Load of Laundry every morning before you leave the house

Whether it is in the middle of the school year or not, try getting into the habit of starting a load of laundry every day before you leave the house. I find Summer days are ones that I want to be out and about with my family the most and I don’t want to be stuck in the house doing laundry all day!

Today we went for a hike up the canyon to escape the heat and it was such a lovely morning the kids LOVE to get dirty and of course that means more laundry, but I don’t want to have to worry about the amount of laundry when we are out. Kids are meant to play in the dirt and have a good time. If you attack loads of laundry a bit at a time and stay on top of this routine it will make it so that the laundry doesn’t become too overwhelming.

Here is a fun group of moms (What’s Up Moms) taking on the cleaning routine and showing the laundry who’s boss!

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