How To Enjoy Week-ends Instead of Slaving Over Housework

Teamwork is as essential at home as it is in the workplace; everyone pulling together, working towards a common goal, results in tasks being performed more efficiently, usually, at a faster pace.

In the end, everyone feels good about a job well done and the rewards which follow.

When you move something, put it back where it belongs instead of setting it down wherever is convenient. This saves a lot of time and your house looks organized even when cleaning needs to be done.

Why? Because there is little to no tidying required.

It's an on-going daily process by everyone in the home.

Don't pick the week-end to change bed sheets. Select another day, or night, of the week to get this task done.

You may feel tired but it will save you between thirty minutes to an hour during the week-end and you'll feel glad that the task has already been completed when Saturday morning arrives.

In addition, the sheets would have already been washed instead of being gathered into an overwhelming pile.

Depending upon the types of furniture in your house, some of it will get dusty sooner than others. Often, darker furniture will appear dusty the same day you've dusted it while lighter shades will rarely appear dusty.

Regardless, you can select Saturday mornings to dust your furniture unless you'd like to pick an evening during the week.

Keeping washrooms clean on a daily basis only takes a few minutes and takes a load off your mind when wondering if unexpected company may arrive at your door.

In addition, if an emergency was to arise and you had to take one of your children to the hospital - and had to call a sitter to watch the other children - your mind could rest knowing you didn't need to fuss with the washroom.

After all, no one minds a few glasses on the kitchen counter but a dirty washroom makes people cringe.

Sweeping your floor every day is a good practice. It keeps dirt from traveling throughout your house at the rate it would if you swept your floor once a week.

Wiping up spills immediately is a good safety practice which also prevents family members and guests from walking on sticky floors, but you should mop them at least once a week.

It shouldn't take long unless you have special types of flooring which needs to be cleaned in a special manner. Even then, you can work around it so you still have time to enjoy most of the week-end.

Vacuuming rugs and carpets can be done whenever it looks like it needs to be done, whether on a daily or weekly basis, and it takes a minimal amount of time to get the task completed.

Tidying is done on a regular basis. Check mark.
Dusting is done once a week. Check mark.
Bed sheets are changed during the week. Check mark.
Floors are already clean and vacuumed. Check mark.

So, what's left?
The obvious task of being sure your bed is made, your windows and mirrors are clean, and any stray items from the night before have been put in their proper place.

You can't get much better than that!

Freeze left over meals throughout the week and eat them during dinner time on week-ends.

Another alternative, if you plan to go out, is to place all your ingredients into a slow cooker so that when you arrive home, your meal is already prepared.

Conversely, if you plan to entertain guests during the week-end, since you have a lot of time on your hands - with most of your housework having been done throughout the week - read a book, watch a movie, play a board game, or whatever else you feel like doing while waiting for food to cook and your guests to arrive.

Don't wait for a certain day to do laundry. Keep up with it throughout the week.

You can be organized further by either sorting laundry into piles on a basement floor or sorting it in color coded laundry hampers. For example, in my house, light colors and whites go into the white hamper while darker colors go into the blue hamper.

It saves time sorting laundry and, when one hamper begins to get full, we wash that load of clothes.

Most times, only one load a day needs to be washed and we don't fall behind.

Best performed on a day off. However, a list can be made throughout the week with items being added as you run out of a product, or as you think of something you need. This saves much time at the grocery store when trying to decide, or remember, what to buy.

In addition, by strictly following your list - unless you remember something you had forgotten to write down - it will save you time at the store, save time bringing your groceries to the car, save time bringing your groceries into your house, and save time putting them away.

How much time do you think you would save? More than you realize!

Unless you have time to look through your mail and pay bills as they arrive, set Fridays aside to get this done. The general work week has, officially, ended (even if yours hasn't) so you may as well get all of your paperwork out of the way, leaving you free to enjoy your week-end and begin a new week with no paper cluttering your desk.