A Fresh Notebook Is A Beautiful Thing

I'm a Word Nerd.  I fully admit to loving notebooks, lists, schedules, routines and the grandmama of them all - The Household Notebook.  I've tried various electronic means of managing household tasks (including apps galore), but nothing sticks for me like good, old-fashioned paper and pen.  And I've fallen in love with the freedom a schedule gives me.  Yup, you read that right.  Freedom.

You see, I'm not what you would call an 'intuitive housekeeper'.  I simply don't notice clutter when it has been there for a while - it becomes part of the landscape (sad, but true).  So keeping a mental list of what household tasks need to get done when is never going to work for me.  I'd forget to empty the trash, or go three weeks without changing the sheets, or leave the laundry until 10pm for the eighth day in a row.  And then I'm genuinely shocked when I realize how far behind I've gotten in the housekeeping.

Lists, routines and schedules have saved my home.

There really is something delightful in seeing your plans in hard copy.  My personal preference is, of course, the Household Notebook (or Home Management Binder, or Control Journal, or Homekeeping Record, or....) for anything permanent and referred to often, but I also use a faux-Moleskine like notebook for everyday jotting.  I adore my little black notebook.  It's simple, classic and - don't laugh when I share this - the pages feel smooth against the side of my hand when I write, LOL.  I splurged on a couple of four-dollar pens (they write like a dream) and this is what I use to write notes, changes to my schedule, to-do lists, and anything else that catches my fancy.  These little black numbers are large enough (larger than A5, not as big as A4) to use as a journal too, and I could totally see a whole shelf of identical books filled with years of hopes and dreams. You just don't get the same feeling from a tiny electronic smartphone screen.

Over the next few days, I'll be taking you on a tour of some of my favourite ways to keep track of my housekeeping routines, including the routines themselves and the methods I use to record them.  I also hope to be putting up an updated Household Notebook tour and a bonus tour of a Recipe Binder I set up that has really changed the way I menu plan.  Hope to see you then!

(image credit)

My Current Basic Daily Plan

Those that know me well will testify to the fact that I love lists, schedules and routines. A blank notebook and a pen gets me excited every time (oh, the possibilities!) and there's a deep sense of satisfaction to be had when you've got your routine down on paper.

I've recently done some minor tweaking to my Basic Daily Plan, so ta da! Here it is:

Morning Routine

• Rise early (6:00)
• Let Charlie out
• Head start on housework (start laundry, empty dishwasher - you know, the automatic stuff your caffeine-deprived brain can actually handle first thing out of bed!)
• Quiet Time (over breakfast)
• School day prep (begin by 7:00)
• Feed Charlie (change water)

(School run)

• Laundry (reboot machine, hang, sort - 15 mins tops)
• Dinner prep / exercise
• Housework (To Do List, Basic Weekly Plan - I generally carve out 11:00 am to 1:00 pm for this)

(Lunch)
Afternoon Routine

• Baking
• Home Project (organizing, sewing etc)
• Free time

(School run)

• Prepare snack
• Supervise reading and homework
• Laundry (fold, hang, iron, put away - whatever needs doing)
• Finish dinner prep / exercise
• Feed Charlie (check water)

(Dinner - 6:30)
Evening Routine

• Kitchen clean up (around 7:00)
• Kids' baths / showers, brush teeth
• General tidy up
• Lay out clothes for tomorrow (including the adults)
• School lunches
• Load washing machine

(Kids' bedtime - 8:30)

• Free time
• Take Charlie outside
• Shower, prep for bed (10:00)
• Go to bed early (by 11:00)

You'll notice that there are two 'dinner prep / exercise' entries. Trying to be consistent with my exercise routine was failing miserably, so I had to come up with an alternative. Also, I really quite like walking at 'pre-twilight' time of the late afternoon - my walk often takes me up some local hills and the view of the sunset from up there is spectacular. Since I'm never going to be a morning exerciser (seriously? you have got to be joking!), I'm left with two options for a walk - right after I drop the kids off at school (and before the day drags the energy from me kicking and screaming) or in the late afternoon/early evening, when it's a far more zen-like experience (I've had more than my fair share of 'quiet time moments' atop the local hills, that's for sure :) Unfortunately, Talented Hubby works a rotating roster which means sometimes he's home (to watch the kids) and sometimes he's not. Having two windows for exercise each day allows me to be a bit more flexible. I 'piggy-back' this on dinner prep too - if I've gone for a morning walk, then I prep in the evening. If I know I'll be walking later in the afternoon, I'll get as much dinner prep done as I can in the morning, so that all I'll need to do is leave simple reheating instructions for Talented Hubby later. Win-win!

I've also come to understand a few things about myself over the last few years that I've worked with a Basic Daily Plan. For starters, my energy is SHOT come lunchtime. I've tried scheduling exercise or housework during the hours between lunch and school pick up and it has always been a spectacular failure. I've discovered - and I can't believe it took me so long to work this out - that my day goes far more smoothly if I get what must be done out of the way before I sit down for lunch. Deep cleaning, serious household tasks and so on all get done early in the day. The wonderful benefit of all of this morning craziness is that my afternoons are generally my own. I'm trying to establish a routine of baking a little something each day (instead of a 'Baking Day' on the weekend, as has been my habit in the past). So as soon as lunch is finished with (around 1:30 give or take), I'll whip up something and pop it in the oven and then kick back a little - do some sewing, watch a little TV, clean out a cupboard. Nothing very taxing. I'm rested (without needing a nap, but that's always another option!) by the time the kids come home from school and the next crazy phase of the day begins. It also gives me a block of time every day in which to create, something I really wanted to promote.

You'll also notice I prefer to keep specific times out of the equation. I've tried that before on many occasions and I've found having a looser 'block style' plan works much better for me. Where times are helpful, I've noted that in brackets.

So there you have it! Are you a planner/list maker like me? What kind of schedule - if any at all - fits you best?