Two Weeks In

I was hoping to have a really good update after completing two weeks of me trying to change my habits and getting my life under control. I've done what I usually do and run out of steam by the end of the first week.

Here's a quick run down of what my goals were:

• Clear and sweep floors daily
• Complete all washing on Monday's and Thursday's. 

BUT! There's one difference I have noticed this time. I haven't given up and I'm not viewing things as failures. I think I have only completed the washing on one Washing Day so far. The rest have taken a bit longer. I have noticed a few things that I may need to tweak going forward. 

1) I need to make sure I have the first load in the machine on a delay start the night before so it's ready first thing in the morning. Because I don't rise before 7 (or before my kids for that matter) I haven't been able to start the load first off. It gets to about 9.30 before I have the mental space and focus to get a load on. If I have a load ready from the previous night then come 9.30 on Washing Day I am ready to hang on that load, so essentially I am already a load ahead. 

2) I had most of my 6 kids at home everyday due to them still being on summer school holidays. That meant more distractions. Yes, I could've had them help me and they are very capable as they have been in charge of washing before, but I'm working on me and my habits right now, not creating more family jobs that don't stick (and I was letting them enjoy the last week or two of holidays before school routines kicked into gear. 

By the time a load was ready to be dealt with (either hanging it out, bringing it in, folding  it, or putting it away) my kids needed my attention. There were many times I had a baby who woke up, needed a feed, was climbing the stairs, or was being nibbled by the puppy. And more often than not one or two of my older kids were calling out to me needing something. 

With all of that going on, I would usually look back on my day feeling defeated and a like I was a failure because I couldn't even get the washing done. But I feel like my mindset has definitely changed. Now I have looked at my day and said to myself, 'There's still washing to fold or put away but I can do that tomorrow. My kids needed me today and that was more important,' even though breaking up the 50th bickering match or changing another dirty nappy wasn't enjoyable or motivating in the slightest! 

Now that school has started back and I only have my baby home for most of the day I feel like I will be able to accomplish the washing quicker. A huge difference I have found with having two Washing Days rather than trying to do a load a day is that previously if I happen to not finish the washing on Monday, I had to complete it on Tuesday, along with Tuesday's load of washing. Something would inevitably come up on Tuesday meaning I couldn't get all of Monday and Tuesday's clothes away, so it was there on Wednesday. And guess what? It would keep happening, and somehow I'd have to fit in towels and sheets. It was a never-ending cycle of laundry that wasn't getting completed. And sheets hardly ever got changed...

This time, however, come Thursday, all washing from Monday has been dealt with, even if it has taken until Wednesday to get it all away. There was no daily growth to the pile that needed to be dealt with. It was steadily decreasing. That is a win for me!! 

Something else I have noticed which is a big bonus: No one is running out of clothes to wear. I noticed it more with Mr 3 and Miss 10 months. Somehow their clothes were one of the last loads to do when I was washing daily, so they would run out of clothes. Now, though, their drawers are full most of the time. 

Moving on to the sweeping daily. Thankfully, this hasn't only fallen on my shoulders. Because of my painful lower back my husband does lighten my load a bit, especially in the mornings, by unloading the dishwasher, and doing other little jobs for me. Sweeping gets done by our puppy (who gobbles up most of the crumbs!) and by whoever is on the dishes roster for sweeping. Yes, we have a nightly Dishes Roster which we stick to most times. Because we have 4 daughters who are capable of helping, they all rotate jobs. Miss 12, Miss 10, and Miss 7 rotate through all jobs (dishwasher, washing, drying and putting away, cleaning table and sweeping) Miss 5 is on a couple nights a week by stacking the dishwasher. My husband and I also take turns sweeping and washing/drying. All that to say I only sweep a couple times a week, so that task is working well!

Moving forward my goal is to continue focusing on my Washing Days and seeing if I can start finishing all washing on those days, and I am also going to add in daily exercise - even if it is only 5 minutes a day.

WEEK THREE

• Make sure floors as swept daily
• Washing Days are Monday and Thursday
• Exercise for at least 5 minutes a day

Let me know if you are working on anything and if you're making some progress!