Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Chore Chart Makeover

It's backwards WFMW day at we are THAT family.

My chance to ask what works for you.

And here is my current problem.

I am a list maker. I love to cross things out or check them off as I accomplish them.

I also am not someone who naturally falls into a routine of accomplishing chores, in fact I am much more likely to fall into a rut. And then trip back into it at least once a week.

Right now our little one is only 4 months and Zach works 40 hours a week so I am in charge of most of the chores. But I continually fail to stick to my current plan for accomplishing the tasks set before me. I ned a chore chart make over.

I usually do most of the chores but I would also be interested to hear how you manage with a bigger family.

Oh and one more thing, I need to be able to make this chart on a budget. I could just write a list each week but that becomes wasteful, and I can;t really go buy a new fancy pre-made system (although it is tempting)

So please let me know, what chore chart works for you?
(if you've posted about this before I would love a link so I could see pictures, like I said I'm very visual)

12 comments:

Amy said...

I'm assuming you've probably heard of Flylady and her notebook by now. :) I no longer use her whole system, but if you haven't heard of her, you'll want to check her out. (Many people get annoyed with her frequent email reminders throughout the day of what to do--- I just set those on "digest" mode and get them as a bulk mail once a day.)

Something else I like is using Google calendar--- it's free, it's color coded (my favorite, LOL), and you can set up multiple calendars and have them all show, or not, at once. I have one for work, one for home, and I can choose to see both or just one at a time. There's also a task list on there with a check-box for you to cross off tasks.

Lauren said...

I made my own Home Management Binder with a cleaning section that has my chore list in it. I made my own using Microsoft Word and set it up were I have two cleaning options: Daily Chores or once a week cleaning.

http://homewitholivia.blogspot.com/2009/09/wfmw-home-management-binder.html

my guardian angel drives a pick up truck said...

Flylady.net is definiatly for you. She cleans by zones and focuses on one zone a week. She's all about doing things in 15 minute intervals and doing something at least once a day that's good for your heart (ie:Wii fit!)

annies home said...

I have a household journal that i have daily, weekly and monthly chores listed and I have a dry erase board for my childrens chore that they do for a week as well

Angela said...

I am not sure how much help my plan is for you but i am happy to share. I made a chart of things I wanted done weekly (not counting laundry) and things I want done bi monthly and monthy and then I assigned 2 chores a day, and 2 major chores a weekend. It makes it much easier to stay on top of things. If you want me to email it to you please shoot me an email, i'd be happy to share.

Lindsay said...

I'm a list maker myself...often writing down things I've already accomplished, in order to be able to cross stuff off! However I've become very lazy! The only thing I do consistently is have "Sheet day" every other Friday. The kids love it because they get to help strip their beds and jump on the bedding. Otherwise during baths I clean the bathroom while I'm watching them. Hope that helps a little. I need to check out your other commenters suggestions!

Kara @ Just1Step said...

As a few others mentioned, I also get FlyLady's emails and try to keep up with them.

Additionally, I use www.mychores.co.uk. That site is awesome. You schedule your chores and say how often you want them done. Then it sends you daily email reminders for the chores you scheduled for yourself on that day. If you don't do a task on a certain day, it just keeps it on the top of the list until you either do it or tell the site to delay it. So for example, I put down that I want to water my plants every 5 days. Suppose it was an assigned task for yesterday, but I didn't do it. But then I do it tonight and check it off my list. Then the site will add 5 days to today, and in 5 days "Water plants" will appear on my list again. I think it's pretty sweet. :)

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

FLylady has some great help for getting into a routine. :D

Jessi said...

Cute family and cute blog!
Thanks for the tip of putting the chocolate in a bag to drizzle over strawberries! I will do that next time, sounds SO much easier!
Blessings.

Jessi said...

Oh! Forget to add...I too have problems getting my chores done but following some of the Flylady's tips have helped me stay focused and motivated.

RookieMom Whitney said...

I only have one trick to share. I have certain days for laundry. Monday for kid laundry, Tuesday for adult laundry, Wednesday for sheets and towels. This leaves space on the rest of the days for any emergency laundry that results from potty accidents or a spill. If that happens (usually it does) then I throw anything else in the hamper in with it, so that when I'm back to Monday, there is not usually more than one or two loads in each category.

Kirsten said...

I created a list for myself. It won't get done unless it's on my fridge on paper, so I'll recycle it or cut it up for notepaper when it's finished. Although now that I think about it, I could laminate it!

I made a weekly, monthly and seasonal list.

http://paintingpinkpajamas.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-clean-house.html