Organization: Don't Re-invent the Wheel

One of the things that I learned after becoming a stay at home mommy/housewife is that the job has a lot of repetitiveness. No matter what delicious meal I made yesterday, these kids (and husband) still want to eat today! Even though I mopped and scrubbed toilets last week, they still need it this week. And of course, since these people insist on eating every day, I am going to the grocery store frequently.

Well, I decided a long time ago that it only made since that if something had to be done regularly, I needed a system to help me regulate it. For instance, every payday I was writing out a menu plan. Then one day I realized I was doing the same thing every month. I even served basically the same meals. So I spent some time coming up with a good month long meal plan and just re-used it every month. I would tweak it ever so often, but I used this same system until just recently.

Last fall I decided I was tired of writing a grocery shopping list every month. So I sat down and wrote out a very thorough shopping list tied to my menu plan for the month. Now I just print it out, scratch off what I already have, and go.* I also took the opportunity to expand it to a two month plan.

My laundry is the same way. Every week we wash the same things every day. It is such a part of the routine we don't even think about it. Monday is towel day, etc. My kids have even been known to figure out which day it is based on what laundry we did that day!

Once I get these routines established, they save us so much time and effort, and helps our household run so much more smoothly. This way I can save my mental energy for the things I can't schedule or fit so neatly in a box. You know, like kids. Or husbands.

*I blatantly stole this idea from my friend Candace.