Daily Routines

Implementing daily routines and reminders helps keep household tasks manageable. FlyLady puts a lot of emphasis on Daily Routines, and you can read more about them at her site. You probably already have routines in place, but it is a good idea to periodically review them to figure out ways to make the most of the time you spend each day. For example, if your routines include making coffee each morning, is there something you could be accomplishing while the coffee brews, such as making school lunches or putting away clean dishes? Your routines will be unique to you.

Your nightly routine will include basic activities that you do every day, such as:

• decluttering the house (put away as much clutter as you can in 5 minutes)
• cleaning the kitchen
• putting away a load of clothes
• picking out clothes for the next day
• reviewing your calendar and To Do list for the next day
• packing lunchboxes
• brushing your teeth
• cleansing your face, etc.

Morning routines are usually shorter will vary based on whether you work outside the home among other factors. The morning routine may include:

• making your bed
• showering and wiping down the bathroom with a disinfecting wipe before leaving it
• dressing & putting your makeup/moisturizer on
• putting a load of laundry in the washer
• emptying the dishwasher
• making coffee and breakfast
• checking your calendar
• subtracting or, if it's a good day, adding your checkbook balance
• taking your vitamins and medicine, etc.

To come up with your own routines, determine what you normally do at night and in the morning then think about what you could do to during those times to make your day easier. Are you always late for work because you are trying to pack school lunches at the last minute? Adding that task to your evening routine will help you to get out the door on time. Always ask yourself, "How could I have made this day easier?" The answers are what will help you to determine your morning and evening routines.

To keep up with your routines, you can either make one copy and put it in a page protector, using dry erase markers to check off the tasks as you complete them, or make multiple copies and use a new one each day.

Once you have your routines in place, check out our daily tasks to keep your home clean by completing brief tasks in rotation around the house.