31 days of simple organization:: Day 4: Get a daily routine going

Flylady started my morning and afternoon routines and I've been doing them long enough that I can confidently say this is a habit.  Of course, they naturally changed a little bit to fit me and my house, and sometimes they lapse (for a week at a time or even more), but I always return to this routine, so its pretty much set for me.

Your routines probably will not look like mine. They'll probably change a little over time. I suggest you pick two or three things and ..... this is the important part. .... do them every morning and every afternoon. I also suggest you, at first,  write it down and check it off your list. Pretty soon, you'll do it automatically.

I've done this for so long that I naturally count in my head every morning. When I get to 4, I walk out the door.

My bedroom, bathroom and kitchen always look presentable.

My Routines

My morning routine (done before I leave the house for work):
1. Make bed (less than 3 minutes)
2. Clean kitchen (to me this means clean dishes out of dishwasher and no dirty dishes in sink, fresh kitchen towel, and clear counter tops, about 5 minutes including unloading dishwasher)
3. Swish and swipe master bath  (to me it means squirt toilet bowl cleaner in and swish the brush around, then take out a Clorox cleaning cloth and wipe down counter top and toilet seat- all this takes about 1 minute)
4. Swish and swipe guest bath (same thing in small bathroom, about 1 minute)

Evening (done before bed):
1. Pick out clothes for tomorrow and lay them out like a third grader (This takes about 3 to 5 minutes)
2. Clean kitchen (same routine done in morning)

Why this works for me

• Its fast
• Its easy to remember
• I see immediate results
• Seeing a clean bathroom and kitchen first thing in the morning and first thing when I walk in the door from work just makes me happy
• If you stay on top of it, you don't have much to clean
• If I have any hope for looking cute in the mornings, I have to think about what I'm going to wear and lay it out the night before
• At night, I have more time to find a scarf, earrings, shoes  and make sure everything is clean or anything else I need to complete an outfit
• Picking out my clothes the night before saves me at least 10 minutes every morning and probably more
• With the kitchen and bathroom clean (and counter tops free of clutter) I'm comfortable having someone stop by anytime
• When someone asks to use the bathroom, I don't have to go check it first

Things Ive attempted to add to my daily routines

Alejandra Costello  calls it her "dirty 30".  30 minutes of house cleaning daily. I've tried to implement a 15 minute version of this every day but its still hit and miss with me. It just hasn't taken hold in my everyday life yet.  I manage to do this maybe twice a week.

Fly lady suggest doing one load of laundry every day. There has been weeks in a row which I've done this, but for some reason or another, I just cant keep the momentum. (probably because I don't like to fold clothes).

Walking daily. I want to do it, but still can't seem to fit it in. I'm still trying.