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Sep 12 2012

20 Days to Organise & Clean your home Challenge – Day 9

Category: Organising

It’s not too late to start!!  Subscribe to the challenge here.  Share your photos on instagram or twitter using #TOH20daychallenge.  Follow along with the discussion on facebook.

<< View the previous task

Please share your progress of today’s challenge below

Ceiling fans - Winter is over and the beautiful warm days will soon be upon us with the need to then put on our ceiling fans.  However as they have not been in use during winter the dust has accumulated and before they are turned on and spread the dust, let’s give them a clean.  Find a complete list here on how to clean your ceiling fans.  

Junk Drawer – Aah the junk drawer most households have a junk drawer or a draw that can never be kept tidy.  I don’t have a junk drawer, however my kitchen utensil drawer is the drawer that never seems to stay tidy.  Today’s task is to find the drawer that needs the most help, declutter and organise it so it not so much of a struggle to find things next time you visit it.  Find more details here about organising the kitchen drawers.

Calendar/Diary - I know at the beginning of the year we buy a new diary and plan on using it, however life gets busy and the diary is put into a drawer to never be used.  Sound familiar?   Let’s get your diary out, be it either a:

  • Diary
  • Wall calendar
  • Calendar on your phone
  • Calendar on your computer
I use the calendar in Microsoft Outlook which I sync to my iPhone and iPad, I add birthdays and have them repeat each year to save me adding them again.  I am slowly learning Google Calendars which I have also found user-friendly and works similarly with repeating events and syncs instantly to your phone.

Today we are going to add all of the following into your diary so we are organised for all holidays, events or birthdays through to the end of 2012.

Add the following items:

Personal:

  • Birthday’s 
  • Birthday parties
  • Anniversary’s
  • Holiday’s
  • Family events
  • Friends/family visiting
  • Public Holidays

Kids:

  • After school activities (sporting, music etc)
  • After school care
  • Immunisation dates

Work:

  • Business trips
  • Social engagements

School:

Around the Home:

  • Annual Pest Control
  • Car servicing
  • Change smoke alarm batteries
Other:
  • Dentist Checkups, every six months
  • Hairdresser, schedule regular appointments every 2-3 months
  • Meal Planning
  • Last dates for overseas Christmas post
  • Pet Immunisations
I use the Birthday Calendar printable to keep track of all our birthday’s.  Available for free. 

Unload dishwasher.  As I mentioned yesterday, my kids unload the dishwasher, they usually do this after breakfast.  Today’s task is to create the new habit of unloading the dishwasher, either getting the kids to do it each morning so you/and the rest of the family can then load in the dirty dishes during the day or finding the time to do it while the kettle is boiling or your waiting for the toaster to pop.  

Dust around the lights in each room of the house. 

Day 9 checklist (place in tasks divider)

  

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  • Hayley

    I don’t have ceiling fans so this will give me time to catch up on what I have missed so far. If we have air conditioners, should we clean those instead?

  • http://www.facebook.com/amy.reinhardt Amy Reinhardt

    Yay… we only have 2 ceiling fans in our house, I already have all birthdays, anniversaries etc. synced on our computer and phones… and my little one is only 4 months old so she doesn’t have activities yet except for playgroup! However, my husband did ask the other night when I’d be getting to the clutter drawers in the kitchen. Haven’t quite finished today’s tasks yet so that’ll be good to finish off tomorrow. We don’t have a dishwasher either!

    • Eli

      Hi Amy or Kat,
      I have been hearing alot about Google Calendars and syncing to the iphone. I currently use my paper diary (my bible for our busy family) but would love to know how to use the technology of the iphone & Google Cals. Could you please help me with how to set it up. My doctor’s receptionist swears by it and all her family uses it to update their activities so that everyone knows whats going on each day. Currently I tell my kids – if you don’t write it in the diary then you don’t go. It might sound a bit harsh but they have only ever forgotten once (neither of them drive yet so I’m the taxi).Thanks

      • http://www.facebook.com/maryanne.greenhill Maryanne Greenhill

        I like your Write it down policy – that would work for me!

      • Leah

        Hi Eli, have you tried setting it up by yourself yet? It can be a bit difficult to help someone with something internet-related when they haven’t tried themselves yet. Something relatively simple to do can be complex and time-consuming to type out. For starters you have to open a google account, you can do this at http://www.gmail.com (Gmail is just the Google email system.) Then once you are logged in to your Gmail account, click on ‘Calendar’ at the top of the page. If you have any specific questions about using the calendar at that point, then ask people (either here or elsewhere) your specific question.

        I’m afraid I don’t use a smartphone so I can’t help with synching. Apple can also be a bit uncooperative with other technology companies, but it sounds like Kat uses an iPhone and Google Calendar so she must have had success with it.

  • Alli

    Yay no fans! But I will do the aircon vents and definitely need to declutter a draw or two so that will be done. I am useless with birthdays so might have to send out bulk text to all friends about birthdays and write them down straight away!

  • Bec

    We don’t have ceiling fans in our house thanks to ducted air con, but this will give me the chance to do the fridge task that I didn’t get done yesterday. Today’s task has taken me most of the day, I have a kids play room and a sewing room but i chose to clean the toy room. I have a huge plastic striped bag worth of toys to donate, and I threw out the broken toys too. I also put half the toys in a tub to rotate which is something I have always wanted to do but never done. Pretty proud of my progress so far, thanks Kat and all the other readers for the motivation!

  • http://www.facebook.com/cathy.amarantidis Cathy Amarantidis

    Bec: you may want to consider cleaning the duct vents – they too are something we neglect!

  • bec

    Oh we have lots of junk drawers, oh dear!

  • http://twitter.com/SexyMomGP Corenne Tavares

    I’m scoring on this task – no fans and my extremely big kitchen with hundreds of cupboards only has 4 very tiny drawers with compartments so there’s no way to mess them up. I’ve had to work around not having proper drawers so kitchen is very well organised. BUT since I’ve got lots of “extra” rooms, I’ll do another one of those tomorrow instead. That way I don’t have too many rooms left undone!

  • Birdybirdy

    No ceiling fans but plenty of drawers, not really junk drawers, but somehow managed to miraculously turn into them! Bin bags on standby!

  • Alimacmac

    I’ve been a bit sick since Sunday, but I’m hanging out to catch right up!! Hoping I can in good time!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/tinagrace Tina Grace

    I just want to say, I feel ripped off! LOL
    I don’t HAVE a dishwasher :(

    • http://www.facebook.com/MASands27 Michelle Kavenagh Sands

      me too…. I also dont have Fans.

  • http://twitter.com/BecBennett Rebecca Maher

    I don’t have any ceiling fans, so instead I’ll clean all of my air con vents.
    Also, I already use my diary/calender every day. I can’t function without it!

  • http://bubbleandsweet.blogspot.com/ Linda V @ Bubble and Sweet

    I am totally unorganised in general but I do empty the dishwasher every morning while I boil my kettle and make my tea. It’s a great tip as it does make keeping the kitchen way easier :)

  • Tammy

    Only 2 ceiling fans, kitchen drawers could use a go-through, but aren’t too cluttered, thanks to hubby installing dividers a couple of years back. But the 3rd drawer in the bathroom vanity is a drop-spot for all kinds of bathroom related things… And in decluttering my rooms, all I’ve achieved is to throw out the rubbish, and put everything else in a box. Time to empty a box…
    Oooh, calendar/diary: was finding lots of posts re this/household organiser recently, putting it off till next year. With 3+ months left, time for a trial run in 2012.
    I open the dishwasher after I’ve had my shower, remove what the kids can’t reach to put away, and add it to my lot of dishes on the draining rack from last night to do before I make school lunches.

  • peter.zoey

    We have 12 foot ceilings and no ladder. And I am about 5 foot flat. I think I’ll leave the ceiling fans to my hubby to sort out :)
    Unstacking the dishwasher was one of the things I put on my morning routine, and it has really helped things to run more smoothly in the morning. I can already tell that this challenge is making a big difference to the way we run our household.. and we’re not even halfway through! Yay!

  • Kirsty

    I am soooo loving this challenge. I sooo look forward to each evening finding out what the next days tasks are, I think I will miss it when the challenge is finished :-(

  • http://www.facebook.com/lisa.maher.946 Lisa Maher

    I can’t seem to download the checklist.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jo.szegedi Jo Szegedi

    I can pretty much tick everything off day 9 already….gives me a chance to properly do day 8, newborn at home and 6 yr old home with Gastro since Monday afternoon!

  • http://www.facebook.com/maryanne.greenhill Maryanne Greenhill

    Many Declutter drawers to do here! It seems that I hid it away rather than put it away! Have a Manilla folder now for paperwork so I just need a plan for the miscellanous stuff that gathers. LOL Any suggestions?

  • http://www.facebook.com/lesleyanne.clegg Lesley-Anne Clegg

    Here in the UK we are waving bye-bye to summer and the nights are drawing in! Soon the central heating will be cranking into life so, Northern Hemisphere Mums instead of tackling ceiling fans maybe we should take time to wipe over all of our radiators/give them a blast with the hoover to prevent that nasty smell when they burst into life and burn off the summer’s dust! Yuck!

  • Candice

    I don’t have ceilings fans but I do have a very untidy kitchen utensil drawer!

    • Bubbles74

      No ceiling fans here either, but 2 small airconditioners to clean & 2 very untidy utensil drawers.

  • Kathryn

    This challenge is showing me I am a very organized person already lots of stuff already done in my home but your giving me soo many useful tips n trips to improve my ways n better my systems ecspecially with the meal planners, charts for kids.. Oh n the laundry organiseation fanulous All Working fantastic in my house u are giving me the encouragement to tackle those jobs I have been procrastinating about lol.. I am 22 weeks pregnant n also nesting so this challenge is doing me the world of good thanks so much for your inspiration n great ideas you have helped me improve my living n routines n I will continue on after this challenge is over :-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/anna.adamthwaite Anna Adamthwaite

    13 ceiling fans and 9ft ceilings + catching up on things I’ve missed this week! Hmmmmm Early to bed tonight I think!

  • http://www.facebook.com/maree.weeks.5 Maree Weeks

    8 and a half months pregnant means my SIL will be doing the fans! I will do all the drawers in the kitchen and some things I’m been meaning to organise for our move interstate in December! That will be my organisational thing!

  • Priscilla

    Oh dear, I took the exhaust fan down to clean it for the bathroom day and no I can’t put it back in. I think that may be my challenge for the day LOL

    • Tammy

      How do you take it down and clean it? Mine I can see is full of dust and who knows what, but vacuum doesn’t seem to get it. My bath is always full of dust and yuck that I’m sure (long hairs excepted!) comes from the exhaust fan.

      On that point, before I pack the heaters away for the summer, any clues on how to clean them? I can’t seem to get the grills off.

  • Shelley C

    Do you have a birthday card box that i can make to help me be more organised in sending cards to my friends and family?

    • Hannah Nix

      I think it would be fairly easy to turn a photo box into one Shelley. Label the dividers with the Months, and prepurchase cards and stamps if necessary!

  • http://www.facebook.com/tania.henderson.334 Tania Henderson

    But which junk drawer?? I think that every room in my house has at least one!!

  • bumblebee

    Are there any other single mums who work full time as well doing this challenge? I am struggling, I only managed to do the first couple of days, but I am so tired in the evenings after getting the little one to bed that I have hardly enough energy to make myself dinner let alone cleaning… that normally has to wait until the weekend when I have a bit of time :-(

    • cj

      hang in there, bumblebee. One task at a time. I plan on completing these at night and before work…just keep checking things off. :)

    • http://www.facebook.com/melissa.burchell1 Melissa Burchell

      Maybe do it weekly instead if daily. I found yesterday was the first time I was a behind on everything and I work p/time with a husband. Be kind to yourself it’s having a go

    • MM

      I am with 10mon old twins, and doing it ok. There were catch-up days as we had tasks I didn’t need to do. So please do. It’s worth it. :)

    • Jillian

      I am hearing you, I am a single mum with teens and working full time between, getting off to school and work and after scchool commitments I am exhausted, I spent last weekend in my kitchen and haven’t done much more. My kitchen is sparkling and my sewing frineds couldn’t believe it was the same kitchen. Let your light shine, we all get there in different ways and I agree be kind to yourself.

  • CJ

    great challenge. Thanks for posting it.

    I was recently put in charge of keeping up the house by my DW. She wants me to catch up to everyone else in the challenge by Friday. I will get started tonight when I get home from work for days 1-4.
    I think I may need some extra coffee. :)

    good luck everyone!

    • Hannah Nix

      Best of luck! Its definitely worth it!

  • Busymum

    Just organised my calendar! My husband bought me a dishwasher yesterday!!! Very excited but while he’s installing it, my beautiful clean kitchen has become a disaster area! But my junk drawer is clean already thanks to last weeks kitchen challenge, so fans and yesterdays dreaded challenge of the spare room to do today (not looking forward to this, it has been a dumping room as we’ve just moved and I have little storage space atm). I love the motivation this challenge gives me & My husband has gotten on board…asking what each days challenge is and even giving me a hand here & there! Thanks Kat!

  • Hannah Nix

    I managed to load the dishwasher in the time it took the jug to boil the other night! Now, I’ve decided to always do it then. It means my hubby can load it before work, without the added hassle of unloading!
    btw, He thanks you immensely! This challenge, in the first week, got our house back on track, and keeping it that way is proving rather easy!!

  • Shireen Baker

    Done the fans including the exhaust fans

  • http://www.facebook.com/vikki.little.56 Vikki Little

    I come on here to check the daily tasks and then find that I can already tick most of the list off every day lol…..Im left wondering what else is there to do for the rest of the day?
    Like the ceiling fan….we use ours during winter to circulate the heat in the house (as it just sits in one room) and the dishwasher…what is a dishwasher lol….the calender, we dont do activities etc. My once in control powered me is now left feeling quite down when I see all these prompts now :-( Your doing a fab job though Katrina!

  • Ruth

    Can anyone help? I store my cookie cutters in a plastic container, but they always smell musty. Any suggestions as to what I could put in the container to stop the musty smell.

    • http://twitter.com/vampSaam Saam Thorne

      sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom? It works for odours in the fridge…

  • http://www.facebook.com/frankgianina.takacs Frank Gianina Takacs

    Kat, just wondering about the purpose of the dividers in our folders. Are we to add anything in them which we find useful, or will you be posting up some more print-outs for those sections?

  • http://www.facebook.com/vwinrow Vanessa Winrow

    Kat, the way you do things around the house is inspiring and really resonates with me. Buying the Laundry printable was the best thing i have done today….LOVE THEM! You have really thought of everything! Happy house WIFE, happy LIFE! I do believe I can say my stress levels have decreased being organised…..and thats all thanks to you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/frankgianina.takacs Frank Gianina Takacs

    Kat, also just wondering if this cleaning challenge will include some instructions re: cleaning the outside of our home? eg: wiping down any outdoor furniture, letterbox, kids play sets, trampoline….etc.xo Gianina

  • Kate

    Fans done! But I’d love advice on cleaning air conditioners and oil heaters.. Also where do you store your heaters in summer?? Thanks..