Keeping the house organised while juggling work can be a real challenge! Here are my tips for working parents on how you can keep the house organised.
Mornings can feel really chaotic when you’re trying to get kids to school and yourself to work! Making lunches, packing school bags, feeding the dog, looking for lost socks and last minute homework…it can all be really stressful.
Then, when you come home, there’s cooking dinner, unpacking school bags and so many other things going on. Throughout the week, the house can easily get messy, which then adds another layer of stress if things get lost or you have to clear the bench before you can cook a meal.
These are my tips for working parents on how you can keep the house organised and enjoy a calmer, more organised home.
Delegate
The first thing to realise is that it’s really hard (and exhausting!) to do everything yourself. The more tidying, cleaning and cooking tasks that can be shared with other family members, the better. If you’re feeling that you’re doing most of the work, sit down with your family and tell them how you’re feeling. Explain that it is their home too and everyone is responsible for cleaning and tidying up.
Kat’s tip
If you’re wondering at what age you can give kids chores, here’s my list of 50+ age appropriate chores for kids.
routine chart
A routine chart is a great way to outline clearly what is expected of kids. For young kids, these printable morning routine and afternoon routine charts are a great way to remind them of what needs to be done. Another way to give kids tasks is with a personal reward chart. With this one, you can create your own to-do list and incentivise them with a reward.
Or use my Ultimate Monthly Cleaning Checklist and write their initials next to the tasks that need to be done.
Make it easy to pack away
Set aside some time to organise those spaces that get used every day, such as homework desks and school bag storage areas. Although this takes some time to set up, it will save so much time through the busy week. Kids are much more likely to put their things away when there is a designated place for them. This will help alleviate the every day stress of looking for belongings and packing their bags will become super easy.
Image source: Rudy and the Dodo Instagram
Kat’s tip
If you’re struggling to get kids to do their homework, try my tips for a stress free homework routine.
Daily Clean Up
A quick sweep-over clean-up with all family members pitching in means that there’s a lot less chaos to deal with each day, and less to clean up on the weekend.
You can find some really good routine checklists in my book The Clean Home.
Kat’s tip
Use pockets of time to get things done, such as planning next week’s meals while you’re cooking dinner, or quickly tidying the bathroom when you have your shower.
MEAL PLAN
Start the week knowing exactly what you’re going to cook by writing a meal plan. I like to use a magnetic weekly meal planner and a shopping list to make sure I have all the ingredients ready to go. I find online shopping the quickest way to pop everything in my basket when I’m busy and collect when it suits me.
batch cooking
If you have a chunk of time on the weekend, you might like to do some batch cooking so you have plenty of grab’n’ go snacks for the week. You’ll find a great collection of freezeable lucnhbox ideas in my Lunch Box Recipe Cookbook.
plan the night before
Get everyone in the habit of checking their belongings each night for the next day. This might include laying out school uniforms, packing school bags as well as swimming, dance or soccer bags. You might like to print a schedule for each child, outlining uniform days, library days and homework due days, as well as any information about pickups and after school activities.
home and school admin
It can be really time consuming to pay bills, read school emails, book appointments, schedule pickups, order gifts and household products online and all the other admin things that need to be done. It’s also really easy to get distracted scrolling on your phone!
Set aside some time each week (or each day if your family is really busy) to get all these little tasks done so you’re always on top of everything. I like to sit with my planner and family calendar and write everything down so nothing gets missed.
self care
It’s really important you take some time for yourself to relax. Schedule a lunch date with friends, book a massage or just let your family know you’re spending an afternoon reading on the couch. The household functions best when mum and dad are happy!
Keeping the house organised while trying to juggle everything can be a real challenge. But hopefully you have found these tips for working parents helpful, as it is possible to have a clean and organised home and work!!
