Here for the first time? We are going through a series on un-overwhelmed homemaking, decluttering and basically getting your home in order. You can find the first post, A Tale of Two Mothers – How to Be Un-Overwhelmed here.
Decluttering Schedules
Today I want to suggest several different “schedules” based on the ages of your children that you could use as a guideline for the days you do a large scale decluttering. Make sure you add in taking care of and playing with the children as well as any needs that come up during the day.
Note: These are really schedules, but simple routines and guidelines to assist you.
Also, the suggested schedule for those with older children may seem a bit aggressive. Please don’t let my sample schedules overwhelm you! Use and adapt these as you see fit. They were meant for homemakers who need to ruthlessly eliminate clutter in their home. These schedules would also be great for pre-spring cleaning!
Decluttering with small children (ages 5 and under)
Before Lunch
- Pray and ask for the LORD’s strength and His blessing on your day
- Get you and the children ready for the day
- Breakfast (preparation and clean up too)
- One load of laundry
- 30-60 minutes of decluttering
Between Lunch and 4pm
- Lunch (preparation and clean up too)
- One load of dishes
- Nap time for babies
- 30-60 minutes of decluttering
4pm Until After Dinner
- Switch the laundry
- Try to clean up a bit before your husband arrives home from work
- Dinner (preparation, eating and clean up)
- Children’s baths if needed
- Time with family
Dinner Until Bedtime
- You may be able to fit in more de-cluttering, but why? Just enjoy your family. Great job! You’ve gotten up to 2 hours of decluttering completed in your home today! You’ll notice an amazing difference by the end of the week!
Decluttering With Children ages 10 and under
Before Lunch
- Pray and ask for the LORD’s blessing on your day and His strength
- Get you and the children ready for the day
- Breakfast (preparation and clean up too)
- One load of laundry
- Give the older children some easy school assignments they could work on for some time without you right there.
- You may also want to give the older ones the job of helping to declutter
- 30-90 minutes of decluttering
Between Lunch and 4pm
- Lunch (preparation and clean up too)
- One load of dishes
- Nap time for babies
- Another school subject for the children they can somewhat do on their own
- 30-120 minutes of de-cluttering
4pm Until After Dinner
- Switch the laundry
- Try to clean up a bit before you husband arrives home from work
- Dinner (preparation, eating and clean up)
- Children’s baths if needed
- Time with family
- Again, if you have only school age children, you may be able to fit in some de-cluttering during this time
Dinner to Bedtime
- Enjoy your family and labors of the day! Good job! You’ve spent up to 4 hours de-cluttering today alone! That is progress!
Decluttering With Older Children (Teenage, etc.)
Before Lunch
- Pray and ask for the LORD’s blessing on your day and His strength
- Get yourself and have your children get ready for the day
- Breakfast (preparation and clean up too)
- One load of laundry
- Assign school work
- Assign an older child to help with the younger ones if applicable
- Give one or two of the older children a chore to work on (whether decluttering or dishes or laundry, etc)
- 1-3 hours of decluttering
Between Lunch and 4pm
- Lunch clean up
- One load of dishes
- Switch the laundry
- Nap time for babies if applicable
- Another school subject for the children they can somewhat do on their own
- Recruit the kids into the decluttering process for maybe an hour or two
4pm Until After Dinner
- Clean up a bit before you husband arrives home from work
- More decluttering if you can fit it in peacefully
- Dinner (preparation, eating and clean up)
- Children’s baths if needed
- Time with family
Dinner to Bedtime
- Enjoy your family and labors of the day! Good job! You’ve potentially been decluttering for a total of 6 hours today!
If you are planning to use this guideline in your home to get the house in order, please do read the whole series first. You can find it HERE. Read through the other parts of the series and make a plan. Now that you’ve de-cluttered, part 4 on Cleaning and Maintenance is HERE.
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3
Oh, this is great! I fall into the 10 and under category and I often feel defeated when I don’t get a huge amount of decluttering done. I don’t like to sacrifice relationships for the sake of the project but it often happens and I usually just put on a movie to distract my children so I can finish. Your schedule gives a great perspective of how to balance it and a reminder that a little every day makes great progress! Thanks!!
Oh a little every day makes significant progress! Plus… it’s quite motivational to keep going if, as you said, relationships aren’t being sacrificed for the sake of the project 🙂