Monday, March 5, 2012

PM Schedules Revisited

There is a problem with my PM schedule.  It is not working.  I think the main problem is that my life doesn't functions in chunks of time.  I can't say I will spend 10 minutes working in the kitchen, because I can't put 10 uninterrupted minutes together until about 1:30 in the afternoon, which is nap time.  Normally, nap time is used to do school with my daughter while my son sleeps, so even then 10 minutes can be hard to come by.  Also, messes don't happen in chunks of time.  If I do spend 10 minutes in the kitchen in the morning, you can't tell by the time I go to bed, because life has happened in the intervening hours. I need a schedule that works with my day, instead of one that interrupts my day.

 If you have seen my PM schedule, you will notice I have three chunks of timed chores listed...10 minutes on the kitchen, school room, and my secret sins.  Instead of these chunks of time, I am going to try a checklist.  This is what my maintenance man hubby uses at work.  Hospitals have begun using checklists for surgeries and other tasks.  Checklist improve efficiency, prevent overlooked items, and save time.  These improvements are exactly what my PM schedule needs. So here are my checklists:

Kitchen
Make sure the dishwasher has been unloaded
Load the dishwasher
Clean off the counters
Clean off the counters after lunch
Clean off the counters after supper
Hand wash any dishes that won't go in the dishwasher
Run the dishwasher
Sweep the floor

School Room
Have my student pick up all school books and supplies before releasing her for the day
Clean off my desk
Pick up the floor
Vacuum the floor...yes, daily.
Clean the board

Secret Sins
Monday.....car
Tuesday.....fridge
Thursday...closet
Friday....under a piece of furniture...maybe more than one
Saturday....fielder's choice

I hope this works better. We will see.

1 comment:

  1. Checklists are what get me through the day. Let me know if you see a difference.

    ReplyDelete