8 Rules of an efficient housewife

As I write this I am approximately a trillion weeks pregnant. (okay...more like 41 weeks...what is this baby waiting for?)

The last couple months of this pregnancy have been tiring for me. Between growing a baby and caring for a one year old, I'm finding myself exhausted more than I expected I would. The blessing in disguise, however, is that this exhaustion has forced me to become more organized and efficient in order for anything to get done around here.

I've cultivated some habits over the last few months that have made my life way easier. My home is (for the first time ever) always clean enough for people to just drop by. I finally feel like I'm in control of the housework...instead of feeling overwhelmed by it. So I thought that for this weeks edition of Works For Me Wednesday (which is being hosted this week at Don't try this at home) I'd share the ground rules I laid for myself in order to become a more efficient housewife.

Most of this stuff is common sense stuff that our mothers' tried to teach us. If your already doing all of this all of the time, kudos. If your not, maybe you'll find like I did that cultivating some new habits can really make your day run smoother.

1. Do a load of laundry every day. Not only that, but fold it and put it away too. This has two advantages: The obvious one being that your kids and husband always know where to find a clean pair of underpants. The second is that you will no longer be tripping over a huge stinky reminder of how far behind you are (otherwise known as a laundry pile).

2. Do all your chores in the morning. Better yet, plan to get them all done by 8,9, or 10 am. This means having the basics of your to-do list done, except maybe some laundry that may still be drying. That way, you have all afternoon to prepare dinner, play with the kids, work on some projects, pay some bills, whatever!

3. Clean up the kitchen immediately after dinner. It's tempting to let those dishes "soak" until we feel motivated enough to clean them... but just get them done, you'll be glad you did. And don't forget to shine your sink!

4. Have a place for everything. If you can't store it all, you have too much stuff. De-clutter and organize until your able to conveniently and attractively store it all.

5. Put stuff away when your done with it. After all, your trying to teach your kids to do this! The other day I was baking some cookies and vacuuming. When I finished vacuuming, the oven timer said the cookies only had 47 seconds left.... I debated leaving the vacuum out, but instead rushed to put it away. You know what? I returned to my cookies with 18 seconds to spare.... Why procrastinate little jobs that only take 29 seconds?

6. Use 'pockets' of time. These are the little bits of time you have while waiting for something else. For instance, every morning I make the bed while I wait for the computer to boot up.

7. Don't watch t.v. during the day. Your husband probably isn't watching doctor Phil while he's at work, so you don't need to be watching it while you fold the laundry. You may also need to be careful how much time you spend on the computer... it can be a real time waster ( except, of course, if your reading my blog... that's time well spent, right?)

8. Keep a Home Management Binder. It's way easier to manage your home when you have all your to-do list, routines, meal plans, recipes and phone numbers in one place. I plan to post all about my own Home Management Binder sometime soon, but in the meantime there are all sorts of bloggers out there who've posted about their binders if you need some help getting one started.

This is what works for me. I hope it helps!