Make Your Own Simple Household Planner

Having a simple household planner of my own has been one of my most effective tools for keeping the housework done and running smoothly.

A place to keep my housework schedule and anything else that I need to keep me on track, together in one easy to reference place.

It creates a home base where I can find anything that I need, and you can too.

Here’s how you can create your own simple household planner and get your daily chores done in a jiffy.

MAKE IT SIMPLE

Print only things that you will use or want to track and cannot look up when you need them.

A three ring binder is the best thing to use so that you can switch out pages and also include print outs from the computer, just be sure not to get carried away.

This is very important because what you don’t want is one more thing to have to declutter or organize or throw in the corner because it has become unusable. And it can be wasteful. We’re going to kick that habit!  

Life is so much easier when we use only what we need. Your simple household planner will help you to do that.

TIP: Go through often to see if there is anything that you don’t need cluttering up your planner and bring the things you use often to the front.

Remember, your main objective is to create a working resource, something you can USE, quickly and easily to motivate you, reward you and to help you stay organized and get the important household chores done so that you never feel behind or stressed. It can happen!

MAKE IT NICE

Buy a binder that you like the look of, if you can find one with increased functionality, you might want to splurge, you will be using this book a lot over time.

It’s a really nice touch if you can get one with the clear pocket on the front cover so that you can make a nice, personalized front cover to suit yourself – it will be more enjoyable to use and give you a good feeling every time you pick it up.

Here’s mine.

You can get your own printout to use in your planner below in the Good Stuff for Your Planner section.

I wrote ‘MY Clean House’ on the outside because it makes it feel like something of my own to do with as I like.

I find since being married and having kids (anyone with 2 teenage girls will know where I’m coming from!), there isn’t a whole lot around here that is just mine. It helps me to focus and feel a sense of ownership over my responsibility to keep things rolling in the right direction around here – even if I don’t necessarily do it all myself.

You can keep your children’s household chore charts in yours too as your own reference and pin a copy up for them or have them create their own planner.

OR you can go a different route and make it ‘OUR Clean House’ and include the kids. Play around and see what works best for you and your family – which one seems to motivate you and your family to do the housework on schedule. It’s not as dull as it sounds once you get onto it, I promise.

I still haven’t decided for sure which one I will be using, it will probably depend on the kids – see what I mean! I’d love to hear in the comments section below which one you decide to try first and how it goes.

• Page protectors are also a very good idea for important pages that are used often like your recipes and routines will stay nice and legible.

• Dividers are also very useful as your binder grows. You can divide it into things like housework schedule, meal time, favourite recipes, phone numbers, bills etc.

• If you can get a few plastic pockets, you can also keep anything that may not be hole punched but that you would like to have in this space. Cards – library cards, anything your are comfortable keeping there, coupons etc.

You probably don’t have everything you need on hand, so for today, search to see what you do have, and make a list and commit to getting what you need next time you are out.

Remember, don’t let it get too bulky. If you have a lot of recipes that you use, create a separate recipe binder or system. If you have a few favourites, go ahead and include them for quick and handy reference

MAKE IT EASY

Put your household planner where you can see it and easily use it.

Have you ever heard the saying “Out of sight, out of mind?” It applies here. The more often you see it, the more likely you will be to use it when you need it. If it’s in a place that’s easy to get to and use, you’ll use it more often.

I keep mine on my dishwasher which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of my kitchen, I have to walk by it almost everywhere I go or at least look at it. I try to keep everything else cleared off of it. It has a place of honour there which really gives it a whole new level of prominence in my kitchen and in my life. Funny how things work that way.

It’s another reason that it’s a good idea to make it pretty – so that it will add to your decor. Why not?

And remember colour. I always have a nice set of markers (regular or sharpies and dry erase), highlighters and pens to make it fun. You can get a pencil case that goes right in your binder – very handy.

You may want to make it a rule that the kids aren’t allowed to use these, or they often go missing. Not that I’d know anything about that :0)

You can download a printable cover page for the front of your household planner here. Choose from a blank top to put what ever you want in, or go with ‘MY Clean House’, or choose from two versions of ‘OUR Clean House’.

Our Clean House

Our Clean House 2

My Clean House

Clean House

give your planner a boost

If you need a fast and simple system for your planner to get your housework done, grab a copy of my BOOST Housework Circuit – it’s an instant download so you can print your own housework circuit and start using it today.

It will provide you with a basic system to work your own daily tasks around. It’s the only thing that really works for me because it’s at a glance and very easy to use.

And I get to check things off as I go along and do it again the next day. You can’t beat that :0)

It is fully customizable and you can pick and choose the way you like to use it to suit your own lifestyle and situation.