The Importance Of Routines

 

Organization is like any other positive habit, it involves developing routines when it comes to cleaning out clutter, closets, and drawers as well as cleaning your home in general. You are better off to have a schedule or some sort of date in mind when it comes to cleaning or your work will never be done. If you get into a habit of cleaning and organizing on a regular basis, your home will not only look cleaner, but also you will feel much more relaxed. This is also true for the office, or at least your section of the office should you be in a cubical type setting.

 

Whether you are cleaning by yourself or with a partner (or partners), you should develop a routine as to when you do your cleaning. You can take one job a day to make it easier, or you can clean your entire house from top to bottom in one day.

 

I have found that the average house can get cleaned to the point where it looks pretty presentable within two to three hours. Start with the basics by dusting and sweeping. My room of choice to start in is always the kitchen, emptying things out of the refrigerator before they become science experiments, cleaning the counters, sink and wiping down the cabinets. Then I take the mop out and clean the floor last. The entire room can be done in a half an hour, usually.

 

After that, I go to the living room, straighten the couches, dust and vacuum. This is another project that only takes about a half hour. I , then, move to the bedrooms and then head off for the bathrooms last. The reason for this is that the bathrooms have to be scrubbed down and disinfected. With the use of proper cleaning supplies and doing this on a regular basis, the cleanliness will easily last a week.

 

I am often sorely tempted to clean my daughter’s room as she often leaves her room like a tornado whipped through it, but as this would not be teaching her anything, I bite my lip and my wife or I will go in and ‘help’ her do it. Never do it for them if you can help it. No matter how old they are, it they are at least helping in the efforts to clean their room, it develops independence as well as a sense of accomplishment.

 

The main thing is to have a routine. I know just how to get started and when it is over. By developing this routine and doing it in a repetitive way that I come to expect, it gives me a great satisfaction when it is all over, the house is clean for a while and I know that next time, I will do it again.

 

If I just cleaned whenever I felt that the house needed it, I could be cleaning all of the time and my work would never be done. I would find myself cleaning certain areas more than once while not touching other areas but every two to three months. The routine gives me a sense of accomplishment and also allows me to relax and not worry about cleaning again until the next week, unless something happens to interrupt the routine - like someone spilling something on the floor.

Routines are not just about cleaning your house, they are a way for you to maintain order and organization in your own life. In addition to cleaning, I also have a cooking routine. I plan out my meals when I go to the grocery store. By organizing your menu for the week and having an idea of what to cook, you not only save time, but save money. Eating out all of the time can be expensive and who wants to fret over what they are going to eat for dinner every night?

 

In addition to helping you with the house, routines will also help you when it comes to raising your children. Little kids thrive on routine. You know how important it is for babies to be fed regularly and changed. Babies thrive on routine as it gives them a sense of security. The same goes for children. I wouldn’t ever be too strict when it came to mapping out each second of their lives and never would them to live in an environment where they had no time to just play or be kids, but a healthy routine teaches them that there is a time and place for everything.

 

Set a bedtime early on for you and your kids. Before bed, have a routine for settling down. This was something that your children will look forward to every night. When they are younger, this is a good time to read to them and get them to enjoy reading. As they get older, begin to have them help read the books. This inspires a love of reading and allows a steady transition into them reading to you which then moves into them reading on their own. You are probably wondering how and why I moved on to this rabbit trail, but setting up routines that lead to your children being self efficient, will lead to you having more time to yourself later which leads to you having more time to organize your own thoughts and prepare for the next day.

 

People with dogs also know the value of routine. If you have a dog, the secret to getting it housebroken and becoming a well-behaved dog is routine. Dogs, like children, thrive on routine. Cats don’t care as they are in a world of their own, although it does matter to them that you regularly feed them, change their water and clean their litter box.

 

Kids and dogs, however, are not the only things that thrive on routine. Adults also feel a sense of comfort at enjoying routines. It does make them have a more organized life as well as a healthier life. If you go to bed the same time each night and wake in the morning at the same time, it is better for your body. If you watch a certain program on TV before you go to bed or read a certain amount of time, you will feel as though you have something to look forward to each night. Most of us all have an innate desire for some sort of structure in our lives.

Routines, however, are not etched in stone.

 

There are times when routines are broken. This happens now and then and you should not get anxious about it. Simply fall back into the routine when whatever situation drove you out of the routine has calmed down. For example, bedtime routine are going to get broken on many occasions such as holidays, parties, overnight trips and vacations. While you want to establish a routine that will make everyone feel more secure and yourself more organized, you also do not want to feel like you are running a boot camp. Becoming so rigid in your routine that you cannot alter it now and then will not make anyone feel more relaxed as you will be so worried about the routine that you skip things that break into your schedule.

 

So, while the secret of good organization is routine, it should not be one that is so rigid that it defeats the purpose and actually causes anxiety. Learn to try to stick with a routine as much as possible, but do not pop a vessel if something happens to upset the schedule. Just go with the flow and get back into the groove when you can. The routine should be a tool you use to stay organized, not a prison that confines you to a rigid schedule.

 

The purpose of these blog posts is to help you strive to be more successful and to create a life worth living, so I never want to end a post without giving your some sort of “power question” to ponder over. Answering these questions will help you to take action.

 

Power Question for the day:.

What’s one thing that you would love to do before you die?