“The Box”

I had no idea that my chore  project would take off with folks the way it did! I have had a few requests, so I am giving you the run down on how to make your own box. I affectionately call it “the box”.

First off, I am an already organized person, but with addition of homeschool I find myself never remembering what to do when.

Printed schedules don’t work for me these days, they get lost, thrown away, drink spilled on it….you get my drift. I thought I would put one in a sheet protector and tape it near my desk- except I am not at my desk all day, nor do I want one in every room of my house.

I was looking on the FlyLady website, and saw her binder, and all of the steps to make said binder. I was immediately stressed out. There are 19 steps!!! This system must work for someone, and you can also buy one made up for you, but I thought I would get lost somewhere in the days-weeks it would take to start the binder itself! I wanted something NOW! It would also be harder for me to keep track of where I was during the process of the day.

A friend shared the link I have in my previous post about someone else’s box, but I didn’t think that many cards were needed.

So, I perused FlyLady’s site for some lists. I wanted the process to be quick, painless, and to move on with the point of the box- direction each day.

I decided what ideas would be best for me, and my way of doing things.

I went to Staples for my cards, and dividers. I already had the box, I got it at Walmart. I also bought new Sharpie pens. That was just for fun, they now have medium point!! (These Frixion pens are super, they really erase, with friction. The only thing I will use in my lesson planner.)

Step 1- Assign colors of cards.

I used lavender for daily schedule- because as far as colors go- it’s my favorite- besides brown, which wouldn’t work anyway. Yellow is for daily chores. Green is for zones. I will use pink for seldom done chores to go into my monthly tabs. White will be for birthdays and anniversaries and will also go into month tabs.

Step 2- Label dividers.

I have: Today, Tomorrow, Mon-Sat., Zone 1-5 and Jan.- Dec.

Step 3- Decide schedule, chores, and zones.

I used the FlyLady’s zones, and added or took away as needed.

Step 4- Fill out cards!

I start each day with my cards in “Today” and move them back to “Tomorrow” when they are completed.

My A.M. Cards:

Bible reading, prayer, breakfast.

Workout.

Shower.

Swish toilet. Wipe down sink.

Take out hamper, sort, and start one load of laundry.

Dry hair, put on a little makeup.

Make bed- hopefully it’s empty of child(ren) by now.

Check calendar, make to do list.

Make sure dinner is out of freezer.

Balance checkbook.

30 minute computer timer.

Load dryer.

Make sure kids have eaten, emptied dishwasher, and dressed.

School!!

My P.M. Cards:

Make lunch.

Computer time 30 minutes.

Fold Laundry.

Do zone or daily chores. Explanation below.

De-clutter something for 15 minutes.

15 minutes to check email, FB, Twitter.

Dinner.

Clean-up dinner.

I have one final card for the day:

Before bed:

*These are all on one card*

Living room cleaned and vacuumed, kids and hubby help.

Dining room vacuumed.

Check box, I’ll explain in a second.

Think ahead to tomorrow.

Devotional with the family.

Brush teeth.

In addition to these cards, I have different chores for each day except Sunday.

I numbered my cards, and this is why. As I finish a card I move it to “Tomorrow”, if I can’t get to one, I leave it in the box. I will then go back in the evening to make sure I didn’t miss anything I really wanted to finish. I then put the card back in order.**My numbers have already changed, like when I make my bed, as people were still in there when I planned to make it. You may want to pencil the numbers in first, and try it out.**

When I get to “Do zone, or daily chores”, I flip to that section, and do what the cards tell me.

Monday- Toss magazines, change all trash, vacuum every room, mop all floors, clean all mirrors, feather dust.

Tuesday- Zone Day. Heavy cleaning day!

Wednesday- Write cards, file papers, upload photos, and clean purse.

Thursday- Touch-up fridge, check menu *post on this soon* photocopy shopping list and make any additions, clean up laundry room and car.

Friday- Errands and shopping. Lesson plans.

Saturday- Laundry day. Change all sheets. Family day. (We are homebodies, so we stay in.)

Sunday- Worship and food is about all a preacher’s family can handle on a Sunday. REST!

**Every job above has a card, for sake of space I used commas instead of a list order.**

The zones are just a deep cleaning, you spend the rest of the month tidying, feather dusting and vacuuming.

You can read more about Zones here. The only thing that disappointed me about them is they are not consistent. One room says to clean top to bottom, other rooms tell you to do a step that is obvious should come after another, like dust dresser, then clean cobwebs…

This system has worked really well for me, and the beauty is you can change a card or change the days you want to do whatever chore without typing up a new chart, like I used to. You just switch cards around, and you have restructured chores in a second. Now that, is customization!

This has officially been my longest post EVER!! I hope it helps you make your very own “The Box”. If you have any other questions I haven’t covered, please ask away.