Sunday, February 1, 2009

Restore the Order - Organization Time - 2009.Feb.01.

Organization Time.

Restore the Order.

RTO is an acronym that we use in our house. Restore The Order ! I start this process on Sunday night and continue all through Monday day. I try to have the Order Restored by the time my kids get home from school and my husband gets home from work.

I don't do any super cleaning on Mondays. I restore the order. I get items back into their designated spots, places, and rooms. I have a chart on my fridge for the whole week. I combine Sunday and Monday because I do a big RTO on Sunday night and Monday day.

So, my Excel form (I am an Excel addict!) is one page and one side. It has Downstairs and then every room listed downstairs including the hallway that is like our mudroom where we have our everyday coats, boots, and shoes. Then, the RTO chart has Upstairs and then every room listed upstairs including the stairs (where I put items to go upstairs) and the hallways (where crazy things seem to accumulate).

Next to each room or area is a box for me to check off as I complete each room. I do recruit my children and husband for RTO time. So, I will say something like: "After that t.v. show I would like you to turn off the television and come do 15 minutes of RTO time with me. You can go look on the chart for what rooms still need to be done".

RTO is a high priority in our house because I want our house to be "visitor ready", so when people pop over unexpectedly (which seems to happen about once a week in our world) - our house is at least presentable and picked up.

The more everyone in the family puts things back in their place as they go along in their day, the less RTO their is for us to do. RTO time is the one chore that the kids don't seem to complain about too much. I break it up into 15 minute segments and my husband makes it a fun race and often throws on some music.

1 comment:

  1. Melissa,

    I'm reading through some of your old posts and came across this one! What a great idea and it starts the week of on the right foot and gets it done so that the rest of the week falls into place. Thanks for sharing your routine.

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