Can you believe we’ve been at this 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge for two weeks now? I’m so proud of all of you for the progress you’re making and the hard work you’re putting in to make your homes more of a haven.
Your posts and comments have been a huge inspiration to me! Keep them coming!
Day 10 Assignment
::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
::Dust all ceiling fans and clean all light fixtures in your house. Check for burned out light bulbs and replace.
::Set the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes and rejuvenates you. If you need ideas, here are a few: read, write, call a friend, pray, exercise, bake, play with your children, laugh with your husband, stop by the bookstore and browse the book selection, work in the garden, or take a nap! Take some time to just stop and enjoy life today!
Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.
At 9 p.m. ET tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!
Rachelle says
can someone please help me figure out how to keep up with article daily?? Ive been lost since day four and have been searching all over the blog, now i just stumbled upon it…. help???
Sarah Mae says
This is a fantastic series! I remember way back when you had “Make Your Home a Haven” on that old blog. 😉
Thanks for the link love!
Sarah T. says
Yep. I looked up at our ceiling fan in our room and thought, “I suppose she’ll have us do those at some point. Then I won’t have any more excuses.” Now I don’t. Except that we have 9 ceiling fans in our house. Don’t ask.
Rebekah says
I thought the same thing! I just KNEW ceiling fans were coming.. especially after my mom commented last weekend “Someday on one of these trips here I’m going to dust your ceiling fans for you.”
Lana says
Moms are so good at those helpful little reminders 🙂
Emily @ Our Frugal Happy Life says
And in true frugal fashion, if you need to purchase more lightbulbs, don’t forget about the Target coupon for $2 off a package of GE lightbulbs! It’s valid on any size or type of lightbulbs. 🙂
Crystal says
Oh yes, thank you for that great reminder!
Rachael says
Just got mine! And the 69 cent bottle of Method. And I’m home with a sick child who isn’t really sick anymore. So, really no excuses!
Diana says
This series is fantastic! I thought my baseboards were fine the other day, until I got down on all fours with a soapy water bucket and rag! Gross…even though it feels like I vacuum & swiffer all the time!!! That lead to my also washing all the floors, door knobs, switch plates…and while I had the vacuum out I got all the spider webs and lint on the walls/ceiling/vents…and light fixtures. Also washed the bathroom & bedroom doors down with a vinegar solution, got smudge marks on walls and window ledges! I also brought a car load of items to the local donation center…who would have thought I could generate this many items! This really has been inspiring! Thanks very much!
Meredith says
I just noticed that the light fixtures needed help when I was cleaning the switch plates. Thank you so much for helping me get this house in order. I’m really enjoying the results of this hard work and I love reading everyone’s comments!
lyndsay says
This shall be a big challenge for tonight, but I am planning on relaxing by watching a movie with the hubs 🙂 I am pretty sure there are no burnt out bulbs, but I do want to replace older bulbs with more energy efficient ones 🙂
Lucky @ Making My Own Luck says
I saw a cool tip on Pinterest for ceiling fans — use a pillow case to wipe off the dust from the blades. That way it doesn’t go everywhere below.
Mackenzie says
Loving this series! An organized home is a happy home 🙂
Ami says
Thank you for your help, Crystal! I wish this series would continue because it’s really helping me.
I am 4 months pregnant and I’m finally getting back in the swing of things – 4 out of 5 days this week I’ve actually made a to-do list…and completed most of it! Thanks for helping me get out of that 1st trimester slump – this was great timing!
And with the decluttering – I realized yesterday that I can give all our old stuff to my friends who are raising missionary support and are planning a yard sale. Decluttering just got more meaningful.
Rebekah says
This sounds so familiar! I’m almost 6 months pregnant, and we have friends having a benefit yard sale for their upcoming adoption later month. 🙂 It feels good clearing out space for our baby, too! I can almost hear the house breathing a sigh of relief as the dust, dirt, and pounds of clutter get lifted off.
Mrs. S says
I am loving this series!! (Though I am going to have to purchase more lightbulbs while I am in town today!) We are getting our home ready to sell, adn this series is offer practical and EASY steps to get the house in tip-top shape. Also, the junk sorting is helping, as it is overwhelming to sort the donation items from an entire house, but to sort out 7-10 items a day is easy!
april says
loving this series…I have to admit I”m not the world’s best at keeping up with these tasks(Id rather go play with my 5 year old, and the bigger kids when they are home, lol) Just doing these little snippets of stuff that usually fall by the wayside is helping tremendously 🙂
Emilie says
playing with your children is way moer improtant. They will nto remember if your fans and light switches were clean but will remember that you loved them.
(Not to say, don’t clean, but don’t feel guilty for putting family first.)
I hope to do these challenges this weekend and recruit my kids to help…they are each going to pick 1 or 2 to work on with me so I can catch up and have it take less time.
Courtney says
Yuck…needs done! Today my husband and I are tackling our garage! We’re getting ready for 10 of his family to decend upon us starting next Friday…we’ll have people in and out for 9 days! I have been in cooking and cleaning overdrive getting ready. Def have to tackle those dusty fans!
alyssa says
Today is my first day reading the cleaner home assignments. I am really excited to start! I have a dusting mit from norwex and hope it speeds this process up. We have 7 ceiling fans and I have some of them that haven’t been dusted for a while. Oops! Thank you for posting this I am trying to make my house chemical free because of my children and can’t wait to read back onthe other 9 assignments and see if there are a few my children can help me with.
diane says
Loving this series!!!!! Getting a lot done…i even had time to soak in the tub today while my 2 month old was sleeping 🙂 BONUS!
Emma K says
We were at a marriage retreat part of the week so I’m playing catch up now.
The kids and I got the doors, light switches and baseboards finished today while supper was cooking. I worked on some ceiling fans last week.
Tomorrow my son and I are going to find a place to vacuum out the car. Most of my 7 items have been items to throw out that were broken.
Ashleigh @ Thankfully Thrifty says
I am hoping to jump on the band wagon today. Looks like a picked a good (ay) day to do it – hate dusting lights! Ha! Thanks for this. I love this day by day organization.
Diane says
I already threw 3 things away because I thought I’d have to get rid of 9 for the day! I think I am running out of clutter!
Crystal says
Well, I’d say that running out of clutter is a very good problem to be having at your house. 😉
Diane says
You’re right, it just makes finding 9 things a bigger challenge 🙂
Katie H says
No! No! I don’t wanna replace light bulbs! I find SPIDERS when I do that!
… okay. I think I’m better now.
Crystal says
😉
Lana says
I agree! Our 21 yr old daughter got bit by a black widow and has ben horribly sick from it. We had to go and bring her home frem college for a few days. She could not even drive herself home. No spiders!!
Katie H says
My track record for changing bulbs is: One smashed globe cover in the laundry room. Two dead but extremely horrible-looking brown recluses in the globe the last time I changed the hall light. And today I smashed a CFL trying to change a bulb in the bathroom, which I thought was safe since the bulb was exposed. I think hubby gets all the bulb-changing tasks in the future.
Crystal says
So what about when we complete the 5-7 things, do we make a list of 5-7 more or just stop for the day.
Crystal says
That’s up to you! I usually have trouble getting my entire to do list done and I get discouraged and defeated if I make this huge list and only get to a little bit of it, so that’s why I try to stick with 5-7 things.
But if you’re easily getting 5-7 things done and the day is far from done, I say to maybe make your lists longer since you can handle more than me! 🙂
Victoria@Snail Pace Transformations says
wow glad I looked at this one early. I have a lot of light fixtures in my home and 2 ceiling fans. Some are extremely high and will require digging out a ladder. You are inspiring me, my head is whirling as to how to keep this up after the series is over, I feel like I am finally finding my cleaning groove.
Crystal says
I’m loving your posts. You’re an inspiration!
Whitney says
I haven’t been keeping up very well, BUT i had an idea of printing off the series, and using it every month. that way, these things get done every month! and if some of them night not need to be done every single month, i will skip them some months! i thought it would be a good addition to my usual [attempt at a] morning clean routine
laurie bishop says
I am really struggling doing these daily, which of course, creates its own guilt. I am going to catch up on them this weekend and start fresh on Monday!
Crystal says
No guilt, okay? Just do what you can do — and don’t worry about what you can’t do!
Mrs. S says
Even if you only get one thing off the list done this week, you are ahead of where you were last week!
Michelle says
I haen’t been able to “keep up” either … but I did clean out my fridge yesterday so I’ll call that a success!!
I plan on keeping a list of Crystal’s “bolded items” (and maybe her 15 minute items too) and just tackling them as I have the time.
It will surely take longer but it will still be progress!! 🙂
Katheryn F. says
Todays task is something that definitely needs to be done here!! Those ceiling fans definitely need some attention, but we also have skylights that have some dusty webs…I confess the last thing on my list. 🙂 This has been fun and a good reminder of how quickly things can get done with some planning.
tracie says
i think you were reading my mind when you wrote todays assignment. I just got done telling my husband last night that it needs to be done before we move on tuesday.