Project Management @ Home

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

This old and famous saying is very real, regardless if at work or at home. After getting married and moving to my own abode, I realized the importance of planning and project management, even at home. This is important especially when I do not have a helper (and have no intention to have one, not even part-time).

In the beginning, I don't do much planning (after the whole day at work, the last thing I want is to use more brain!) and just try to do things as it comes along or when I see it, or remember about it. Then i realized it doesn't work. We end up "fire-fighting" and just let everyday activities push us along, neglecting the stuffs that we really need. Hence, time management and planning comes into the picture.

I'm thankful to be living in this digital age where everything is so handy. Wunderlist and Evernote has been my best friend. I love Wunderlist for it's ability to create lists (like categories), so I have a list for everyday to-dos, a list for groceries shopping etc (and starred the ones that are critical and must finish asap). If anything came up along the day that I need to buy or do, I make sure I note it down in my app immediately. This is very important, as I realized (at least for me), if I procrastinate and wait for later, I'll usually forget all about it, or remember only when it's too late. I'll just note everything that came into mind and at the end of the day I'll review it and prioritize it accordingly.

I'm really glad that right from the start (when we were still planning for the interior design of our house), my husband and I decides to go for a design that is simple to clean and maintain.

Which means,

• as much as we love all those figurines and ornaments etc, either they go into the cupboards with glass doors or none at all (so we don't have to waste time brushing dust off the ornaments frequently, having to remove the ornaments one by one before we can give the surface a good wipe)
• no funky furnishes/fixtures or whatsoever with lots of holes and carvings whatever which traps dusts easily and is so difficult to clean (having to go through the holes one by one).
• we get furniture that either sits entirely on the floor (no holes between the bottom and the floor), or the hole must be big enough to clean easily (this was taught by a very nice SA at courts Simmons when we were looking around for a bed and he was teaching us the pros and cons of each bed frame.)
• Keep the floors clean (reason like the above, so we do not have to waste time removing things off the floor when cleaning)

These must be one of our wisest decisions yet! The rate at which dust flies in and accumulate is alarming. Where do all these dusts come from? We could have clean up in the morning and by evening, we can see or feel the dusts again! And these dusts particles are amazing. They can get through every little holes that they can even get into the cupboards (but not so bad as if we keep things outside. at least we only have to clean like monthly or even quarterly). I'm looking at one of those robots cleaner that goes around and vacuum the house by itself. Looks like a great technology but I've read how they can get stuck in a corner etc. and it's not cheap. Anyone has good recommendations pls share!

Anyway, after some trial and error, I've also come up with some "timeline" or "project schedule" that seem to work for me (at least for now). The weekly "project" tasks includes vacuuming and mopping the floor, washing the clothes, washing the toilets, cleaning/wiping the tables etc. Monthly tasks like washing bedsheets, wiping the windows etc. Sound like very little stuffs, but trust me, these tasks will give you a good workout.

I only have weekends to do my housework (and I'm thankful my husband helps out with in the cleaning). and weekends are also time to go back to my parent's place, run errands, shopping, etc, so time is very precious which makes time management even more important. I do allow myself to sleep a little more on weekends but make sure I wake up by 10. After washing up, I'll leave some detergent in the toilet bowl to soak (to make it easier to clean later). after which I'll put the clothes in the washing machine to wash, before having my breakfast. After breakfast, I'll leave detergent to soak the common bathroom's toilet bowl, before proceeding to wash the master bedroom's bathroom. After I'm done, the clothes are usually done washing as well, so I can hang them up before proceeding to clean the common bathroom. In this way, I'm utilizing my time and working on a task every minute and not wasting time in "Waiting". I'm usually done by 1pm and out of the house by 2pm! :)

I think the sense of urgency and knowing exactly what I need to do is very important. Urgency in he sense that I know I need to complete my time by X time so that I can do the rest of my stuffs, like go over to my parent's place or run errands. Initially, I do not have all these planning, and I found myself watching Korean Dramas(or surfing the net, or whatever stuffs) while waiting for the clothes to wash, or laze around after breakfast or washing 1 bathroom. Things that are non-productive but very time consuming. At the end of the day, I found myself to feel that I've a busy day, yet accomplished little.

I'm still trying to improvise my timeline and schedule and see how I can maximize productivity yet not tire myself. This should be important as I've heard from friends that time is in serious shortage when kids comes along so I guess I'll need even better time management then! Better start early! :)