Clean Up

As a mom, I spend a lot of time cleaning.  Too much, in my opinion.  Here's one idea that works for us to make clearing the living room floor go faster.

Gather everything up that doesn't belong into one big pile (sometimes our piles are MUCH bigger than this).


Separate the stuff into smaller piles determined by which room they need to go to.  This particular evening I had a pile for the kitchen, bathroom, kids' room, toy area and trash can.  Other evenings we have piles for stuff that needs to go downstairs, in our bedroom, or in the dirty clothes bin.


Then, take one pile at a time to the room it belongs and put each item away in its correct spot.  It avoids going back and forth to each room several times (doing one item at a time).  If you have kids old enough to help, give each child a pile to go put away until they are all done.

We do this with the kids' rooms too.  I make a pile of toys they need to put on the shelf while I sort dirty and clean clothes and fold or throw in the dirty clothes bin.

Sure works for us!  What works for you?