It's the weekend. We finally have family time; personal time and break from work. Glory be! We also have to get the house cleaned, get the laundry done, the lawn or the snow needs to be taken care of, the oil in the car has to be changed and we have to make sure the kids are caught up on there homework. Can it all be done in a weekend? No. So the first things to go are the personal time and the family time.

Exploring some options may help you rescue some of that precious personal time and family time you need to have a balanced life.

ASSES EVERY ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE

Give every member of your family who is old enough to participate a notebook. Have them go through every room in the house and write down the things that need to be done to keep this room clean and acceptable.

You may be surprised at the diversity of the lists. For example, I had no idea how important dusting was to my husband. It was at the top of the list in almost every room of the house. I am very short and can't even see most of the dust on his list.

The only thing in Jessica's bedroom that she cared about was a clear path to the bed.

I was completely fanatical about the bathroom.

In your family meeting you begin to compare and compromise. It allows each family member to negotiate and take care of the issues that matter most to them. For example, no one can clean the bathroom to my specifications, so I own the job.

ASSES HOUSE,LAWN, AND CAR MAINTENANCE

This is very similar. Make sure you have a comprehensive list of things that routinely need to be accomplished. A starting place for assignments and negotiations are what you are looking for.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO CALL IN THE PROFESSIONALS

The best way to do this is to declutter a room yourself and then hire a cleaning service to do a deep clean so you are doing maintenance. Do this one room at a time and will find that it is well worth the price.

RECOGNIZE PERSONAL SPACE

If you able, recognize bedrooms as personal space. It is important these spaces are safe and maintained and perhaps beyond that it should be personal space. It may not be worth the fight and anguish to keep a child's room clean. Give it some thought.

Now that you have some fairly clear ideas of what needs to be done it's time to spread out and share the duties. This will help everyone rescue his or her weekend time. I am sharing some of our list with you. Take what might work for you and toss the rest.

Daily Chores
1. dishes
2. clothes separated by color in the laundry room
3. 15 minutes room de-clutter and dust (The entire family works as we set the timer for 15 minutes and go from room to room. It's amazing how much can get done.)
4. the wipe and swipe. All counters, sinks and mirrors in the house get a wipe and swipe.
5. One load of laundry minimum.
6. 20 minutes of lawn or snow maintenance

Bi-weekly chores
1. vacuuming
2. mopping floors
3. scrubbing bathrooms

Weekly chores
1. change sheets
2. fridge clean out
3. oven clean out
4. grocery shopping
5. car maintenance

Take back your weekends. Spread out the chores and make sure everyone is involved. A little of organization and teamwork can make goals achievable.

Learn more about this author, Trenna Sue Hiler.
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