Overwhelmed by Housekeeping - S.H.E. can help!

Growing up on a farm, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of younger siblings seemed to be a good background for being able to someday run my own home. Or so I thought. By the time my daughter was born (6 years after we were married), I was overwhelmed. We had moved into a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath colonial home that was out in the country. It seemed as though I never could get out of the house. There were messes everywhere and I didn't know what job to start on first.

One day in the mid 1980's, I flipped on the TV and there were two sisters being interviewed by a local Detroit station. They called themselves the slob sisters and then proceeded to explain how they became organized. I was fascinated by their solution. They put all their jobs on 3x5 cards along with an explanation of how the job should be done and how long each job should take. Some cards were daily cards for the jobs that need to be done every day. Some cards were bi-weekly cards, some weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, seasonal, or yearly. They had documented every job that could occur in a household during a one-year span.

I promptly bought the book with the best of intentions. I sat down and read it. It had detailed lists on every room of the house. All I had to do is go out and buy the 3x5 cards in multiple colors (they also told you how to color-code the system) and just copy onto the cards what was on the lists in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It had a lot of humor that I could relate to, but I didn't seem to get to the card thing. The idea was so appealing, but I was so disorganized that I just didn't get to the cards for a long time.

When I finally put the system together for our home, our life began to smooth out. I wasn't always looking for something or greeting guests at the door with a shreeeeeeek! Little by little I had more and more free time and the house looked cleaner and cleaner. I highly recommend this book and system. It has changed my life. If you have to sit down in the middle of the biggest mess known, force yourself to do the cards and follow the plan. Before you know it, you will get the rhythm of cleaning and organizing your home and soon the cards will only be a reminder and your life will become easy. The name of the book that organized my home and life is: "Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones."

You can readily find the updated version of this book at www.Amazon.com. It sells for approximately $11 and some change. The only thing that will not make this system work is you not doing the cards. You won't believe how this system takes away the stress and frees up your time. Shortly after incorporating this system into my life, I was able to start my own licensed day care business and run it very successfully. A few years after that my husband was transfered to another state and we moved seven times in three years. That system helped me stay organized through a lot of rough times.

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