Have you tried rotating schedules? Is there something that you currently feel like you just can’t get on top of? Like you are just failing at, no matter how hard you try? Do you feel overwhelmed? Cleaning, laundry, project, studying, self-care? Something that you do regularly, but just seem to get behind on, regularly.
For me, this was cleaning schedules. I must have tried a hundred different schedules and they didn’t work!!! I always felt like I was getting behind and that I was failing big time. I tried to keep it simple, I tried super complex and detailed, I also tried not having a schedule at all. None of this ever helped me. After a short time, I would feel overwhelmed and pressured. Then, in a burst of motivation, I would decide – I’m trying something new. I would go my husband all excited…”I’ve come up with a new cleaning schedule”. Literally, this happened on average about every two weeks. Thankfully, he can smile and nod at my craziness.
So….let me tell you how it’s all changed.
Rotating schedules mean that you are never under pressure, you never fail, you are just working in the here and now. You always know what the next thing to do is.
I have put that in bold, as it really has been life changing for me. I believe it is the equivalent of konmari-ing your house, except this is for your schedule. For any perfectionist out there, if you don’t like failing and getting behind, you need to start living your life with rotating schedules. So, how do you do this magic trick?
HOW TO CREATE A ROTATING SCHEDULE=
Let’s take my example of cleaning. There are things that need to be cleaned more often than others. Somethings, like dishes and giving a quick hoover I do every day. Let’s move on… there are some things I like to do every second day – empty bins, and wiping the sink and toilet. Now we have our first rotating schedule. Take out your bullet journal and get writing…..Lets see:
- Empty bins ✔️✔️
- Sink & Toilet ✔️
You always know immediately which is the job do be done next, isn’t that helpful. Let’s move on….now we have other tasks that need to be done, dusting, hovering, kitchen cleaning, full bathroom cleaning. Let’s make them into a rotating schedule too…Every 4 days, or so, I am doing a touch up clean of each of these. Notice I said, ‘or so’, I miss days, so does everyone, but this way you don’t have to catch up or feel like your workload has just doubled, you just move on. Isn’t that awesome… Let’s see what it looks like:
- Dusting ✔️✔️✔️
- Hoovering ✔️✔️✔️
- Kitchen ✔️✔️
- Bathroom ✔️✔️
I bet you can work out what my task for today is. Moving on, I also want to do some deep cleaning, beyond just touch ups. So, I have done exactly the same thing with deep cleans. I have a little list of extra jobs for each of these cleaning categories, and I give myself a few hours for deep cleaning per week. I do as many of the tasks as I can and the rest waits. Again, I always can just know what the next task to do is.
SUMMARY
This method can be adapted to many different tasks. I have a self care rotating schedule, a maintenance rotating schedule, etc etc. It really is a versatile system that can be used for any of those jobs that seem to get on top of us. Use your bullet journal, or a notebook and start your schedule. Create a rotating system and I can definitely say that you will be taking away the overwhelm and stress.
Please try it and please let me know your experience! Happy scheduling!
