Household Binder:: To Do Lists

We’ve assembled our household binder, picked 10 or fewer categories, and filled in the calendar section of our notebook.  Today we’ll tackle the TO DO tab which contains our master To Do List, Home Projects List, and Cleaning Schedule.

Nothing is more revealing than someone’s To Do list.  Some are scribbled on post it notes while others are managed online.  All are task oriented and provide a snapshot into one’s life and priorities.  An effective to do list should be clean, simple, and to the point.

How the master To Do List Works:

• The key to a successful To Do List is setting priorities!  When you think of something you need to do, stop and take a moment to think of it’s importance. Does the dry cleaning need to be taken to the cleaners before your husbands next business trip (imperative) or can it wait until next week (high)?
• When you sit down on Saturday or Sunday to fill out your Weekly Planner this master To Do List will be the major resource of your information.  Most imperative items will also be on your current Weekly Planner.  The high items will likely go on the following week’s planner, and so on.
• Print a new To Do List each month.  Transfer any incomplete items and the “within the year” items of the previous month to the new list.  Also, take the “next month” portion of the old list and write them on your new To Do List in the correct priority column.

The Home Projects list is self explanatory.  The lawn care example is from Lesco and will vary depending on your region.  Each week as you fill in your Weekly Planner you will look at your Home Projects list to see if you need to complete any of these items.

This simple 2 week Cleaning Schedule will allow you to do a few small chores each day and by the end of the two weeks your entire house will be clean!  The first line shows my typical tasks or errands for the day.  It is used as a reminder.  Remember, each night I’m quickly filling out the following day’s plan on my Weekly Planner.  If I didn’t get to Harris Teeter on Thursday I simply move that errand to Friday.  Flexibility is key!

The second line shows the chores that I (or honestly, my kids) do EVERY day.  I don’t include these on my Weekly Planner as they are habit.  The items under Week 1 and Week 2 are the small chores each day.  Again, each week as you fill in your Weekly Planner you will look at your Cleaning Schedule and fill out the items you need to complete.

A BLANK copy of the master To Do list, Home Projects list, and Cleaning Schedule is on our Facebook fan page and can be downloaded for FREE!  Here’s how:

1. Go to “The Carolina Clipper” Facebook fan page (sign into your FB account if necessary).
2. Not a fan? Simply “like” the page in order to access the document.
3. Already a fan?  Make sure you are on the “FREE Templates!” page (link is on the left-hand side under the profile image) to access the document.
4. Click on the picture of the document to download the PDF file to your computer.