Welcome to The Real Mom's Playbook where balanced becomes a lifestyle brought to you by our premier sponsor The Breakfast Club Coffee Co. In Season three we are building good foundations with your Monday morning wake up. So fill your cup grab a notebook and let's get going Welcome to the real mom's playbook episode 5.
I'm your host Lisa Autry. Today we dive into home systems for your success, a personal favorite of mine. So grab your notebook and let's get ready to streamline your success First off, I would like to begin by thanking our premier sponsor of the Real Moms Playbook, The Breakfast Club Coffee Co, a brand who honors quality and connection in every cup you brew.
Today in my cup is The Hill, which is another favorite of the St. Louis collection. I'm always grabbing mine as the Holy Grounds for convenience, but it also comes in the blessed bean to grind yourself. This is a delicious French roast coffee with subtle smoky flavors and hints of cherry. I brewed mine today with some organic milk, a dash of honey and some homemade whipped cream. So amazing.
Make sure you head on over to the show notes to grab the hill or even the foundations flight so you can sip all of my favorites this season from The Breakfast Club Coffee Co..
So today is all about systems, systems, systems. Let's recap the process from last episode so we can be more aligned moving forward.
In episode four, we got to the heart of how we want to pave the way for our peaceful homes with this envisioning exercise that you guys did. This helped you establish where you want to go versus where you currently are in your spaces. Then I challenge you to grab define, so you could personally go over some of the most stressful spaces in simple ways. If you haven't done this step yet, this is gonna yield you more success in today's episode, So, please don't skip it go over to the show notes grab define If you want to grab all of them that I'm talking about in this season, grab the Foundation series.
That makes it to where you're getting align, define, flow, and grow, which you're going to find out about all of them at the close of this season. So make sure you go grab define. That's going to help you handle those stressful spaces so we can put systems in place. We want to tackle the stressful space before implementing systems.
That's the whole goal.
Now we're going to move on to system creation. Systems are your success and help us work smarter versus harder in our home. When household tasks are on a system, it no longer carries a mental load in our mind because the plan has already been set. When the plan is set, It's already scheduled, so you can think about more important things.
In other words, systems are a way to keep the home consistently tidy without you constantly thinking about it. So I've had a lot of clients in the past tell me how they've overhauled and fully decluttered before in the past, but it's never stuck.
Can you guess why? Because they didn't create systems for implementation in order for it to run smoothly, consistently. The goal with decluttering is we do it once and then create a system around that space or category so you no longer have to think about it and wait till it gets so bad to have to do it again.
I want to mitigate the chances of that happening because it creates more mental turmoil and leaves you feeling out of control. How many of you have said, okay, well this space is clean for now. We want that never ending battle of stuff to be a thing of the past.
Last episode, I asked you to think about the following things.
Number one, ways in which you come into and leave your home. Number two, how you manage your home in between tasks. And number three, how you close out your home for the evening. Let's break each one down to help you answer these questions in order to create good systems for your household.
Let's start with the first one way in which you come into your home.
What is the entry point into your house? And where are your drop zones? Is there a way to make this transition peaceful and calm? How do we get these items that you are bringing in like groceries, backpacks, mail into their homes, clearing the space for its intended use? We want to mitigate something like the kitchen counters or entry tables from piling up by getting the items Into their transition spaces as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
So we always use the term here, put it in its home, so it's not alone. I'm going to be saying it a couple of times throughout this episode, because it is so catchy and it's very easy for children to interpret it. So when you're looking about the ways in which you come into your home, what are the entry points, how can you make that peaceful and get those items that you're bringing into the space into their homes as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
This is transition and we are a lot more in the flow when we're in the transition. And so we want to make sure that we close that out and complete it in full before moving on.
Now let's move on to the second step, way in which you leave your home.
So raise your hand if you feel like it's total chaos getting out of the home. What are ways you can prepare to leave the home so it's more peaceful? So we're creating a system in which we are leaving the home. Can you store your shoes in a place that makes the transition smooth? Where are backpacks, lunch pails, or purses stored in relation to the exit point?
Are there things prepped and ready to go prior to the leaving time? The goal is to decrease the time between telling your loved ones it's time to go and the time you actually leave, and the goal is minimal yelling. We don't want to keep saying, it's time to go, it's time to go, what did I say? We want to make it so smooth in transition that we say it's time to go, they grab their items, they get their shoes on, they load up in the car.
Very smooth transition, very seamless, that's the goal. But we want to make sure that you're looking at your space and saying, what's the most effective way to organize some of these things in order to transition seamlessly. This is an exit system that is going to be crucial for your success.
Now let's move on to the third, how you manage your home in between tasks.
In between tasks is a critical time for clutter and chaos to build. We want to make sure we build in buffer time, what I call transitional tidies in between tasks, so you and your kids can clean in full before moving onward to the next task. It's so much easier to clean in the flow.
So we want to make sure that we clean at the close of something rather than trying to go back and clean it up later. That is a lot harder to build momentum and energy versus just doing it right in the flow as we're standing up.
And yes, even small children can clean up too. They need a little bit more help and guidance from you and singing a song really helps, you know, the tidy song, or we even say put in its home, so it's not alone, Jack and he helps and puts things away.
Is it the way it should be? No, but it's helping teach them and nurture that behavior so that when they're older, they're doing it for themselves, but make sure you're building an enough buffer time in between the task itself and then moving on to the next task.
It's important for our kids to understand where something is housed in order to easily get it back into its spaces. So we use that rhyme put it in its home, so it's not alone. So the kids know okay, I got it out here. This is where I put it back and it's its home.
Younger kids are going to have to show more often and say, Oh no, it actually goes here and you're training them up to hold accountability later.
And then let's move on to the next category. How you close out your home for the evening. This one is crucial because if we go to sleep in chaos, then we wake in the chaos.
And that is huge on our mental load. It's huge on our stress. And it makes it to where we wake up inpatient and aggravated. I recommend implementing a 10 minute tidy before bed where everyone in the home helps put away items and clears the spaces before bed. That means clothing in the hampers, toys picked up, mail sorted, laundry folded and put away, and the sink clear. If this takes a little longer than 10 minutes, I recommend starting at 30 minutes with a long term goal of 10 minute tidies.
As you go along, you and your family will get faster with the tidying itself.
What I'd like you to do now is to write each of those categories down and brainstorm them before moving on to this episode. Let's recap so you guys know the ways in which you come into and leave your home, how you manage your home in between tasks and how you close out your home for the evening.
So make sure you go and write those systems down based on what's going to work best for you. Let's take a real quick commercial break and when we come back, we're going to be talking about some of my favorite home systems.
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And we are back. Last episode, we laid the groundwork by jotting down some of those stressful spaces in your home. Now it's time to not only tackle them, but to also create systems and implement in order for your home to run smoothly.
With stressful spaces, I want you to ask two questions. Question number one, what system can I create in order to release the burden of this on my life? So the goal of this will be to set into your calendar and work on it at a specific times versus it being a burden on your mind all the time.
We want to go from reactively working on our home to being proactive on it. So a great example would be to pick your laundry days versus just waiting until someone needs some clothes. So question number one, what system can I create in order to release the burden of this on my life? So if it's a stressful space, how can I create a system to where it's no longer a burden?
And then question number two, is this a great option for something to delegate to another family member and give them ownership of it? So going back to laundry, is there someone in the home that can help you prep, start it, fold, and or put away the laundry? As the managers of the house, it's up to us to see what needs to be done and also delegate accordingly.
Everyone enjoys aspects within the home they should also be accountable within it. Ownership of the home can be given over time. Watch your children and see what challenges they'd be up for. Especially boys, they need purpose or else they're going to become destructive. So let's be 100 percent honest, those of us that have boys, if they are not constantly being purposeful and driven, they're going to get into trouble so giving your boys a challenge is a good thing. We are also teaching our children how they will manage a household someday. So starting young and giving them ownership will give them a great work ethic and feel like a valued member of the house.
So these are the two questions that I want you to use to effectively create systems with those stressful spaces in your home. I'm going to share them again.
Number one, what system can I create in order to release the burden of this on my life?
And question number two, is this a great option of something to delegate to another family member and give them ownership of it? Before we close today, I want to give you a few of my favorite home systems to work smarter in our spaces. Let's start with laundry. For our family of five, I pick two days a week to do the laundry.
I don't do a load of laundry every day, and I also don't wait till it piles up several weeks later and do it all. I make sure that to stay consistent, our laundry days are on Tuesdays and on Saturdays. And during those times I do all the laundry. Now I do cycle every other Wednesday. I wash sheets, so I don't wash sheets on normal laundry days.
I do it on Wednesdays, but because I don't want to be running the washing machine all day long, so it makes it smaller loads doing it a couple times a week. I prep the laundry the night before by subcategorizing all the clothes and getting the first load set up, then start it right when I wake up in the morning.
And I've also heard that some washers you can actually set a timer on and they'll start when you set them to. For me, I have to go and push the start, but then I go make my coffee and it's like a two minute process, right? Also, I bring my kids in to help fold, and then everyone is in charge of putting away their clothes.
Even Jack, who is almost 18 months now, has started carrying his socks to put away, and it makes him feel like such an important part of the family.
Next, I want to move on to another hot topic, mail. I want to urge you to immediately process your mail right when you get it. So our community has a community lockbox for the mail and I grab it a couple times a week.
I bring it in and immediately open it. You can do this daily if you want to or you can do it a couple times a week or you can do it weekly. So once you immediately open the mail, and I would literally stand there because you're a lot more in the flow when standing. So stand up, open all the mail, and then do one of three things.
File the item. to take action on later. So perfect example is if it's a bill but you're not quite ready to pay it yet, file it in a file system and put it away for now. Or number two, I throw away the item if it's junk. So if it's a junk mail, like I immediately look through it and then throw it in the recycle bin.
And then the other option is I take immediate action on the item and then determine where that piece of mail goes next. So say you get something you have to take immediate action on. Take the action right then while you're processing the mail and then figure out what needs to happen with a piece of paper whether it gets tossed or gets put in a file system of like a paid bill something.
I use file systems for all of my paper and all of my mail and you know you can do everything digital if you want to but for tax purposes I have to have certain things printed so I have a nice little file system. It's like business finances, personal finances, paid items, you know, to be paid. Having a system will keep the mail from piling up and even getting lost.
Cannot tell you how many homes I have helped clients declutter, and they have found old checks, they have found cash, they have found bills that they never paid, and it is extremely stressful when we have mail just piling up. It gets scattered everywhere. So put the system in place so that you can go in the flow.
Lastly, I want to share my kitchen system to keep my kitchen feeling within control. I use the following system, prep, cook,eat, clean. This means I get everything out in full before cooking. I begin cooking and start cleaning up some minor things while items simmer or bake.
After we eat, we clear the table together or the counter, and immediately transition into cleaning and we clean categorically, which means we pack up all the leftovers in full, we wash the dishes in full, we load the dishwasher in full, we clean the counters in full. This creates a smooth transition between tasks and helps create proficiency while cleaning as well.
The kitchen is really the heart of the home and it's really a hot space, right? It's like a breeding ground of just chaos. So when you have the prep cook eat clean system You're always in the flow and then once you clean you close the kitchen for that period of time and it's done And it's out of your mind.
You don't have to try to go back to it. Later. You don't have to to be overwhelmed thinking about the mess still sitting there and the longer we wait between the close of an action and the completion of it, the harder it gets to clean. So no matter what space is stressful in your home, creating a system around it will help you feel successful.
Next episode is all about creating peaceful and purposeful rituals in your busy life. That's it for today. Until next time, I'm Lisa Autry. Thank you for joining me for the Real Moms Playbook, which has been made possible by our amazing sponsor, The Breakfast Club Coffee Co. Make sure you check the show notes for links and access to the resources from today's episode.
If you love this podcast, make sure you subscribe, rate, and share. See you next time. I'm Lisa Autry, and this is The Real Moms Playbook.