Time Management

**Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with autism, at the same time having everything to do with autism.

I say this because since Tristan was diagnosed and our family has grown by two more boys time management has become my obsession. Actually, I think I work better under pressure and get more done. If I have all day (which I never do)to finish just a few tasks I end-up not completing anything.

My friend Susannah is always saying if you give me schedule I will do it, so here you go, here is my clean house secret (don't tell, OK?)

I set the oven timer for twenty minutes and I clean. No talking on the phone or catering to my children, I get into a cleaning haze. While the kids are plugged into a movie or a video game or while they are at school and daycare, I push the vacuum, dust the shelves, wipe down tabletops, and clean the bathroom until the buzzer rings. Then I stop with sweat rolling down my face, I look around and notice that the piles of dog hair have vanished.

Tips:

• I map out my house and decide the rooms we most live-in and focus there. I begin in my living room dusting the shelves and mantel, then I vacuum the floor, and finally I vacuum the furniture. Next is off to the dining room/most-used-room and I vacuum anything that is upholstered and then the stairs and back to the dining room to finish the floors. Finally I vacuum the kitchen and laundry room.
• Next I wash the kitchen floor on my-hands-and-knees; don't forget you have two hands, USE THEM. Take towels in both hands and wash.
• Finally I run upstairs to the bathroom and scrub; I keep all bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom for convenience.
• Before my time is up I tromp to the downstairs bathroom to clean just as the timer rings.
• I clean upstairs once a week and downstairs two or three times a week.
• Every night during dinner clean-up, I wipe-down all the counters and tables and load the dishwasher. When I am well organized I also fold the load of laundry that I placed in the washer during breakfast and bring the folded clothes upstairs to be put away during bath time.
• Don't worry about perfect, people are not eating off your floors!

Best of all you just burned off your lunch.