The affect decluttering is having.

Since starting fly lady, I have been decluttering each room. I have done the lounge room, kitchen and our bedroom. I am working on Tom's and Christopher's bedroom at the moment and I think it should be finished by the end of the week. Then I will move onto the girls room, the family room and finally our storeroom. (the older boys are being left to do their own decluttering so that is two rooms I don't need to worry about).

With the rooms that are decluttered, cleaning is easy. I have a morning routine that keeps them clean most of the time.

After prayer and checking out dcf message board and some blogs (while eating breakfast), I go and shower, get dressed, clean my teeth, make our bed, take dirty clothes to laundry, empty dishwasher and fill our sink with hot water. From the time I get dressed to filling the sink up takes me about 20 minutes tops. Because it isn't going to take long, I don't mind doing it as much. While the children are eating breakfast, I put washing on and start cleaning up the benches. The children are responsible to get their breakfast, put their dishes in the sink when they have finished, make their lunch and pack their bags. I can usually get the dishes in the dishwasher before they leave for school but if I don't, I leave them there till Tom and Amelia have a morning tea break.

Once the older children leave for school Tom and Amelia start their homeschool day. If everything get's done the night before the lounge is generally tidy when we start our lessons. The children seem happier to work in a clean and tidy room so I am pretty motivated to get everyone helping the night before.

I am amazed at how get rid of excess stuff can make life easier. With just three main living areas done, 1 in progress and three more to do I am noticing a difference. I would say that this week we have done more than half the decluttering and I imagine when every room is finished it will be much easier to manage the whole house and finish of chores 100%, instead of the 90% that I was doing before.