Are you looking for a planner designed for moms? Do you need help keeping track of what chores need to be accomplished? Do you need help with household organization?
If you're like me, you answer a resounding "yes!" to all three questions.
Motivated Moms - with their
ebook and
iOS app - have found a way of helping moms everywhere.
It's easy for me to get lost and overwhelmed with all that has to be done. Ten people, one house - clutter is a constant battle. As a result, I often default to doing and assigning the major obvious things - living room pickup, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, laundry folding, etc - while the little tasks get neglected.
For my review, I was given a download of the Motivated Moms ebook. I printed up the entire year, but you could also just do one week at a time, or just keep it on your computer. Motivated Moms gives you a ton of choices in this area - whether you want a page per day or an entire week at a glance, etc.
HERE'S HOW I USED IT:
First I got it printed and bound and the covers laminated. Each morning I start by seeing what my rotating chores are on my list for the day. For example, on Monday, March 3 (that would be today), my list tells me to:
- inventory refrigerator contents and plan meals around leftovers
- change hand towels in bathrooms
- clean toilets
- replenish stock of toilet paper in bathrooms
- vacuum main/public rooms or 1st floor
- clean jewelry
Some of these things will be listed again in a couple of days - like change hand towels in bathrooms. Other tasks - like clean jewelry - are much less frequent. Actually I think this is the first time I've seen it listed since I started using Motivated Moms.
Daily chores stay the same in a column to the left (see sample pages) - things like make bed, clean kitchen sink, sweep kitchen, quiet time, and plan/cook dinner. While those stay the same each day, I love having that list to check off.
There's even a slot for filling in today's menu plan. That little blank square just is calling to be filled out and again, it helps me focus on completing that simple planning task early in the day rather than standing in the pantry at 5:30 pm saying, "Ummmm . . ."
There is also room to fill in daily appointments and I wish I'd realized the convenience of this before I bought my (generic version) daytimer at the beginning of 2014. Next year, I'll just skip buying the daytimer and put it all in one handy place - on my MM planner!
So as I check this list each morning
I note which things I want to accomplish and put an initial of a child beside a task I'm going to assign them (which is why the Toliver children call this "Motivated BY Mom"!). They also have other regular jobs they do, but I have found that some of these little detail tasks are fun and give them some variety!
While I've always been a list maker, this helps me to keep those lists all in one place and to be more focused in what truly needs to be done. Motivated Moms really helps me to think of the little details and to make sure they get done on a regular basis. But it also helps me to complete the big tasks on a daily basis and have an enormous feeling of accomplishment.
Here are some other little tasks that are put on the Motivated Moms planner on a rotating basis: pay/file bills, declutter/organize night stands, replenish stock of toilet paper in bathrooms, clean out purse/wallet, clean light fixture in master bedroom, and clip children's nails.
See? I love the little detailed tasks on there that are so easy for me to neglect. It really helps me to see "clean top of dresser in master bedroom" or "clean out purse/wallet" and to actually get that done (and to check it off). For someone like me, who gets easily distracted and easily loses focus, it helps me stay on task.
Like I mentioned earlier, my kids like to call this "Motivated BY Mom"! Yes, I'm not in this alone, and I don't apologize for giving my children a number of the tasks. Hopefully, it's also preparing my children for when they have a home of their own and to do better than I have done for seeing what needs to be done and accomplishing it in a systematic fashion.
You have lots of choice for different styles of the Motivated Moms planner - the iOS app is one, but the ebook version has a multitude of choices that you can print.
I chose
the half-day page per day with chore planner without the Bible reading plan. Currently, I'm reading through the Bible over a six-month period, so I didn't need this feature on my MM planner. However, this would be a fantastic daily reminder if you need that and if you don't already have something you're currently using.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Motivated Moms has been tremendously helpful to me. It is a wonderful feeling to check off cleaning chores that show up on a rotating basis and to actually be getting the little, detailed things accomplished.
NEXT YEAR: I plan to do Motivated Moms again, however, I'll probably buy their iOS app. I also would forego buying a daytimer calendar and instead put all of my appointments on the MM planner.
Price: $8 for the e-book version (which you print up). I had mine printed up and bound at the office supply store.
The
iOS app is $1.99 for two months of tasks and server access . Or purchase a full year for $7.99. Read more about the Motivated Moms
iOS app here
Find Motivated Moms on
Facebook and
Twitter. And read more reviews at the
Schoolhouse Review Crew.
