How to Create Household Systems to Make Your Home More Efficient

How to Create Household Systems to Run Your Household Efficiently

Running a household is no small task. No matter the size of your home or property, there are never-ending chores and maintenance to be done.

On top of that, the mental load of taking care of my family can make home care seem overwhelming. 

As a mom with limited time and (let’s be honest), no real desire to clean, I’ve looked for ways to streamline the maintenance of my home. 

By putting household systems in place, I’ve made my home more manageable, peaceful, and less stressful. Read on to learn how you can simplify your home and free up your time. 

What “Create Household Systems” Really Means

Household systems are simple, repeatable routines and organizational tools to help make your home run without constant decision making.

These household systems help reduce overwhelm, save time, and create predictability for your whole family. Once routine, you’ll be a able to accomplish tasks in a fraction of the time you used to. 

Remember: you don’t need to overhaul your entire life to make this work. Start with small, actionable changes and you’ll begin to notice the difference. 

Identify Your Household’s Core Areas

There are areas in everyone’s home that are pain points. These can be heavily used rooms or regular chores that always seem overwhelming. It may or may not be on the list below.

Common Core Areas:

• Meal prep + kitchen flow
• Laundry
• Cleaning
• Kids’ routines (morning, bedtime, school prep)
• Finances + bills
• Scheduling + family calendar

Figure out which 2–3 areas feel the messiest right now. That doesn’t mean the other areas aren’t important, but let’s focus on just a few for now. 

Try to really narrow down what the issue is. For example, if you struggle to have meals ready everyday, is the problem that you never have what you need in the pantry? Is it that you don’t meal plan and thus, struggle to shop accordingly? Or is it that you simply hate standing in front of the stove every single day?

Once you identify the pain point, you can create household systems that make it easier. Based on the example above, you could 

• Organize your pantry to find what you need easier
• Learn how to meal plan so you don’t have to come up with meal ideas on the spot
• Lean into crockpot meals or learn to batch cook so you don’t have to physically stand in the kitchen every evening. 

By figuring out the stressor, you can then relieve the stress. 

Break Down Each Area Into Repeatable Routines

The key here is to create routines that fit your life. If something works for your sister in law, it is not guaranteed to work for you. Take into account your family’s routines, likes, and dislikes. Here are some examples:

• Laundry system: one load a day start-to-finish vs. themed laundry days. I talk about multiple laundry hacks in this post.
• Meal system: rotating weekly menu, theme nights, freezer staples, crockpot meals. Look on Pinterest for a ton of different meal planning ideas.
• Cleaning system: daily 15-minute reset + weekly zone cleaning. I’ve got a six week deep cleaning guide that will knock your socks off.

Remember: every little change will build upon each other. Don’t expand to completely reorganize your cleaning schedule in a week. It’s not practical or sustainable. Start small, be consistent.

Use Tools That Make Systems Stick

By using organizational tools, your household systems will start to feel more concrete. They don’t have to be complicated, they just need to work for your family. Try these:

• A family command center (calendar, inbox, meal plan). I use a desk calendar and assign each family member a color. It makes it easy to see at a glance what’s going on in our lives. 
• Shared digital calendar. The skylight calendar has rave reviews. It’s on my list for the future.
• Labels + bins. I love to use storage and organization that works for me.
  • Clear bins with lids
  • A label maker
  • Cube storage
  • Drawer organizers 
• Checklist templates. You can check out my free weekly cleaning schedule printable to get you started!

Remember: choose tools you’ll actually use, not the prettiest ones on Instagram. You can also include your kiddos by making systems visible and easy to follow. Color code, label items with their names (or the names of toys).

Automate What You Can

If possible, make life simpler by automating it. Here are some ideas for taking tasks off your plate:

• Auto-pay for bills
• Have your robot vacuum scheduled to run daily. We recently upgraded to this one and I’m obsessed
• Subscribe-and-save for household essentials
• Grocery delivery or pickup
• Program your washer the night before to automatically start washing the next morning
• Pre-made meal shortcuts (no guilt!)

Remember: automation does not equal laziness. It’s smart time management and taking advantage of the resources available to you. 

Review and Tweak Regularly

Your family will change and grow. You will change and grow. Be prepared to tweak your household systems as needed. 

This can look like monthly or seasonal system check-ins. Maybe you do it as you see a need arise.
Ask yourself: What’s working? What’s annoying? What can be simplified?

Remember: don’t quit something you’ve only been trying for a few weeks. It takes time for your household systems to become permanent. 

Be aware that a system can fall apart if not touched on regularly. If you see this happening, just reset and try again. We are all learning and working to make our households efficient. 

Create Household Systems Today

I live by routine. I like my checklists and do better on a regular schedule. In fact, I created my daily stay at home mom morning routine just so that my days ran smoother with a rambunctious toddler. I also created a daily schedule for my toddler to help him learn routines. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed, make a plan to simplify little by little. Below are five easy areas to get you started today. 

Nighttime Kitchen Reset

I empty the sink and load the dishwasher each night. It runs while we are sleeping and I have clean dishes first thing in the morning. I wipe down the counters and sink and start a diffuser. By ‘closing down’ the kitchen each night, it leaves my mornings calm.

Empty the Car

When I get out of my car, I take everything inside that doesn’t live in the car. I don’t leave my son’s jacket ‘in case he needs it later.’ I clear out any wrappers, bottles, or toys. This keeps my car at a manageable level almost all the time. 

Quiet Time

When my son dropped his nap, I instituted quiet time in its place. This gives us both a chance for calm, and to reset. 

Cleaning Caddy

I bought this cleaning caddy to keep my main cleaning supplies in. I know where everything is and it makes it easy to carry supplies from one room to another.

Regular Decluttering 

I keep the clutter at bay by setting aside ten minutes each week. It is enough time to clean out a drawer, but not enough to get bogged down by the decluttering process. Here are 17 quick items you can declutter today.

Mindset Matters

Give yourself grace when you are feeling overwhelmed by all of the things that need to get done. Perfection isn’t the goal, consistency and simplicity are. Systems should support your life, not control it.

Remember: celebrate your progress, no matter how small. If you finally lock in on your cleaning schedule, or manage to plan out a month’s worth of recipes, that’s a win!

Conclusion

• Pinpoint your core areas that need work.
• Start with one simple household system this week. 
• Use organizational tools that help your systems stick.
• Automate where possible. 
• Give yourself the chance to change or tweak if a system isn’t working perfectly.
• Give yourself grace to figure it out. 

Have you tried to create household systems in your home? What has worked well for you? Let me know in the comments below!