apps for household management

[teachermom2834]

I am not interested in Flylady. I tried a couple times and it is just way too much for me. I know everyone says just delete what you don't want, etc. but Flylady just doesn't work for me.

Years ago I used Motivated Moms as suggested here on the board. It was pre-smartphone days. I printed a list each week and kept it paperclipped to my school agenda and just marked things off as we went. It worked very well for that time in my life.

I'm just now getting back to keeping my house in good order. We've done updates to the house and my life is calmer and I am enjoying keeping my house more tidy. However, I still struggle. I am not a natural housekeeper by any means. I still need lots of tips and reminders. I don't need meal planning/cooking/shopping. More housekeeping stuff. (Like reminders for daily/weekly/monthly tasks). I'm okay with daily but my ceiling fans basically never get dusted. I need alot of help with the weekly/monthly type tasks. 

I am sure there are apps out there with household chore charts and reminders. I haven't even begun to research but I think I would like something like that. I know Motivated Moms has gone through some changes but I still get emails and I know they have an app. I'll check that out but I thought I'd ask for suggestions here. The best recommendations always come from this board!

[Ottakee]

My suggestion was going to be the motivated mom's app.

[Amethyst]

I’ve started using my calendar app. So for instance, if I want to sweep the laundry room regularly, I put it on my calendar. Example: 

Sweep laundry room (q 4 days) 

Wash range hood (q 17 days)

Pay bills (q Friday)

When I complete the task, I edit my calendar and place that task to 4 days (or 17 days or two months) from the day it is completed. 
 

Some days I don’t get it all done. Every evening I look at my calendar. Things that didn’t get done today, I move to the next day. Believe me, when I see “clean the cobwebs outside front door” 3 or 4 days in a row, I get fed up seeing it and just do it. 

[Calm37]

I really have connected with Trello because it is not that automatic. I have to look at the items on each day's list and either deal with them or move them. I used todoist for awhile, but it is too automated and easy to ignore for me. I am a listmaker, so Trello meets that manual/hands on need.

I set up a calendar board (also not automated) where the first list is for general items, and then there is a list for each day of the month. I have an "upcoming events" board where each future month has it's own list. I copy and move items as needed. My cards for today include what to water, what to wash, and what my kids are up to, everything I want to remember. When I water my peace lily today, I will move that card to next Friday. 

I think there are some ways to automate Trello, but I'm not interested. Finally found something that's been working for almost a year now.

[Katy]

I made a list with my own zones covered once a week instead of once a month (6 zones, Sundays off) and a checklist for tasks arranged by frequency. I laminated it & hung inside a kitchen cabinet with a dry erase marker. This works better than an app because DH can see what needs to be done most & help without asking. And you can still set appointments or reminders in your phone to do something on a certain day. 

[purpleowl]

I've recently started using an app called Clean My House. There's a master list of tasks, and you decide when to assign each task and how often it repeats (they have preset repeating intervals but you can adjust them). You can also add your own tasks.

I'm finding it helpful because I can work on establishing one habit well before trying to add in another one.

[73349]

I use a free productivity app (Habitica) that will let me set my own tasks and reminders. As I check them off, my little character levels up.

[duckabell]

I use an app called HomeRoutines. You can customize it for zone cleaning, daily cleaning, weekly cleaning, etc. My only complaint is that it has 5 zones by default, and I only need 4. 

[cjzimmer1]

I'm using Chore Checklist.  You can use pre entered items or create your own schedules.  For repeating tasks you can decide to repeat say 7 days from date of completion or on a specific day a week.  So for instance, garbage day, I want it to repeat every Tuesday even if I forgot to take it out or forgot to check it off last Tuesday.  But on the other hand, if I got behind and my carpet was done 5 days late, I don't want it telling me to do it again in 2 days. 

Anyways it was really easy to set up since it doesn't have a ton of features which was a plus in my book.

[Ausmumof3]

I have home routines.  It’s very customisable with dates and recurring tasks and multiple checklists.  I’m not using it at the moment but it’s been the best I have used.  It’s not done for you though in much detail if that’s what you want. you have to set it up yourself 

[Carrie12345]

Over the years, I’ve found that I do best by taking concepts from all the best methods and completely personalizing systems to my needs. There’s just something in me that switches off when someone else’s detailed system mentions basements and garages (don’t got ‘em), laundry days (every day is laundry day), weekly tasks that I do daily, or monthly tasks that I do seasonally, etc.  Because it sounds so petty and silly, I’ve tried to overcome that, but no. My wiring can’t handle it.

If I thought it’d help me, I’d put it all into a generic management app, but I work better with paper.

I guess I’m just saying that I find it to be a lot like “What’s the best math program for middle school?”  The one that works best for the person using it.

[Slache]

Someone tried to explain Flylady to me and I misunderstood but I liked my misunderstanding so much I implemented it. I do my cleaning in one day. On that day I dust, vacuum and clean the bathrooms, plus I do one big thing. Last week we sorted the kids clothes and updated wardrobe sizes, the week before that we reorganized and deep cleaned daughter's room, the week before that we deep cleaned the kitchen. We pick up before every meal and every night I wipe counters and toss the towels in the bin and check bathrooms and pets.

I use time tuner for scheduling. I used this when it was free for years but I love it so when it was no longer free I paid for it.

I use roubit for daily to dos. This is free and a great widget.

I use habit loop for weird things like feeding the snake (every 10 days) and washing the water bottles (every 3 days). This is free. I also use this for family outing (every 7 days), game night (twice every 7 days) and paint night (every 30 days).

[EmilyGF]

I use Tody with my kids. You have to set up each room and you tell it how much you care (normal, nit-picky, easy-going, or something like that) and then it schedules frequency of task. I pull it up once or twice a week to make sure I'm not missing things I decided I cared about when I set up the app.

Emily