When I began working full time, my children were 10 and 12. Up to that point, other than flexible part-time work while they were at school, I was a stay-at-home mother. Suddenly, 8-9 hours were gone from my day. I needed to have a plan to keep the housework under control.
Somewhere along the way, I came up with a "Two After School" plan. Each day of the week, I assigned four to six chores, and typed a master chart I could print out. The kids had to each choose two to complete, then I would finish the rest. Putting clean dishes away out of the dishwasher was a daily given (each child had one of the two racks). By Thursday, everything was done and there weren't specific chores over the weekend. It kept the house in a constant state of acceptability. If visitors dropped in, I didn't worry.
Even though it all falls on me again, now that the kids are gone, I still have that chore rotation schedule in my head and generally can keep up on the housework. It hit me last evening that this is a simplifying way to live. One of my son's friends popped in unexpectedly; I was gone for the evening. When I returned and found that she'd been there, I didn't panic, because I knew everything was pretty well neat and clean. (I know, I know...it's about the people and not how the house looks...but it still matters to me.)
If you feel like you can't keep your head above water with the housework, this method simplified housework for me.
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