How I'm using an Index Card system for functional planning

The System

create an activity list. every room in the house is on the activity list
frequencies: decide how often the "activities" should be done (daily, every other day, weekly, every other week, monthly, every other month, seasonally, twice a year, or yearly)
put an estimate of time for each activity
the activity list will end up including: what has to be done, how often it needs to be done, how long it will take, whether you can delegate it or whether its a mini job.
a mini job is any project (regardless of frequency) that takes 10 minutes or less. note all mini jobs that can be done will doing other things (talking on the phone, waiting for appts, etc.)

set up a free day every week where you can do anything you want. free of any housework, cooking, errands, etc.
a moderate cleaning day (2hrs to 4hrs)
a quiet day (do things like pay bills, balance checkbook, write letters, tie up loose ends) // in my min this would be like an admin heavy day?
grocery shopping day
heavy cleaning day (four to six hours)
family day
one sunday free of cleaning
of course, this can be modified according to particular schedules/ preferences/ etc. create weekly plans as needed
START at the weekly plan, without it, the system will fail.
take the basic weekly plan card and file it inside the lid of your index box

ONE job to ONE card
Use yellow cards for daily and every other day tasks
Blue Cards for Weekly and every other week cards
White cards for monthly and seasonal jobs
Pink jobs for personal things (thiungs you love to do, outside errands, going to the bank, etc.)
Write the job in the middle of the card
Under the name, write a description with any details about how to accomplish it
Right hand corner: job's time estimate and if its mini, write that there too
Left hand corner: write frequency (daily, weekly, etc.)
as a job becomes automatic, you can throw out the card. this is a tool for building habits.

The 1-31 dividers will be your rotating monthly calendar
if consistent, you will always know what day it is based on the number of the divider on front of the box
always file to the front: your jobs go in front of the dividers
make four piles based on the index colors:
- first, file pink / personal cards in their respective dates
- file yellow/daily cards in front of today's date, every other day either in today's or the day after tomorrow once job is complete
- blue cards, four piles:
  - weekly mini jobs - can be done any day except free day
  - weekly jobs - to be done on moderate cleaning days or heavy cleaning days. not quiet/admin days
  - every other week mini jobs - can be done any day except free day
  - every other week jobs - to be done on moderate cleaning days or heavy cleaning days. not quiet/admin days
  - balance weekly jobs through the week but don't spread farther than 7 days. same concept for the "every other week" jobs
- white cards, three piles
  - monthly mini - any day of the month except free days
  - monthly - spread out over the 31 days, not admin days
  - anything over a month (seasonal, yearly, every other month, etc) - filed in the jan to dec dividers

if you dont get a job done when you get it to, feel free to file it to the next time it would be due if you HAD completed it. to keep tabs on how many times you skipped it:
- write "LAST DONE (date)" at the bottom left hand and "SKIPPED" on the right side, which you'll mark with an x each time skip.
- make a rule for yourself that youre only allowed to skip a card twice and once you get back to it the following time it becomes a priority to complete it.

take 12 white cards (one for each month) and transfer all bdays, anniversaries, other special dates onto the cards. file each card in front of their respective month divider
create a "CHECK DATES TO REMEMBER" card that will be filed on the 25th every month. this is to remind you to look at the important dates card that is coming up in the next month. act/ plan accordingly

add future dates such as parties or appointments on 3 x 5 scrap cards so that once they are done you can throw them out. these also go in their respective month until its time for that month, then you file it in the respective date

start at the front door and work clockwise around the house. cleaning out and putting in order everything until you make your way back to the front door.
BEFORE you start, get four produce boxes/ storage boxes and mark them: GIVE AWAY/ SELL, THROW AWAY, PUT AWAY, and STORAGE
as soon as you fill the boxes, you empty them accordingly.
the PUT AWAY box is the anti-sidetracking devise. this box will be for things that you will put in other places (in another room, or another drawer once you get there). empty this as you go.
STORAGE boxes will accumulate and be put in spaces that wont be away until we are ready to work on the storage areas
DONT BE DISCOURAGED BY HOW LONG IT TAKES
no matter how long it takes, take your free day every week.
when you are done with everything, time to tackle STORAGE
- the purpose of storage boxes is to clear the main part of the house from seldom used things
- fill out one white card for each box. label each box with a Letter and a number. C-1 for "clothings box No.01", for example. Label each card the same as each box and list all of the contents as detailed as possible.
- file the cards in the storage divider