Get Off the Couch! Let's get that laundry done!

Do any of you get sucked into blogging? I really try to keep balance and not spend too much of my day blogging. I got a laptop for Christmas. It's easier to forget how long I've been on the computer now that I'm sitting comfortably on the couch instead of on a hard kitchen chair.

Meanwhile the laundry is piling up. I am very good about getting it all washed and dried, it's the folding and putting away that gets left undone.  

Here's my system for the washing: 

Saturday - the kids sort their laundry, and I sort mine and my husbands.

I bought this little cart at Walmart for around $13. It's the best purchase I've ever made. The kids can sort their own laundry, and it fits into the small space I have in the laundry room. I keep a laundry basket on the floor for towels.

{you know we must be friends now, if I'm showing you my laundry room}

I also keep this basket on the dryer for whites. There's also a shoe box full of socks without matches.  And don't ask me how I washed a sponge brush, but I did and have yet to put it away.

Not the prettiest laundry room {one of these days I'll get it decorated}, but it's functional.

Mondays: wash towels {usually two loads}

Tuesdays: wash whites {one load}

Wednesdays: wash light colors {two loads}

Thursdays: wash darks {1-2 loads}

Fridays: wash jeans {1-2 loads}

A lot of times I wash jeans on Thursdays just so I'm done early for the week.

I love that everything is sorted and I can just throw in a load first thing in the morning.

Now comes my problem.

It is common to see at least two {usually more} baskets of laundry in the living room waiting to be folded. 

It's been especially bad lately since I've been spending so much time finishing up our basement. Now that the carpet is installed and there are only a few minor things left to do down there, I decided Enough is Enough! No more laundry sitting around for days waiting to be folded.

So I decided to find out how long it really took to fold a basket of laundry.  

 I  started with the hardest to fold at our house - the kids cloths {see above}. Most of the girls clothes are light in color and are washed all at the same time.  

I got out my timer {I know, kinda nerdy} and got to work.

The first basket I folded in under 4 minutes! {there was more adult clothing so it went super fast} The second basket I folded in 6 minutes.

I always set aside the socks until the end so it took another 2 minutes to match them up.

Then to put everything away it took just under 6 minutes. 

This was my total time {17 min 49 sec} for TWO baskets from the time I started folding to the time I put the empty baskets back in the laundry room.  So I figure even the hardest baskets to fold should take less than 10 minutes.

I also timed myself folding a basket of towels. Get ready for this.... The time it took me to fold and put away a basket of towels was 4 minutes 31 seconds. I imagine jeans would be just as fast.

Why in the world do I let them sit and sit? It really doesn't take that long to fold them and put them away.

My goal is to get each days laundry folded THAT day. I've done really well for the last week. It's so much easier when there's not as much to fold at one time too. 

So was this motivating? What are your tips to getting your laundry done? Do you involve your kids? I'd love to hear your thoughts.