I can't be the only person who hates housework, right? I dread it. But I have gotten better about it.

It's not like my house looked like an episode of hoarders or anything. BUT, there was a time when I would put it off and put it off until our entire family plays a rousing game of find the smell.

And while my house is far, far, far from spotless, it is managed and manageable, thanks in part to my four things a day rule. There are four things every weekday that I do

These tasks are super simple and very basic and you can do them in pretty much any season of life, whether you have small children underfoot, you work from home or you work crazy hours outside the home.

Plus each task takes less than 15 minutes.

1. Do one load of laundry

Every day I throw one load of laundry in the washer and dryer. I do not worry about folding or putting away. While folding and putting it away may mean less clutter, it also takes time I don't often have.

Some weeks I opt to do two loads every other day. This is because my dryer is twice the capacity of my washing machine, so I am washing two loads for every one load I dry.

2. Unload and load the dishwasher (and spot clean the kitchen)

I run my dishwasher at night and then unload it in the morning, that way it's ready to be filled throughout the day. Something about a sink full of dirty dishes adds to whatever stressful situations arise throughout the day.

I also declutter and wipe down counter tops and clean the kitchen floor. It only takes me 20 minutes to get my kitchen deep cleaned thanks to this routine.

3. Make sure dinner is planned

When you're busy and the day is long the last thing you want to is try to throw dinner together at 6:15. Having meals planned and somewhat prepped takes some of the stress out of dinner time.

I always have a slow cooker back up plan that I can throw in the crock pot on any given day. It's usually something that I can thaw easily that will cook in just a few hours. (Chicken breast anyone?)

I can't stress meal planning enough. Obviously, there are huge cost benefits to this. But there are also health benefits to cooking meals from scratch.

If you love your slow cooker I have compiled a list of slow cooker recipes you might want to pin for later.

BONUS: Try to vacuum the main traffic areas.

I try to vacuum the area around the door we use the most, the kitchen and the living room. I purchased this vacuum and it has been a total game changer! (Sometimes I wear my baby in ring sling while I vacuum. He naps, I clean. Win/win.) I try to do this daily, but really I shoot for about three times a week.