The cuppa challenge

Broomstick · 14 July 2010 at 12:37PM

This morning, in the time it took me to boil a kettle for my first cup of tea of the day I managed to:

-Stack last night's washing up by the sink.
-Wipe the kitchen table.
-Put the recycling boxes and wheelie bin back to where they belong outside the front door (the bins get emptied on a Wednesday).
-Start a new bag of paper for recycling.
-and fold two machine loads of washing that had been drying on an indoor airer overnight.

Normally this would just be dead time and I'd potter around aimlessly waiting for the kettle to boil but I've decided that I'm going to maximise those little patches of 'dead time' because I absolutely have to spend more time on other stuff. Anyone fancy joining me?

What can you get done while you are waiting for the kettle to make a cuppa?
Or waiting for the computer to load, or to print something?
Or waiting to be connected to the utilities company on the phone?
Or waiting for the adverts to finish on the telly? Or whatever...

B x

rachbc · 14 July 2010 at 12:41PM

I have a rapid boil kettle and only put a cup of water in...

but most mornings I get the dishwasher unloaded before my first brew

esmf73 · 14 July 2010 at 1:33PM

Broomstick - Yep, I'm with you as from tomorrow! Need to stop putting things off and get things done - perhaps I could get more done in between cuppas. Have set myself a target of having a car boot full (I have a Zafira!) of stuff to get to the charity shop on Monday. Have already been through the childrens toys and pulled out the glass recycling I've not done yet! Perhaps I could get the garden cleared up before my next cuppa? Fortunately the heavens have just opened so I can leave that till its dry. Bet I'd manage to get loads done too. x

dandy-candy · 14 July 2010 at 1:36PM

Broomstick wrote: »

-and fold two machine loads of washing that had been drying on an indoor airer overnight.

Good grief! You sure you aren't boiling an urn full in that time?

I don't drink hot drinks so I can't be sure how much I would get done, I'm pretty good at the aimlessly wandering tho

livalot · 14 July 2010 at 1:49PM

Broomstick wrote: »

This morning, in the time it took me to boil a kettle for my first cup of tea of the day I managed to:

-Stack last night's washing up by the sink.
-Wipe the kitchen table.
-Put the recycling boxes and wheelie bin back to where they belong outside the front door (the bins get emptied on a Wednesday).
-Start a new bag of paper for recycling.
-and fold two machine loads of washing that had been drying on an indoor airer overnight.

Normally this would just be dead time and I'd potter around aimlessly waiting for the kettle to boil but I've decided that I'm going to maximise those little patches of 'dead time' because I absolutely have to spend more time on other stuff. Anyone fancy joining me?

What can you get done while you are waiting for the kettle to make a cuppa?
Or waiting for the computer to load, or to print something?
Or waiting to be connected to the utilities company on the phone?
Or waiting for the adverts to finish on the telly? Or whatever...

B x

This sounds like a great idea...... but I have a quick question how long does your kettle take to boil one or two cups of water?...... if its anything like my kettle which only takes just over a minute to boil enough water for two cups of tea....I just wouldn't have enough time to do anything else :rotfl: other than get milk out of fridge, get cup out of dishwasher find clean teaspoon get the right sugar out of the cupboard, put toast into toaster etc... Like the other ideas though .... I agree we do spend a great deal of time waiting for something to happen :T

Broomstick · 14 July 2010 at 2:32PM

LOL.

It was the first cuppa of the day so the kettle was cold. It's an old-fashioned one which boils on the stove and had about three cups worth of water in it but I did also dash around like crazy while it was getting going because I was racing it.:D

Next cuppa (the water was still warm

) - I only managed to dry and put away the dishes that had been left in the drainer but not the cutlery. That got dealt with while DS2 went upstairs to get dressed... I suppose getting the children to do something could act as a time-setter for getting a job done too. I wasn't so resentful that he was dawdling a bit because I wanted to see if I could get the job finished before he reappeared.

I know it's silly but it works for me.

esmf73 · 14 July 2010 at 2:41PM

If it works for you - nothing silly about it. I too have one of those boil on the stove kettles and can almost be back in bed asleep before it boils sometimes! However, now I shall dig it out of the cupboard and use it - or dash around like a mad thing whilst the coffee machine does its stuff!!

tinkerbellsmum_2 · 14 July 2010 at 2:46PM

I do my housework at nite when kids have gone bed in adverts.
makes adverts go quick and no kids to make a mess while I tidy

Kitchenbunny · 14 July 2010 at 7:19PM

When I have a quiet day I tend to spread the housework out, and then do the ironing during the F1. It helps it pass quicker.

Good idea about using the kettle though to see how much you can get done! Nice one! As with a previous poster, we have a rapid boil kettle and only put in the amount we need, but I can still get the washing up put away.

KB xx

balmaiden · 14 July 2010 at 7:26PM

I have always worked this way. Makes housework less boring if you do it in snatches. It is amazing what you can achieve whilst waiting for a pan on the stove to come to the boil, for instance. I second the doing things when the adverts are on, as well. Ironing done in front of corrie, then everything put away when the ads come on. Mind you don't some of the ad breaks seem to go on forever?

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The cuppa challenge

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