Going back to work

Linda32

What I do is set aside either Saturday or Sunday morning, then set up 3 or 4 jobs, then do a bit of one and a bit of another. So say, 10 minutes ironing, then vacuum a room, then a spot of gardening, then 10 minutes with the paper. And so on and so forth.

I find if I do the same thing for a long time, such as vacuuming or ironing I soon get fed up. I tend to achieve more this way.

I put washing on through the night as we have Economy 7. I've never emptied the washing machine on a work morning in the 20 years or so that I've lived away from home. It sits in the machine until I come home. Then its taken out, folded and sits in the basket until morning then I hang it out. Or it sits in the tumble dryer until its dried through the night.

Make sure you have a calender of some form which works for you. I have one on the side of the fridge where I can't miss it.

Its not a crime either to buy pre-prepared foods. After all, someone is paying you to work now, so you are only paying someone else to prepare your meals for you.

cutestkids

WantToBeSE would you be kind enough to post your recipe for home made rolls

WantToBeSE

cutestkids wrote: »

WantToBeSE would you be kind enough to post your recipe for home made rolls

It's not my recipe, cutestkids, but the recipe i always use is:


Bread Rolls:

In a large bowl, mix together;

2lbs Bread flour OR Plain flour
2tsp Salt
4tsp easy blend yeast (i normally buy the box of sachets)

Stir in;
Half a pint of hand-hot milk
half a pint of hand hot water (instead of doing these 2 seperately, i normally pour half a pint of milk from the fridge into a measuring jug, and top up to the 1 pint mark with boiling water).

-Mix together to form a dough
-Knead for 5 mins
-Cover with damo cloth and leave to rise for 1.5 hours
-knock back and knead for 3 mins
-Shape into rolls and place on greased tray
-Cover with damp cloth and leave for 30mins
-Bake @ 210-220 for 15-20mins

cutestkids

WantToBeSE wrote: »

It's not my recipe, cutestkids, but the recipe i always use is:


Bread Rolls:

In a large bowl, mix together;

2lbs Bread flour OR Plain flour
2tsp Salt
4tsp easy blend yeast (i normally buy the box of sachets)

Stir in;
Half a pint of hand-hot milk
half a pint of hand hot water (instead of doing these 2 seperately, i normally pour half a pint of milk from the fridge into a measuring jug, and top up to the 1 pint mark with boiling water).

-Mix together to form a dough
-Knead for 5 mins
-Cover with damo cloth and leave to rise for 1.5 hours
-knock back and knead for 3 mins
-Shape into rolls and place on greased tray
-Cover with damp cloth and leave for 30mins
-Bake @ 210-220 for 15-20mins

Thank you I will try these this week

Savannah02K

I like to have my weekends free so my routine has always been Wed night clean bedrooms, Thurs night bathroom, landing and stairs, Friday night is living and dining room. I do the kitchen every night as I go along, when I wash up every night I take a shelf out of the fridge and clean that so the fridge is cleaned fully every week. It helps that I'm on the five and two days fasting diet, I do my two day fast on Thurs and Fri so cleaning the house then takes my mind off food and my OH does the cooking while I get on with the housework! FOMW learnt from me the same rules I learnt from my mom, if you care about your toys then put them away, if they're out when I'm doing your bedrooms, they get binned. I only ever had to empty the bin bag over them once before they got the message!

I did/do a big online shop for all the boring stuff once a month and then Sat am I'm up early at the supermarket getting the fresh bits and pieces. In ye olde days when now grown up fruits of my womb were little FOMW, OH would be tasked with taking them out for breakfast on Sat. It worked out then that we'd have from 11 ish on a Sat right through to Sunday night for a family weekend.

Re washing and ironing, I've always used the delayed start on my machine, get up 15 mins earlier than normal and in the better weather peg out to dry, in bad weather combination of tumble and airer dry. Ironing, OH did. But I worked really hard on cutting back the amount of washing and ironing we did. It's amazing how much stuff you can 'dry clean' yourself by just turning things inside out, spraying them (supermarket own brand) Febreze and then pegging them on the line to get a good dose of fresh air (trick learnt from Scottish cousin who had to wear a kilt to work every day - Edinburgh tourist guide).

seabright

I use the FlyLady system - split house into 5 zones, one zone per week plus some weekly jobs of about 10-15 mins each.

I do one load of washing per day on weekdays and have a system for which load is done on each day.

Agree, never go upstairs or downstairs empty handed.

Open the post every day & chuck whatever you can straight I the recycling. File/deal with the rest once a week, on admin day.

Slowcooker meals whenever possible, then you can cook several meals at once, eat one and freeze the rest.

Dozey_crow

Hello,

I have been reading these forums for years now and finally decided to join because of this thread. I also start work next Monday and it's my first full time job in nine years. On one hand I am excited as it's my dream job which I have studied really hard for. On the other hand I'm a bit daunted by being with people all day (not used to it!) and worried about how I can fit in housework, cooking, laundry etc. So this thread is very relevant to me!

I have thought about batch cooking and made some space in the freezer. I did try to make double pasta squeeze tonight but we ended up eating it all! I am planning to organize my wardrobe and generally tidy up.

Any other ideas please? It may be wise at this stage for me to point out that I have more in common with slob lady than fly lady!

ciderwithrosie_2

Definitely a fan of the multi-tasking without conscious effort approach as others have mentioned like swishing round the bathroom while you're in there supervising the kids.

Also if I want to sit down and watch something on TV when I know I should be doing other things! I do stuff in the ad breaks, like loading the washing machine, take the recycling out.

If I've got the oven on for dinner, I'll bung in a couple of frozen chicken breasts in a foil parcel and they can be chopped up for sandwiches or pasta salad or I might hard boil some eggs whilst I'm cooking something else.

I've got a magnetic drywipe board on my fridge which I use to remind me to do stuff or as an ongoing shopping list. Good that you online shop already, that saves so much time.

For me it's about thinking steps ahead (like a game of chess) what tasks can be combined or minimalised but still produce the desired results.

Seems daunting at first but you do get into a routine.

charlies-aunt

My advice would be ---- be prepared to lower your standards and concentrate your energy on what matters - your children will remember bedtime stories, playing cards together, walks to the park for all their lives....they won't remember nicely ironed PJ's and sheets, expensive presents/clothes, elaborate meals and an immaculate house.

Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy

I have worked part and full time - since leaving school 40 yeas ago, married, two children, looked after elderly parents, allotment, have multiple pets - and have learned the hard way not to try and do it all.....

esmf73

Speaking as someone whose house is a mess..... Easy steps are
1 declutter, so you don't have to clean up stuff you don't really like or need
2 keep up to date with washing, ironing and dishwasher
3 plan meals, shopping etc
4 clean kitchen as you wait for kettle to boil, make breakfast etc
5 clean bathroom / shower as you wait for conditioner or face mask to take effect.
6 quick Hoover and floor wash every 2 days
7 one of those automatic airfresheners.
8 teach children, husbands, wives to pick up after themselves, put their own things in the dishwasher, washing machine etc.
9 only touch a piece of paper once - so deal with post as it comes in if possible, and recycle junk mail
10 have an ongoing charity shop bag or box, anything unnecessary that you don't want, put in the box
11 get as much as you can paid by direct debit and go for paperless bills - less incoming, less to deal with
12 order online shopping so you can be doing a whizz round whilst you wait.

Good luck with the new job.