Struggling to manage my time, I need some practical advice

74jax

I wouldn't declutter the loft but the rooms you use. It might make it feel less stressful . If you do the loft you won't see the benefit everyday.

I try and let one thing 'slip' a week. So maybe next week let OH take control of making the bed, the week after look at sorting the washing of pans . Can he wash and you dry?

YORKSHIRELASS

I cant thank you all enough. Some really helpful, practical advice and you have made me see things from a different perspective which was exactly what I needed. I wouldnt have got this sort of response from friends and family.

So here I am sitting and doing nothing!! OH has taken the youngest to a cricket match and the eldest has gone to see his cousin for a couple of hours. I did a bit of gardening then made myself sit down and I am not going to move from the sofa until I have to pick DS up in an hour.

I need to digest it all but I think the first changes I am going to make are setting myself fixed hours for my second job and sticking to it and then asking for more help from OH and the kids. I need to get rid of this idea that its easier to do stuff myself rather than ask for help.

I like the idea of making lists of stuff to do and then prioritising them.

I also need to have some time for myself. Maybe I should make one afternoon a month my time and get out of the house so I am not looking at things to do. I also like the idea of having one day a week when I dont do chores - or saying that after a certain time of night I stop. I rarely sit down on an evening and watch telly.

I am also going to make a list of areas in the house that need decluttering and will get the family on board with this too.

And yes, stress bunny, thats me! Any ideas for being more chilled out very welcome but you have given me loads of inspiration.

mountainofdebt

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

I also need to have some time for myself. Maybe I should make one afternoon a month my time and get out of the house so I am not looking at things to do. I also like the idea of having one day a week when I dont do chores - or saying that after a certain time of night I stop. I rarely sit down on an evening and watch telly.

Might be an idea to have a set time for this rather than have an open ended arrangement - also helps if you have a regular class to go to!

Brighton_belle

Well done Yorkshire Lass - a great start!
Another suggestion for when you rope in more help from OH and the children - show praise and appreciation, even when they may not do it quite to your standard: fight the urge to re do it your self to your own standard.
Oh, and I know you shouldn't have to praise your own DH for 'helping' but I find a bit of warm appreciation goes a long way when it comes to getting chores done more than once.

swampduck

Sometimes it can help to do things on the way to doing something else. For example - picking up newspapers and putting them straight into the recycling bin rather than tidying them into a pile that grows and grows over the course of a week or two.
If something belongs to a member of the household e.g. sons' shoes/clothes pick them up on your way to the bathroom - dump them in his room. Likewise your stuff or your husbands. Even if you cant be bothered to take them up at that time maybe leave them on the stairs for the next trip you make that way. And get other family members to move their stuff too if its on the stairs.
You need to get everyone else onside with this because it is not your job to clean up after everyone else. If you always treat your main daytime living area with this attitude then it will always look reasonably tidy.

One thing less to stress about in a busy day!!


Swampy

Brighton_belle

Good point swamp duck - I never leave a room empty handed - there is always something that belongs elsewhere, and I drop it off on the way or at destination. (Though personally, having fallen down the stairs once, the rule in this house is nothing to be left on the stairs)
Post gets opened next to the recycle bin and much gets dumped straight away. All junk mail goes straight there, it never gets a chance to sit on the kitchen counter.
I wipe the bathroom sink just after I have done my teeth at night, ditto toilet: 2 mins in total and it's then a job I don't have to think about separately.
While dinners cooking, I'll wipe down surfaces/front of white goods if they need it and other random kitchen jobs.
Last thing at night, I put away the washing up on the draining board that is now dry.

KxMx

Try looking at the jobs causing most problems and see if there is a more efficient way to do them.

For example- mountain of laundry at the weekend; does everything really need washing, can a load or two be done during the week?

Kitchen counters take ages to clean once a week- so maybe 2 or 3 times a week do a quick 5 min wipe down with cleaning wipes (of which I am a total convert by the way).

It may well cut the amount of time you are spending on the chore even though you are doing it more often.

mavvymoo

I have started to do a 15 min fly round about 5 times a week. Wipe kitchen and bathroom round.put things away etc.
Bigger longer jobs I do as and when I make time.
I have found this 15 min fly round really does help me and the house always looks not too bad.:rotfl:
I time it and its amazing what you can do in this time if you are not side tracked by anything.
Good luck

CH27

Wipe the kitchen surfaces while you wait for the kettle to boil.
Wipe the bathroom over when you clean your teeth before bed.
I swear by the cleaning wipes. I know they're not very MSE but they are fast & effective.
Have a quick tidy round of your lounge before going to bed ie move papers, cups etc.

YORKSHIRELASS

I think there is definitely something in a little and often approach to housework, rather than letting it pile up, as suggested in the last few posts. There is some sense in thinking about cleaning and tidying the house as a series of small tasks rather than one massive job.

I am experimenting this week with doing a bit of paid work and a bit of housework every day - the idea being that this way neither things get on top of me. We will see how this works out.

Hubby and I have agreed that if I leave him instructions for things I want doing on a morning before work he will do them. So today he hung the washing out, emptied the dishwasher and wiped the work surfaces down. Small things but it meant that when I got home from my first job I could get straight on with something else.

Right, off to tidy the kitchen and to bed. I was up in the night with my son so its been a long day!