Full time working & getting things done tips

[Fattoushka]

Hit me with your best tips please,
35 hours a week, one child in reception, the other in year 6; I am exhausted, lone parent so nobody really to help out.
10year olds job is just to keep their room tidy and get their homework done which is enough of an effort for them to do so no help there.
Feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, I’m on my knees by Friday.

I know there are people out there who have more kids, work longer hours etc but I’m struggling, love my job but I’m very much on the go all day.

Iron all school uniforms on a Sunday night.
School bags are done night before.

Lower your standards. And, when you’ve done that, lower them again.

Honestly, you can’t do everything because there isn’t enough time in a day. So you need to categorize things that need doing (including recharging your own batteries!) versus things that you’d like doing. It can be hard to realize things are actually in the ‘like’ not ‘need’ category. Ironing, for example...

Hi! I meal plan before I do my online food shop. It helps with not buying extra / wasting food but actually the biggest plus is that I don’t have to think “what shall we have for dinner” when my brain is already fried by teatime!

I also always make something on a Sun that will do the next few days packed lunches, eg, sausage rolls, pitta pizzas. Makes putting the packed lunches together a bit quicker.

So nothing revolutionary but every little helps

I hoover once a week, tidy when I can be arsed and shop online. Standards have seriously slipped but no one is allowed over so fuck it!

Clean the bathroom whilst the kids have their bath, Hoover the stairs whilst they eat their dinner- don’t attempt to blitz clean, little bits every now and then.

What do you think is taking up your time in the evenings? It’s laundry for me. No idea why we have so much but we do. Probably once a month I send a few loads out to one of those companies that does pick up and drop off. Usually lots of towels and bedding. Just helps me catch up.

Write a list of everything you think needs to be done and how often.
Then put it aside for a day.
Then look at it and decide what is really important for health and safety and scrap the rest.

Most of my tips involve throwing money at problems, ie cleaner, not cooking from scratch etc. Online food shop. Robot hoover that you can send round the living room while you're eating dinner. Robot hoover also does hard floors just can't handle water!

I cook a day in advance and have everything lined up the night before. It takes a fair amount of discipline, especially on those days when you want to flop into the sofa once the kids are in bed. But I remember reading somewhere that a 2 minute decision at 8pm would take 19 minutes at 8am. And that's definitely true for me.

Definitely robot hoover.

Washing bin with separate sections so dirty laundry is already sorted and just needs to be loaded into machine.
As many non iron items of clothing as possible.
After-shower spray to cut down on cleaning.

I try and take a random day off once every few weeks to catch up

Give the kids more jobs - oldest can unload dishwasher. Youngest can help fold washing and put away. Set a timer - 10 minutes and all work together to see how much you can get done. Kids can put things away and dust while you Hoover. Make it fun
Meal plan. Write a list of meals. Divide into easy and less easy and makes enough for 2 nights. Then allocate based on how your week looks. Also if possible try to cook something on the weekend you can reheat during the week
Have something to look forward to on Friday. For me that is leftovers night so no need to cook plus it’s family chocolate night. We buy a big block to share- everyone takes a turn at choosing the flavour

Oh, and I have a 4 week meal plan, which takes into account busy nights. So I don't have to think about meal planning, I just rotate

If you have the resources, cook 2x the amount, eg. of chili, curry, taco filling, whatever you make, and save half for another day : cook once, eat twice.

If you have time to prep fresh vegetables, do twice the amount while you have the knife and chopping board out, then next time the veg will be ready to go.

For me the slow cooker has been a big help, takes a but of research to find quick prep recipes where you don't need to brown the meat, but so good not to have to cook when you come home.

Batch cooking - loads of meals in the freezer so you don’t have to cook to many week nights

I’d stop the ironing tbh!

10 year old can definitely do a bit more in the house

Meal planning is a must - Ironing is a no!
Load of washing in in the morning before you go to work, take out when you get home to dry overnight.
I have 4 kids, 9.7,2 and 8 months, meal planning defo helps make life easier, shopping delivered twice a week as I can’t face doing a weeks shopping/meal planning in one go!
I do only work 25 hours a week so have a bit more time.
I clean/tidy up in the mornings - usually have 20 minutes where kids are chilling before school so get as much done as I can in those minutes, clean bathroom when they’re in the bath.

Forget ironing school uniform but hang up to dry as soon as washing is finished. Shirts on hangers, everything smoothed out before going on clothes horse.

Could that free up sun night for you to have a wee bit 'me time'

Some very easy dinners 3 nights a week like beans on toast, freezer stuff, pizza and salad or pasta and sauce . Use extra time for a quick tidy round. 5 mins in each room.
Consider slow cooker, batch cooking to help with other nights dinners.

Can you all speed clean/tidy for an hour or two on a Saturday morning. Put on some music and make it a challenge with some kind of treat at the end like hot chocolate or trip to park. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. My 5 year old can do an impressive amount of tidying toys if he is in the right mood.

• Black socks for everyone, easily matched instead of coloured socks which become mismatched
• bags packed the night before
• batch cooking 5 basic meals
• lower standards - nothing really needs ironed really except work clothes for you
• quick hoover/bleach wipe surfaces after kids have gone to bed then wake up to tidy morning

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Eliminate clutter- have a place for everything and train children to put things where they belong.
Clean a little but often- it’s easier to keep a clean house clean than it is to clean a big mess occasionally. Eg after dinner wipe down kitchen, hob and sweep floor. Do a load laundry every day.

Do they take a school bag every day? What for?

Stop ironing. I don't iron any clothes. They come out of the dryer and get put onto coathangers (a pair of trousers, polo shirt and sweatshirt on one hanger). I loop a pair of underpants on the hanger and hang a pair of socks on. Do that on Sunday for the week.

Iron nothing. Buy nothing that requires ironing.

Lower your standards and prioritize yourself as you keep the whole show on the road.

Less chores, which create whinging and battles, and more everyone helps out as you go along.

Google The organised mum method, that helped me. Meal plan and always make too much food and freeze for another day. If you can afford a cleaner even once a month to do a blitz (all I can afford) works out £35 / month which I am happy to pay and forego a decent phone. And never go up the stairs or down without taking something with you that needs putting away. Also I got obsessed with Marie Kondo on Netflix and it inspired me to have a huge clear out. It's so much easier to keep on top of things, if you have less things in the first place!