What efficiency tips do you have that make you feel you're winning at life

[DangleDonkey]

Just that really - what things do you do/ habits do you have that make you feel really productive or efficient?

For me,

• a bottle of water and a little gym towel (which comes in handy so often for wiping the windows, wiping hands etc) that I keep in the car, plus a few self care bits like lip balm and a nail file that stay in there
• keeping a pencil inside whichever book I'm reading for making notes in the margins
• when I'm packing a bag, always making a point to note which pocket I've put my phone charger, medication, purse etc so I don't have to scrabble around for them
• buying 2 or 3 shampoo/ hair mousse/ packs of nappies at a time so when I think I've run out, I actually haven't!

Interested to hear any other tips!

@goodkidsmaadhouse We do a 6 week summer/winter meal plan/shopping list but also batch cook. If you have the freezer space, what we do is have 3 batch cooked meals for busy nights so there is little or no prep then one night a week have a meal that is suitable for freezing and batch cook 4 portions and freeze 3 to go in the empty containers/freezer space left by the 3 we ate. Then the next week, we do the same but have a different fresh batch cook meal.

I guess, in theory, you could come up with a rotation that means you only cook from scratch once a week or even once a fortnight. You would need a big freezer though!

I have an enormous bath sheet sized towel that lives in the car. So far, in its life, it has been - emergency nappy, sling to carry tired child, emergency dog lead (and collar), seat for wet person to stop car seat getting wet, emergency clothing, windbreak, rain protection, changing mat, wrap (when coat was forgotten), picnic blanket...

...and you can even dry yourself on it if it's clean enough. Douglas Adams was really onto something when he said you have to know where your towel is. It washes and dries really quickly too!

@LabLabrador That’s brilliant organisation! Love that you have different summer/winter ones.
I’ve got 2x batch cooked meals factored in for each week and then 2x quick meals but maybe I should just batch cook more. I do love it when I can just take a Tupperware out of the freezer in the morning…

Do not spend time sorting paperwork into types (bank/utilities/medical etc).

Just into one box per year.

Then file them by year.

If you ever need something(which is rare) l, you flick through the one year to locate it. That flick through takes up far less than categorising paperwork that you'll probably never need to look through again.

Hang on, I stopped reading at the WRITING IN MARGINS bit

I need to know more!
What sort of books?
Library books? Books you have bought?
Why do you write?
What do you write?

Ok, going back to read rest of the thread, hoping to get helpful tips!

How about slow cooker meals? I prep 3 lots of meals on Sunday ready for mon-weds and put in the fridge. Usually things like dahl, chilli, stew, soup, curry. Then when I get home I just need to cook the rice or butter bread!

I make all lunches the night before.

I have organised labeled lidded tubs of the random crap we need. Eg a sticky one (bluetack, cellotape, superglue), measuring and fixing (tape measures, multi head screwdriver, level, alan keys).

A whole bed set is stored inside its pillowcase.

A box by the front door for hats, gloves, headphones. A drawer in the shoe cabinet for purse, keys, passport, council tax bill, £30 cash, some loose change, electric box key. (All needed fairly regularly and easy to find)

Dvds all stored in a big wallet (I threw away all the cases as unlikely to get rid of them). So much more space and films are organised according to genre so easy to find what we want to watch.

Love the towel in car idea.
Going to do that

How do you make your instant porridge please? My husband works away and often only has access to a kettle.

@goodkidsmaadhouse @dumpling123
I do lots of slow cooker meals - chillis, stews, hot pots, spag bol, shepherds pie, curry, stroganoff, lasagne. I’ve got most of the recipes from BBC good food website.
Still have things like beans on toast, spaghetti hoops on toast, nuggets chips and beans, fish fingers chips and peas, sausage and mash for when the kids are at clubs after school/DH and I are both at work.

Loving all the ideas! ✏️ ✔️

Mine are

• reminders on my phone 3-4 days before family/friends birthdays to buy cards & presents
• when putting laundry to dry to shake and smooth creases so that there’s no need to iron
• fold laundry in piles per person and put it away straight away
• amazon fresh for food (apart from veggies and fruit!)
• bedding in the pillow case thing-y
• small first aid kit in my bag (including painkillers and imodium, tampax etc)
• deep house clean twice a year
• spare clothes for the littles in the car along with a stash of emergency snacks like raisins, muesli bars etc.
• ninja foodi - all meals in the region of 20 minutes weather grilled or pressure cooked

otherwise I’m pretty rubbish at organisational stuff

I haven't read the full thread (am going to go back and read it for tips in a minute) but mine are:

Bin liners all kept together in the bottom of the bin. When the top one is full I tie the handles, pull the bag out of the bin and the next one is still attached so comes with it, all ready to tear off and just hook over the top of the bin. It also means I'm never scrabbling around looking for a bin liner!

Book of stamps permanently kept in my purse as well as a couple of plasters.

Always have a stash of generic/blank greetings cards so an emergency birthday card can be written the moment I think about it. I also keep a stash of generic children's gifts for the millions of school birthday parties DDs seem to be invited to.

Wrapping paper is always plain red or gold so it will do for birthday or Christmas presents.

Meal planning.

Having some recipes for really quick meals made out of store cupboard ingredients and always having a stash of those ingredients in so the minute I use something, it goes on the shopping list to be replaced. E.g. always tinned chickpeas, tinned lentils, tinned tomatoes, curry powder and rice so I can make a simple vegetable curry. Always egg noodles, soy sauce, chilli flakes, peanut butter and honey so I can make a quick noodle dish.

I have a love hate relationship with these threads. I find them really helpful, but they also feel like a microcosm of stuff blokes don't have to think about.

I meal plan an extra week in advance. When I'm writing down the food shop for this week I also get ahead in planing next week's meals, then when I get to next week half the job's already done. I still then have to write week 3's plan, but somehow it's easier because it's further in the future and I don't have to think about it in detail yet. Somehow it takes the pressure off, it feels like I've always done the hard bit before I start.

If your children have special needs, get a ring binder and file all their letters and reports. Also have a dedicated notebook for recording things discussed in meetings.

Teachers/hcps will tremble when you show up to meetings with your file and when they try to wriggle out of things you can say "I think you'll find on xx date you said.. ."

I write all that months birthday/ anniversary etc cards at the beginning of the month, stamps on and then they sit by the front door with a post it note on each one telling me what day it needs to be in the postbox by.

Handbag and laptop bag checked through the night before I go to the office to check I have everything. Prevents finding out at reception that I’ve forgotten my pass and won’t be allowed in.

White wine in the fridge on Friday morning.

I also have a zippered pouch that I swap from handbag to handbag which contains

Pen
Hairbands
Paracetamol
Hand sanitiser
Reading glasses
Headphones
Hand cream
Mints
Couple of testers of perfume
Lip balm
Couple plasters

That way I know I always have the emergency stuff but it's not all rolling round the bottom of my bag.

I have two baskets in the coat cupboard in our hallway, one for cold weather with hats scarves and gloves, and one for hot weather with sunglasses hats and suncream. This seems to help things not end up dumped all over the place or lost.
I meal plan a month at a time. I could make better use of batch cooking and freezing things though.
I have a fixed day for washloads which stops me ending up with loads to do all of a sudden.
I keep stamps in my purse so I can buy and send a card quickly if needed.
We keep a stash of coins in the car for parking machines/donations for dress up days at school.
I bought an extra padlock, so I can keep one on my gym bag (I fasten it round the handle so it’s easy to find) and one on my daughters swim kit bag so I don’t have to keep swapping it around. Also have hairbrushes everywhere - swim kit, gym bag, handbag, one in the hallway, one in her room, all usually with a hair bobble or two kept on the handle so I don’t have to hunt around when she needs her hair done quickly before we leave.

Two things I've discovered recently; a spray mop, so quick and easy! Spray, mop and bung the pad in the washing machine when done. Second is clips to put on the washing line that you put clothes on hangers on. When dry, they're straight in the wardrobe rather than faffing with folding.

Always have a bag on the go to fill for the charity shop.

Pop it in the car when it's full. Then drive around with it for 3 months

A bit niche but my rucksack is permanently packed for days out with a note pad next to it to remind me of what's in it.
It always has spare compass, spare head torch, spare waterproof hat gloves etc £10.00 a Mars bar or similar and a bottle if water.
Ready for any adventure at short notice!!
I refill and check as soon as I finish a trip.

I find them really helpful, but they also feel like a microcosm of stuff blokes don't have to think about.

I know exactly what you mean but in the interest of fairness will add my DH’s ‘tip’ - if you have room, build shelves in the garage/attic/cupboard under the stairs/wherever and every few months look on Google shop for the cheapest deal on bulk toiletries/cleaning products/store cupboard food to fill said shelves… then you don’t have to think about buying at again for ages. Also means that anytime there’s a food bank collection at school/clubs I just nip into the garage and grab pasta, beans, shampoo etc to send in.

I have stopped losing hours to the shredder or burning confidential stuff and just pay for a home collection every couple of years.

Thank you this sounds great!

Don't be scared of tins and packets.

Tinned kidney beans, passatta, choice of spices and a tin or packet of frozen mixed veg or mixed beans and heat through on the hob - 15 min veg chili.

Sausage and mash with onion gravy. OK this may be a 20min cook if you boil the potatoes but quicker with frozen or left over mash.

Either put a pan of potatoes on to boil (no need to peel) or use frozen. How many tins will depend on the size of the family.

Start to cook the sausages in a large frying pan in a little fat to get some colour. Boil the kettle.
Finely slice an onion or get frozen chopped onion and once the sausage has colour add the onions, add a sprinkling of flour to thicken the gravy, you may need to add more fat, pour boiling water into the pan and bring to the boil.

I add a stock cube at this point but that's optional as is wine or cider.

Simmer while you make the mash.

Good old beans on toast, you can add cheese and/or bacon. I microwave the beans in a jug, so much easier to pour over the toast and to wash up.

'Picky dinner'

Just put out hams, cheeses, bread, pita bread, hummus, fruit, salads - everyone helps themselves, they can make sandwiches or just eat what they want. You can add in pies, sausage rolls, left overs or even a tray bake for hot veg.

I'm a full time working single mum. Having ds school uniform all clean, ironed and lined up on a Sunday night, five shirts, two sweaters, two pairs of trousers, tie, socks, pants, shoes polished, on Sunday night, makes things much faster on cold sleepy mornings..