Do some people have more hours in their day than others?

[Krakken]

How do some people manage to do all their housework, go out with family, meet a friend for a drink and have a nice family dinner ready all on one day while I potter around, do a bit of shopping, start cooking a meal and it's already nearly 6?

I assume they don’t potter! They probably approach their day with a plan and work efficiently through everything. Nothing wrong with pottering but it will be slower.

These people never sleep.

Are you sure that person 1 isn’t having a convenience dinner or their husband isn’t cooking while they went out ?

How long did you potter about ?

I'm sure that's exactly it! I need to stop bloody pottering.

Energy levels.

I used to be like your friends, the annoying energizer bunny. But some stinking bastard took my batteries out & I achieve fuck all even on a busy day!!

The husband went out in the afternoon when the wife came back from meeting her friend.
I think the pottering was a bit more than I care to admit. But it did involve chores like laundry and emptying the dishwasher then researching cheap holidays.

I have no idea how they do it, I have a friend that never stops. She’s in work from 4am-2pm, then goes running, then shopping, then lifts weights, makes dinner, crafts in the evening then goes to bed. This is her daily routine… I’ve no idea where she gets the energy and she shows no signs of slowing down.

I get about 4 "energy" days per year.
My gosh, the amount that can then be done is amazing.

I can only speak for myself, I get up at 5 during the week 6:30 at the weekend. During the week I have often done 15 minutes of yoga, been to the supermarket and post office before starting work @ 8, I am often hanging my washing out by 8 or 8:30am at the weekend, if I was meeting a friend at say 2, I would likely have done laundry and cleaned a couple of rooms before that. I also batch cook at the weekend. My secret is starting early and multi- tasking.

I never shop weekends.. Food shopping is Thursdays. For everything else I order online. Ebay Amazon Next account QVC etc. Saves time. In addition I do physical things like housework early in the day when I am more at my best.

I got a lot more done when my phone was broken. Try to limit it now, but it still lurks like a time-stealing vampire.

On days when I get things done I just start and don't sit down until I'm done. I can get a lot done when I set my mind to it. Also multitasking, doing something else once I have something on the stove rather than sitting down.

I waste a lot of time too, on different days!

We have had breakfast, done some exercise (me class, DH run), had lunch, painted the bathroom, and done 2 loads of washing.
I'm just having 5 mins sit down before I make tea.
That is us done for the day, then. Sofa, TV and wine this evening.

I sleep a lot, do little of an evening, but I'm organised, and I batch book, so have meals easily ready, eg meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs already prepared. So it's easy.

My sister works FT with 4 primary school aged kids. All need snacks and lunches made and homework help, no childcare as such. All do at least 2 sports so it's about 11 training sessions a week, excluding additional matches at weekends. Dinner has to be cooked every eve, its hard to batch cook for 6. Her Dh does a lot but also FT. She is on parents association, coach for 2 kids teams, does admin stuff for one club and volunteers for a charity occasionally. She works out 4 times a week, has a social life and is in a book Club. I am not exaggerating any of this. Because of training commitments she often leaves work early so usually logs on again for one or two hours at night. That's not considering endless laundry, meal planning and general parenting stuff. But she does all this without complaining and never seems tired. I'd give my right arm to be blessed with her energy and lack of need for sleep.

I haven’t cooked a roast or anything exciting today but I was up at 7.30, went to B&Q, cleared out and glossed the skirtings and doors in two rooms ready to paint tomorrow, cleaned the house, wrote half of an essay and I’m now in the bath looking forward to getting in my clean bedding!

Went out for food with family on Friday evening, did the food shop yesterday and had a chilled afternoon with the kids before going to work.

It sounds like a lot and I suppose it is, the only think I can think is that I stopped drinking last year and I’ve been on Vitamin D and Folic Acid supplements following blood tests in January. When I was drinking previously I’d often lounge about for most of the day, and the supplements really seem to have helped my energy levels. I feel really productive at weekends and get a lot done, but I find it hard to get going at work in the week so it’s swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I don't have much spare time so have to get stuff done fast and efficiently. For example this weekend I needed to get the garden sorted, I work full time during the week and at the minute that means working 10-12 hour days because we are very very busy. So I just have to get as much done as possible at the weekend.

Yesterday

• loaded the car with rubbish and was at the tip for 8am
• stopped at Morrisons on the way home to get the shopping done
• home for 9.30am
• finished clearing the top corner section of my garden and started assembling the gazebo, it's one of those big metal solid roofed permanent things with a billion parts

-12pm took DD and friend to a birthday party, while they were there nipped to Homebase for sealant and a step ladder

• 3pm - home and finished the main body of the gazebo, while DD played out with her friends, just the roof left to assemble
• cooked dinner
• DD went into a sugar crash/tired meltdown so took her out for a drive and a bit of a walk to calm down
• home and DD to bed, did some house tidying
• sat down at about 9pm and chilled for a couple of hours before bed

Today

• at retail park for 9.45am, sat and had an ice latte then did the shopping I needed at B&M, The Works and Aldi
• grabbed a happy meal for DD
• Home 11.30am
• finished the gazebo and cleared another section of the garden of weeds and brambles, relocated the compost bin, sorted all the old crap out of the shed
• another run to the tip
• made dinner and cupcakes with DD and batch cooked for lunches during the week

They are neurotypical, able-bodied, have great executive function and do not go into "waiting mode" prior to any type of appointment during the day.

I love being busy. I have 3 kids who are very sporty, I exercise about 4 times a week, am in a choir, go out to bars and restaurants about twice a week work full time, do some volunteering. I do have to have rest days as have a couple of chronic conditions (FM and MH) but honestly the more people do the more they do.
I watch someone of my friends do stuff like shopping and am amazed at how long it takes them. I do a big weekly shop in Aldi in 20 mins they seem to be much slower.

Interestingly I am ND but feel this drives my busy life!

I'm not neurotypical, there are just some things I can do before an appointment and some I can't so I've learnt to do what I can and do the other things when the appointment is done!

Visit me on different days and I will be a different person. Don't judge your worst day against another person's best.

Some days I have a fully cleaned house, a workout done, dinner in the slow cooker, home made muffins on the side and heading out to a hobby in the evening.

Other days I step my way between piles of clothes, toys and general shit all over. I pick out clothes from the washing basket to wear and shut the kitchen door on the dishes because it's all too much to think about and go to bed at 8pm.

Most days I am somewhere in between the extremes.

I find the practical stuff easy, such as shopping, batch cooking, foraging, preserving, gardening, mowing the lawn, washing the car. I can work non stop and get heaps done. Not so much making a phone call!

Waiting mode is so weird and annoying. I am NT AFAIK but I really need to work hard to stop waiting mode taking over the day. On Thursday I had physio at 2 and I found it so hard to have a productive morning. That said I find I am also more productive under time pressure than if I have none so if I challenge myself to get XY and Z done before the school runs I almost enjoy the challenge of speed laundry.