To ask just how do you make it all work?? Life admin etc.

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Sort of inspired by the ‘perfect friend’ thread.

How do you keep on top of different aspects of your life and have time for it all? How do you make it work for you? Would really appreciate some constructive advice please!!

E.g. how do you keep on top of your job (if you work) as well as staying on top of housework and life admin? How do you even deal with life admin? Do you just make a massive to-do list of random bits and bobs and force yourself to stick to it and get through it?

...And how do you then make time for things like having a social life and doing things you enjoy?

Not read while thread. Also fascinated by this question.
I work three days a week very flexible often into the evenings when kids in bed.
Dh works full time. Theee Kids aged 7 and under.
Cleaner once a week. Rest of the time house is a top.
Kids have very simple food because it is what they like. Fried eggs on toast, spaghetti and pre made meatballs etc.
I have a constant to do list of little things on my phone as I forget otherwise.
We pay for a babysitter about once a fortnight.
Bills all done by direct debit.
I say no to all the things I don’t want to do - work drinks, drinks with wider circle friends.
I text and WhatsApp friends a lot to catch up, often while laying next to dcs who ate nearly asleep.
I have no hobbies.
Ocado shop once a week. Corner shop for extra.
I just just just manage to keep head above surface.

Honestly? I earn a lot so pay for cleaner, ironer, nanny, personal trainer and yoga instructor. I’m spoiled. When you have money it’s ridiculous easy to “have it all” and no woman in my position should feel
smug about having a good work life balance coz we’re paying people to do it for us.

I have a massive calendar and anything that is due to be paid fixed attended or ignored is on it. Amazon just gave me a free months prime so it now ends in November instead of October both dates have been updated on the calendar. School says there’s a praise assembly that’s on there too. Tax, insurance mot etc all on there even though they’re DD from the bank. I still miss shit but for the main ... it works
As for housework i fit it around everything else, it ain’t pretty but it’s clean

I am single parent - two jobs one days , one evening, one ds age 6 . I generally make sure my son has what he needs - for example always make sure his bag is packed with whatever he needs for school, uniforms ironed, and presents for friends parties and the rest just gets done when it can. House is generally a tip I think the key as others have said the less stuff the better I always have a charity bag on the go and drop it off when full

I do life admin as and when I can I usually have a list and fit things in as and when I can for example ds at his grandmS for two hours i m doing food shop, Halfords to get lightbulb changed and picked up a parcel from next

I don’t do a big food shop every week I make sure I’ve aleays got stuff in the freezer or cupboards that I cN rustle something up.

Friends I rarely see but again I will schedule maybe a quick coffee in Costa, also try and meet with more than one friend At a time

I alwAys plan ahead for birthdays bought a month at least in advance and wrapped straight away .

Iif I am sat waiting in doctors or in the car I always make use of that time to book appointments or send an email Reply to a text

Not sure I am managing tbh. Work 3 days a week flexi from home OH works overseas for weeks at a time no family support near by.
I don't iron unless absolutely necessary.
Make pack ups night before lay out clothes as well.
Use my slow cooker a lot just bung everything in.
All bills online by DD no paper bills.
Lots of storage lots of crap hidden away.
Standards of cleaning have dropped really need to get on top of this lots of sticky finger prints over the walls.
No social life so no need to fit that in 😥

It's so interesting to read these posts. Makes me feel more 'normal'.

I don't do any ironing, so there's never a pile. If it's something special the iron comes out. Husband does most of cleaning, I cook and do laundry. We both do garden but we mostly play and just let the DIY jobs pile up until we can afford to fix just one. We choose days out over new furniture etc as we scrape by each month as it is.

I prefer to cast aside my more middle class, British approach to having guests over so I don't stress over everything looking perfect. We chill on the sofa, pour drinks and plan an easy cheap meal and ensure if there's kids coming over to join our social events they chill in front of TV if they want, play if they want etc. Taking away the formality makes me feel more chilled about it. We are both so crazy busy at times we decide to take a chilled approach to things.

Bills paid online, food ordered online about 50% of time. I do the big LIDL shops rest of the times after girls are in bed and husband looks after them.

Soon I will be starting a business which will bring in more money over time and give us more freedom.

That's our life lol x

Im a single working mum to 3 teens....i do a lot of my own admin at work when its quiet....i pay all bills online and just get through each day really...I really envy my friends with husbands who deal with all the car and diy stuff...thats the bits i struggle with.

Have a 5 year old 4 year old and 16 month old with health issues and multiple allergies meaning every thing that hes fed needs to be made from scratch including snacks .
Oh works a lot and hard so when he isn't at work he winds down going golfing.
I also have a dog to contend with and also having bad health issues myself at the moment. Before I fell ill I actually was self employed on top of all this but once we realised my son needs constant supervision and extra care i knocked it on the head. We don't get any help at all with the kids but somehow we just about manage. House is clean and tidy don't iron only when stuff is needed. Everyone eats well. For me though I only get everything done at the sacrifice of my own personal time. Not for everyone

@zzzaaaccc1 feel your pain lass

re ironing: My Mum's rule was always that the person ironing got to choose what was on telly :)
Worked like a charm!

I feel I am failing miserably at this!
I work 30 hours over 3 days, have a 1year old with me on the 2 days off, & a 4 year old in school. Husband works rotation of Saturday’s & football Sunday’s. So we have 1 day every fortnight where I tend to blitz the house whilst he occupies the kids).
Few things we try though- (I say try we don’t stick to it but you might be able to 😊)
I have a couple of jobs per day to do, which means all the house will get cleaned once a week in bits.
I make the most of any time to do jobs (usually on phone or iPad) such as car insurance, some online shops when I do it, any other jobs (today whilst eating brekkie was amazon ordering gifts).

As for everything else I can’t help!

Cleaner twice a week and a husband who shares the workload fairly. Try to combine tasks where possible, for example walking the dog up to the school and back when I collect the kids (5k round trip) to exercise myself, the children, the dog and to catch up with school news. I work full time hours but start very early (DH does morning school run) and finish early. I also do online shopping for groceries and lots of other bits.

Ironing lady, cleaner and a gardener.

I don't. I just look like I do. It is all a facade. But don't tell anyone and don't open my cupboards or you will see the chaos behind the closed doors. 😉😉😉

I work four days as a teacher....so full time hours really....

The organised mum method has really helped me get sorted and stay on top of the house.

My teacher planner has a diary I use for my stuff too. It's basically my life bible.

Kids are now trained to throw duvet back in mornings, do tidy toys and put dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Garden is a bombsite and house frequently looks like a laundry....but it's ok, most of the time.

Decorating etc has to wait for school holidays.

Cleaner
Flexible job, 30 hours a week
Tesco delivery plan
Quick meal ideas list
Freezer always full
Gifts on standby for kids
No ironing - unless cleaner does it every other week. Mainly DH shirts
Lots of job lists. Try an app.
Limit clubs and activities for kids
Say no to some kids parties
Not too many social plans all together
No pets!

Sadly, I don't stay on top of it all, so I pick and choose the most important things to focus on.
We have a proper home cooked meal together as a family at least five nights per week. Usually one takeaway a week and one swift tea on an evening when everybody is in and out.I make tasty packed lunches 4 days out of 5; one day is school dinner / buy your lunch.
I stay on top of laundry, but the house is usually a tip.
DH and myself both work long hours and my job is particularly demanding, on my feet all day, permanently 'on' - no down time to slouch and check emails - so I'm pretty knackered by the time I get in.
I don't have much of a social life; go to the pub after work on Friday about once week a month for about an hour, attend birthday celebrations. That's it.
I do envy the people with immaculate houses.

Another one signing in to say “I have no idea, help 😭😱” 😳

@Cliveybaby I like that!!

I have a massive planning session day after kids go back to school after Christmas. I always book that day off. Get all personalised cards and gifts in January sales online. All in a box ready for the year for friends and family. Also generic ones and generic girl boy gifts for parties.

Have a notepad in my bag and a diary. Everything gets written on to do list and in diary straight away.

School- kids get showers straight away repack school bag and bring uniform to wash before tea.

Have a cleaner. the night before I set timer for an hour and tidy as hard as them, maybe clean a cupboard out, reorganise drawer, clear away shoes.

Every lunch I take stuff off to do list and post and do it for half of lunch.

Meal plan every Sunday - the list of what we're eating goes on fridge. There is a shopping list on fridge where stuff we run out of gets written on. I do big shop. Husband buys any bits on way home. Most food is cooked on a Sunday and again on Wednesday. Any other nights it's freezer meal. Not cooking every night.

Husband does washing and ironing for him and one kid. I do mine and other kids.

Kids jobs... Hoover inside of cars, put wheelie bins out on bin day, Hoover in between cleaner coming (e.g. A rug or spill), fifteen minutes tidy and declutter in room once a week

If life admin - e.g. Lots of calls - gets on top of me I take a day off and book hair colour in and do it after that in a cafe with A coffee. Less miserable way to do it

I work full time and have one child. Myself and dp do tasks between us. I’m not sure what household admin is but anything that needs paying for goes out of the joint account by direct debit and if we get an email for something we deal with it straightaway. I try to do a load of washing a day to keep on top. Dp cooks our work lunches and a couple of evening meals at the weekend and all housework gets done on a Sunday morning.

Oh ps do iron but get a steam iron so fast!

Honestly? I earn a lot so pay for cleaner, ironer, nanny, personal trainer and yoga instructor. I’m spoiled. When you have money it’s ridiculous easy to “have it all” and no woman in my position should feel
smug about having a good work life balance coz we’re paying people to do it for us.

But some people would be stressing about their to do list involving booking Pilates, finding new gym clothes, sorting out a new gardener, remembering to tell cleaner to do a certain job...

It’s the fun things I don’t think could are ‘life Admin’. Booking holidays and arranging to see friends aren’t essential chores. It a fun activity you have elected to do.

I think it is quite fun to choose a holiday if parents and teenagers can agree on anything but the actual process of booking, trying to find the right website, details crashing, trying to find out information about flights/resort/whatever can be an absolute nightmare - to me anyway. I now use a travel agent - much more pleasant.