To ask what you do between 8pm and 10pm

[NewPinkSocks]

Ok so I need to be more productive.

I think I should be doing more between this time but I do also want to start going to sleep by 9:30.

The children are normally asleep by 8pm if were lucky.

Then I sit and waste an hour before bed. Maybe pottering around tidying up the dinner plates and vacuuming the living room again if its needed (I also Vacuum at 5pm)
DH empties the bins if needed and puts the diahwasher on before bed.

Would you mind letting me know what you do so I can see whats reasonable to get done in this time? I feel I need to be doing alot more in this time and just need a MN Kick up the bum

I watch tv and go on MN. Also keep thinking I should do something more productive but I am usually too tired for that!

Faff about on my phone til 9, then watch an hour of a box set with DH

Thank you for your responses. Im glad im not the only one. Wine is also normally poured 🍷

I just keep thinking how much time Im wasting these 2 hours could be more productive.

Im thinking the Gym, I do also need to sort my home paperwork and bills maybe I should allocate a certain time a week or something.

I always hoover. My 2 year old drops stuff all of the time. I keep telling him to be more careful. Then DH will walk in with work boots

I do need to get back into studying aswell, but I really just want to sit and do nothing in the evenings but I feel im being lazy when I do have all this stuff that needs doing

I try to keep weekends free as I have to visit family members on Saturdays and then Sunday is our only Family day with DH

I workout, that's my free time

I work. Researching & writing usually. I do the bits I like in the evening, because I don't have to rush as much as I do in the day. Even if I feel like doing nothing I get a second wind when I start.
I get up at 6 and do washing, tidying etc very fast to get it all over with. That feels like a waste of time to me.

@Chasingsquirrels how does your bridge club manage to finish by 9? I hate playing on weekdays because I get home so late - summer is 7.30-11.30pm usually, 25-30 boards.

I mark books!

I'm not quite getting this need to be productive.

We have a 14 and an 11 year old so 8-10pm is usually clearing after dinner, hanging washing up and putting children to bed.

Then we open a lovely bottle of wine and either watch TV together (currently The Amazing Mrs Maisel), or I go on Mumsnet, YouTube or Instagram.

Is that bad??

I’ve gym classes three evenings a week, one night at home or with friends and a night out with DH and DT’s if they are around. The week disappears very quickly. Not good at sitting around and can’t usually find anything on tv to interest me.

Play on the phone whilst trying to put kids to sleep. 9-11 used to be my alone time but dd is refusing to go to sleep before midnight for some reason at the moment.

Mon-Thurs I do an hour of housework after DS is in bed. Up until about 9pm. Then I get into bed and read.

I do the housework in the evenings so I don't have to do it at the weekend. Friday until Sunday I do nothing at all in the evenings except watch TV!

In winter...... watch TV/go on internet/write (I'm an author.)

In summer..... go for a walk, then come home and write......

nothing different from any time of the day as boys need 24 hour care and are up all night

Between 8 and 9yo I encourage my children to bed, thinking that I will settle down for an early night as soon as they're off.

Around 9, having settled them (or the younger two) I think I will just do a quick... go on the computer/tidy/sew/something else.

At 10pm I think I'll stop this in a minute and still be on time to bed.

At about 11:30 I go to bed thinking that I really should have gone sooner and promising myself that tomorrow I really will go early.

Repeat the next day.

Tidy kitchen, Bullet journal review of day and plan for tomorrow. Crochet, Mumsnet, we only put TV on for one program a few nights a week to stop us watching too much.

Watch tv with a drink 🍷 but my 15mo still wakes far to frequently so its not always for long.

Stop 10yr old DD from running riot and waking her brother. She's still awake now . I'm on the landing.

I tidy the house because I can't stand waking up dirty rooms. Take the recycling out, wash up, put the washing up away, disinfect the kitchen worktops, spray a bit of air freshener or light a candle etc.

If I'm having a lazy evening I'll have a bubble bath with a few drops of lavender oil and a few candles lit to relax and when I get out I'll do a quick skincare routine, brush my teeth and go downstairs in my dressing gown to watch tv.

On productive evenings, I'll respond to emails, catch up on social media, write a to-do list for the next day etc and then read until it's time for bed. Usually I'm in bed by 10:30-11 but tonight I have a bout of random sleeplessness so I'm up watching Luther (in my dressing gown) and writing a to-do list for tomorrow while DH and the baby sleep.

Quick tidy up if necessary. Check our diaries for the next day and pack bags accordingly. Then either read a newspaper or book, or do some research for the book I'm writing.
Occasionally I'll write but tbh I'm usually too tired to write.

8pm to 9pm - putting kids to bed.

Then I usually do a bit of laundry, unload dishwasher etc. and I usually sit down around 9.30. At 11.30 I make lunches for me and the kids for the next day.

I don't go to bed until about 12.30 though.

Why not save time by hoovering once a week?

Tidy up, laundry, dishwasher all the mundane stuff.

Then mn and watch TV til bed whilst cuddling the dog. He gets very annoyed if I don't sit down for at least an hour with him!

Dh reads/browses and does the same really.

The dc are usually up and down a few times and I rarely go out of an evening and neither does dh

We are moving soon to a town so perhaps we will do more with our evenings when we aren't miles way from anything!

Usually tell dd to go to bed approx 90 million times.
Marking if I haven’t finished.
Planning if I haven’t finished.
Making resources, replying to work emails, google jobs after teaching, look at friends photos from her recent move to oz and dream.
Quick tidy up.
Stare at the tv till the dog tells me it’s bed time.
Get in bed but mumsnet for a while.

Work usually, planning and marking. On the odd night I don't have much work to do I do a few jobs and then watch TV