How do you fit it all in...?

[Justkeeepsmiling]

How do you full time workers who live alone fit it all in? How do you manage house work, gardening, food shop, laundry, clean the car, walk the dog, cook dinner, and see friends and family? I work 5 days a week, out the house from 7am - 5.30pm. In my 2 days off, one of them is usually spent cleaning, tidying, maybe gardening (well, I say gardening, it's just mowing the lawns really). The other day is doing a food shop, laundry, ironing for the week. And that's if I don't need to go to town for anything, like clothes for the kids, school uniforms etc. It's never ending. In the evening after work, I'm cooking dinner, then cleaning up after dinner, walking the dog. Its now 3.50pm and I really need to clean my car out but I just can not be bothered! How do you all do it? Any tips will be gratefully received - Or failing that...a maid, cook and a gardener if anyone has one spare?

@Macncheeseballs

Why do busy people get dogs and then complain about having too much to do

Oh, And also, he is older than my DS

Can you afford a dog walker?

Oh, and dogs don't need to be out multiple times a day. I have a high energy breed and he is walked once a day for an hour. Take the pressure off - if he has company at home, and a garden to play and toilet in, he'll be fine on one walk a day.

It is a slog OP. I work 45-50 hours a week as a single parent and it is relentless.

My tricks are - I have a cleaner for 2 hours a week (and not much clutter so not much to tidy away). I take my car to be cleaned inside and out every three months (tbh it stays fairly clean inside anyway).

I don't touch the house apart from the kitchen in between cleaner visits, but I couldn't have done that before my old dog passed away, it needed cleaning much more when she was here.

My garden is designed to be low maintenance so not much work.

Can you afford a cleaner - even twice a month would take a bit of pressure off.

Just realised you're spending 1 of your days doing laundry, food shop and ironing...

Stick a wash on overnight and hang out in morning, then put away that eve. I'm planning to try a wash rota to keep on top of it a bit more.

Ironing - don't do it if you can help it, hang clothes that need an iron on hangers to reduce creases, do it in front of telly one eve if you must.

Food shop - meal plan and do online, once you know what you're doing it's MUCH quicker and easier. Save your meal plans so you can cobble a week's worth of meals together from previous meals.

Cut corners where you can and lower your standards - leave the mowing a bit longer, don't feel guilty about having ready made meals more often than you'd ideally like, go on Borrow My Doggy, wear the same clothes if they don't smell to cut down on washing, make sure your DC have routines to make your life easier like putting washing in basket etc.

I have a cleaner (£30 a fortnight and I save the money from cutting down elsewhere), my car is a mess, I do gusto three times a week and have a veg box delivered with other essentials. I batch cook when the kids are at their dads and I work full time in 4 days so I have a day for gardening and doing the washing. I mow the lawn, do about 75 loads of washing and put some tunes on and blast the house in-between the cleaner coming once every two weeks. It's busy but I've decided not to be a hero and have happily outsourced the pets (I have chickens which I pay a local teen to help out with), gusto, cleaning and never say no to an offer of help basically (if I know they mean it).

I order birthday cards on Moonpig and they remind me when one is coming up.

My kids are 1 and 3 so I don't have all the school stuff to sort out, plus I have a childminder in the holidays. So realise that's an additional support not available to many.

Supermarket deliveries
Wash, hang, put away
Dishwasher daily
Batch cooking and easy meals
I guess you just have to grit your teeth and find an hour every evening.

We have a gardener. I’m considering getting a cleaner bit struggling to get over the mental obstacle of someone touching “my things”.

I batch cook on my days off and divide it into freezable portions for during the week. I clean as I go (just a basic clean) and do a more thorough clean of the bathrooms twice a week after work. I vacuum every evening but not the guest rooms unless they are going to be used. Could not cope without my dishwasher.

Maybe online shopping is the way to go for food, i did used to do this but found the dates were short, and the subs were rubbish.

Sainsbury's rarely subs anything with me, and you can refuse any unwanted subs.

For laundry, we got a washer-dryer. Pop it in before work, come home to clean and dry laundry. Then when you get home, you can put another load on if necessary.

I've never owned an iron!

I hoover daily as soon as I'm home from work. Shopping is online and cleaning is a adhoc. I do what is needed when its needed.

I dont iron either, most stuff doesnt need ironing.

I work full time, my husband works 40+ hour shifts, I have 3 kids and also run a sports club 3 times a week and my house looks decent (granted, I havent looked in the kids bathroom for a few days)

Meal planning aids the online shop as well so doesnt take up too much time.

I online shop only/ food and clothes

I have stopped ironing altogether, hang it up on a coat hanger when damp.
I do a bit of housework everyday so I don't have to spend a whole day doing it
A couple of days a week do really easy dinners.

Get the kids to help with house work/ tidying even if its sorting their own rooms and giving it a bit of a hoover.

make sure you pencil in time for yourself. Saturday afternoon I'm going to do what I want to do

@Justkeeepsmiling

How do you full time workers who live alone fit it all in? How do you manage house work, gardening, food shop, laundry, clean the car, walk the dog, cook dinner, and see friends and family? I work 5 days a week, out the house from 7am - 5.30pm. In my 2 days off, one of them is usually spent cleaning, tidying, maybe gardening (well, I say gardening, it's just mowing the lawns really). The other day is doing a food shop, laundry, ironing for the week. And that's if I don't need to go to town for anything, like clothes for the kids, school uniforms etc. It's never ending. In the evening after work, I'm cooking dinner, then cleaning up after dinner, walking the dog. Its now 3.50pm and I really need to clean my car out but I just can not be bothered! How do you all do it? Any tips will be gratefully received - Or failing that...a maid, cook and a gardener if anyone has one spare?

I know how you feel. I'm a single parent, work ft, two teenagers and the house is always a mess. the garden is a jungle. I've no dog thankfully.

It's tough. But I manage by - meal plan (every meal), weekly online shop, clothes shop once a month also online. A recently bought clothes steamer sorts the ironing more efficiently, I do a timed clothes wash every day and sort dry laundry whilst DC have bath. I have a cleaner. I basically work from morning to night to keep on top of it all! And have lots of lists.....

I don’t have kids, a garden or a dog so less to do than you but still struggle to fit everything in. I am disorganised, I struggle with time management and to forward plan or work out what needs doing and seem to be ok at starting tasks (although usually not without a good dose of procrastination) but rubbish at finishing them. I admit I rarely cook a proper meal and half the time my fridge is mostly empty as i forget to shop so end up just snacking and eating easy foods like toast or cereal. I am ok at laundry because I am in a routine of putting the washing machine on a Saturday morning when I get up but never get around to putting anything away. I honestly have no idea how people with kids manage, I am just one person and I feel overwhelmed by the clutter and mess and things like dishes piling up. I think the only solution for me would be to get a cleaner.

I remember the hamster wheel feeling and I had a live in DH although he worked long hours and spent lots of time away on work trips. I was out of the house 8-6 every day Monday to Friday
Every evening was tea/activity/bath/bed with me clearing up behind them and trying to get ahead of whatever gem the school had devised to torment parents that week. Nothing like a last minute panic for where green day etc. There was no way I could have added a dog to the mix unless it was self walking and self feeding.

Weekends were swimming, seeing family, housework, washing, ironing and getting in the food

First to go was ironing, I outsourced that as we couldn’t stop as we had to look presentable for work. Then I added a cleaner as I could see that the cost was not that high and it gave me back half a day each Weekend, then I taught the D.C. how to help and ultimately do there own washing and suddenly we had a least 1 free day for fun per week.

I was still a struggle and is so much easier now that they have left home and I work from home.

Don't iron! Make slow cooker meals at the weekend and freeze them. Make plain pasta and put it in fridge lasts about 2 days grab jar of pasta sauce for really quick meal. If you have a car I use click and collect and if bad dates they will change it. Try not to get too worked up about it. Enjoy your time with your son!

Robot vacuum
Air fryer
Clothes steamer instead of an iron
Cleaner
Car valet
Own less stuff
Meal planner / online food shop
Quick cleaning sessions

I paid half my salary to the wonderful woman who cleaned the house, walked the dog to collect the kids from school, made and gave them their tea, supervised homework etc until we got home. Worth every penny for total peace of mind and a comfortable domestic life. DH and I shared everything else. Since the kids are grown we do our own housework , still shared. Except for windowcleaning which we now pay for.

Since covid we've done all the supermarket food shopping online and have it delivered once a week at a convenient time. It's so easy effortless , brilliant system and we've every intention of doing it for the rest of our lives. I'd recommend Tesco deliveries to any working parents.

All our married life has been run from the household  spiral diary, one page per week;  keeps track of  all plans, meetings appointments etc, lives in the kitchen next to the phone and  shopping list.

You should just cut back a bit with things that you think need doing all the time, and don't fuss about them. Not a lot of people seem to do ironing these days for one thing,, If you have a habit of putting a tv on all day, or tinkering with phones endlessly, that is a lot of wasted time.Nothing is an endless slog, unless you make it so. Deligate some small jobs to children if you have some.

You could save yourself a considerable amount of time shopping online and doing cleaning bits in an evening. When my work is busy and I work 6 days a week, I pick a bit of cleaning and do it in an evening. So my territory is the bathrooms and mopping the kitchen floor. So yesterday I was in and out a lot, doing errands or visiting a friend. I got the floor mopped and part of the bathroom, then finished today. Dp will vac and dust mid week on one of his days off. We had a cleaner but can't currently justify the cost. She did two hours a fortnight which was sufficient to keep on top of things, so that is what we do, but an hour each. We certainly don't spend a whole day cleaning, and we have a big house. No one is in it half the time.
Meals are planned, shopping is delivered mid week. Batch cooking is done to put in the freezer for quick meals and there's always a pizza in the freezer for rushed nights. When I was a single parent and out 7:30-6:30, I always cooked extra portions.
Washing gets thrown in throughout the week, with two important loads done on a weekend, uniform/PE kit and shirts.
We don't have a dog, no time for one.
Ironing is the minimum possible. I spend an hour on a Sunday doing school uniform and my work clothes.

Oh and DS helps, he always has, even as a toddler and he had to tidy his toys away before bed.

Best thing I did washer rid of the ironing basket. It comes straight off the line and gets put away (or if I can't do it right then spread out on my bed so it doesn't crease and I'm forced to deal with it!).
I have very little that actually requires ironing you treat it well - give it a shake before hanging out and don't crease it up folding. I'd it does need ironing, I still hang it and do it when required. It is so much better than a basket of doom that crumples everything to an un useable state!
Otherwise, I thoroughly recommend a cordless hoover as you get it out just for crumbs but find you whizz round half the house.
A slow cooker also brilliant especially in winter and though I am not a gadget person, must admit the soup maker is wonderful. From random ingredients chucked in to lovely soup in 20 minutes and you can have it cleaned and put away while it cools to a temperature you can eat it. Brilliant thing and great way to get hidden veg in them while also being easy and time saving. I take it to work rather than sandwiches as I hate making them!

Definitely food shop on line. Either delivery or click and collect

Split your cleaning up and do certain rooms on certain days.

Iron in the evening whilst watching tv

Try the organised mum method TOMM look it up on Facebook. Its not as awful as it sounds.
Also, yes to online shop, and I don't iron.
Also depending on kids ages it gets easier as they spend less time with you at the weekends so I now actually find myself with time to spare on weekends.