How to “do it all”

[Georgie870]

Hi everyone,
please can you share your day to day routines and how to “get it all done”.
single parent to a 10 and 8 year old. Working FT and ex has the kids every other weekend.
Is it possible? How to fit in meal prep, exercise, playing etc. Please break it down for me!
We leave for breakfast club every day at 7:50am and typically home 5-5:30pm. I need tips please, and times….I get it, batch cook, meal prep etc, but when!? Is it too much to ask? Maybe it’s impossible x

@Georgie870 I don't work full time so I can't tell you how to do it I am afraid. I WFH part time and struggle enough (no ex to help).

Could you go for a brisk walk in your lunch break to get exercise? Walk home or to work rather than get the bus if that's possible?

Get kids to help you tidy up the entire house two evenings a week where you all pitch in, with a treat after it's done (pizza or something)?

Meal prep at weekends as far as you can (chop veggies, cut carrot sticks and put them in water in the fridge - they last days this way), portion out dinner ready to reheat in microwave or oven on different days. I usually do some meal prep on a Sunday.

One load of washing in the morning or evening each day

Get a smart watch as counting steps really helps me stay on top of exercise a bit more. 2 minutes only of weights or squats or something each day. Keep goals small - it's better to do 2 mins than nothing.

Life admin - spend 10 minutes a day during your break at work dealing with emails etc.

School uniforms and packed lunches - I tend to prepare these in batches - two to three days in advance for packed lunches, uniforms get ready on sunday on hangers with everything you need on each hanger for one day of the week.

Shopping - weekly online delivery with everything you need.

Decluttering - I always keep this in my schedule, as staying on top of everything is so much harder in a cluttered house. I try to clean one small area (a shelf) and declutter it every other day, so you are constantly removing things from the house. Takes 5 mins.

Realistically it's not always going to be possible to do everything though, especially as a single parent. Best of luck!

Oh and get every labour saving device you can e.g. tumble dryer, cordless vacuum etc etc. I have recently got an air fryer / pressure cooker combined (Instant pot duo crisp) and it really is great for helping cook quickly (has a timer function and can cook in a jiffy). I am considering a robot vacuum too.

@barkingmel thank you so much for these tips. Hadn’t thought of the veggies in water, I will defo try more meal prep.
you’re right too, 2mins of something is better than nothing. I tend to try and fit in a full work out for example then don’t bother if I can’t find an hour but 10mins here and there make a difference. Thank you xx
Oh and air fryer! I am finding mine so helpful. I put it off for ages as thought it would be a waste of money and I’ve used it everyday since I got in on Black Friday sale x

You can't do it all. You just can't. Not without running yourself into the ground.

I say that as a single parent who works full time with a 5,7&9yr old!

My mottos are

• everyone fed and nobody dead

And

• progress is better than perfection

This means that when my plan for the evening is "cook a healthy dinner" but I'm knackered and we end up having hot dogs instead, that's still fine. Or when I plan on cleaning the whole kitchen but only manage to load the dishwasher, that's fine too.

Prioritise the important stuff, go easy on yourself for the non important stuff.

But I'm going to follow this thread anyway incase there are other tips that might make my life any easier 😂

Thank you @CapturedLeprechaun you’re so right!!!

My secret weapon has always been to get up at 5am to do an hour of emails/ admin/ online shopping / diary plan etc. 6 am I do 45 mins of exercise, either you tube- or run then Joe wicks. Before my DD was old enough to be left for 25 mins I did you tube workouts.

My DD gets up at 6.45am.

Posted too soon-

I am an early bird so this works well- I go to bed early. In reverse its the equivalent of doing it late at night when DC are asleep

And honestly, down time is just as important for your mental health as tidying and decluttering (although I totally agree with the previous poster about trying to de clutter one drawer/a small area every few days!).

Some days a week I might spend 8pm-12pm on the sofa watching greys anatomy and doing ZERO housework because quite frankly I'm knackered most the time and I need it, and if I run myself into the ground then I'm no good to anyone.

And I'm not going to beat myself up about all the things I'm NOT doing - I think the biggest skill you can learn as a single parent is to be your own biggest cheerleader. Genuinely, I think if I drop them to school on time and all three have hair brushed and teeth brushed, and I do a full day at work, then feed them dinner and listen to all their chatter then quite frankly I'm amazing 😂 Having a happy calm house is my #1 priority, and this means sometimes my standards are low, and some days they eat ice lollies at 11am or have crisp sandwiches for dinner. But they're happy, and warm, and fed, and they know how loved they are. All the other parts of life is just the decoration, I'm not fussed if it's not done.

@CapturedLeprechaun you are exactly right on this. I think everyone needs at least one day a week to do as little as possible, have nothing planned, veg out on the sofa if you so want. More if you can find the time. I find on the weeks I don't have a day off it tends to make me ill and stressed so taking a time off so important.

When I was FT I did school dinners rather than packed lunches.
Quick meals as well as batch cook: gnocchi, stir fry and noodles, pasta etc.
Cosmic yoga or you tube workouts with the kids
Life admin on the kid free weekend
Lower standards

You're amazing. Single mums rock.

Weekends cook with your kids make anything but make it fun
play and meal combo two birds one stone
so glad I cooked with my DD she’s left home now but knows how to feed herself cheaply and enjoys cooking
although I suspect the cleaning of kitchen afterwards was not on my radar
good luck 😉

I put a wash on timer every night to end around 4pm the following day. Once we are all home it's out and on the clothes airer. By that time the previous wash is dry and I make a point of putting it all straight away. Packed lunches are done whilst doing the cooking - in the kitchen anyway so might as well multi tasks. They go in the fridge for the next morning. School clothes are laid out before bed over each child's chair at the dining table, breakfast, washed and dressed - no running round trying to find things that morning! I don't food prep as i have two fussy SEN children.. generally i cook two different meals for them both each day. I eat with them and tend to have what they have / leave 🫣 I wake at 5am daily, life admin, online food shop ect.. life is busy as a lone parent, dint sweat the small stuff and always make time for yourself..!