Share with Intel how you juggle modern family life - £300 Argos voucher to be won!

[EllieMumsnet]

A big part of being a parent is being flexible and spinning several plates at the same time... there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do every task individually! Have you always been someone who can juggle multiple things at once or has parenting taught you the art of being flexible, Intel® would love to hear your best multi-tasking moments, as well as any tips and tricks for managing modern family life.

Here’s what Intel® have to say: “A thin and light Modern PC with an Intel® processor has great features that make it more flexible to use, so you can be more creative, productive and entertained. Cortana lets you use your voice instead of the keyboard and Windows Hello* lets you log in with your face not a password – perfect for when you already have your hands full with the children.”

Did you manage to book a holiday while you fed and bathed your children? Perhaps you helped one child with homework while breastfeeding your baby, being on Skype to your mum and eating your dinner all at the same time?

Whatever your tips or your best multi-tasking moment, share it on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher from Argos.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

* Cortana available in select markets; experience may vary by region and device.
** Requires specialized hardware, including fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor or other biometric sensors and capable devices.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Structure, routine and preparation are essential, do as much as possible while the children are asleep and get them to take responsibility for their own stuff from early on.

I try and do some work (I work from home for part of the week) while looking after my 18 month old! I think that might be the epitome of multi tasking! Fortunately I have a wonderful boss who is very understanding and when a load of emails ping through at 10 at night he knows I'm on it!

We both work and have 4 DC, so day-to-day life is a real juggling act!
The evenings are the busiest time, so multi-tasking is essential. Any given day I can be in the kitchen simultaneously doing washing, cooking dinner, supervising homework and ironing uniforms whilst on the phone!
Other things which help are:

• Lists and spreadsheets for everything! From the house budget to holiday packing.
• A family calendar synchronised to both my DH and my phone.
• Block booking all dentist & optician appointments in the holidays.
• A strict routine mid-week and all uniforms/kit prepared the night before and placed at the front door.
• Group tasks, so if a DC regularly goes to an activity which is near the supermarket, plan to do your shopping then. Saves fuel too!

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Not much multitasking goes on here, but we have a rigid routine for school mornings and afternoons.

I am a whizz at mulit tasking and when I put my mind to something its done. I made 24 scones, 6 servings of curry for the freezer, swept the floor, ironed and cleaned the bathrooms today in 1 hour just because i needed to. Some folks have the ability, others don't.

Not always a question of ability. Standards. To do all of that in 1 hour - it’s just not going to be done to a high enough standard for some to be satisfied with

i make lists- use m calendar app on my phone alot

do online shopping whislt putting the baby to bed

cook and clean kitchen at same time

I have been doing my masters (biology) while looking after our daughter (now 18 months old and a handful!) and working p/t too so it has been a very hectic year! I have breastfed while on the sofa with my laptop on a table and often had to type one handed/left handed using the mouse and an on-screen keyboard, this is where a wireless mouse is worth it's weight in gold! As she's grown she's learnt what the laptop can do, we have her own youtube playlist with loads of favourites on (ugly duckling by Danny Kaye!) there are also some baby/toddler games which lock the keyboard so nothing can be deleted/settings changed which is great. I mostly communicate with work colleagues and university professors by text, email, an online forum and google docs. We have a cheap wireless webcam which we access video through smartphone and laptop, plus with this app you can not only listen but talk through the mike. It was a bit of a pain to set up to be honest so it'd be great to be able to buy a simple device that easily links to computer and phone.

Oh and I put a lot of to-do's on the laptop calendar but find it takes ages to load on laptop and I also use a notepad app on mobile too.

Menu plan.
Everything on my phone calendar, often with alarms just in case.
School things sorted the night before.

Multitasking is a real challenge next to my 2 years old toddler. She is interested in everything what I do and copy me, so I try to wash and cook and clean my home in the same time and using internet and do creative projects on my laptop when I she is sleeping or have a nap.
I do not think that the issue is the time to be honest. My problem, that I am not as organised how I was before, but I will get there.
I do some online shopping sometimes, but I got back to normal store shopping, because there there are reduced items, what you can not get online and also I can use some coupons, what makes me save a bit.

I combine jobs- so cleaning the kitchen while I cook, cleaning the bathroom while bathing the kids, making beds as soon as people are out of them, pick things up as I'm passing, never go up/downstairs empty handed. I run a tight ship but this enables us to relax more as things get done in less time.

We are tech heads and incorporate it into our family lives as much as possible.

Shopping lists are now collaborative as we can add to our Google list using our voices.

I really like the remote speech feature on Google home and sometimes I text silly messages to the family and send it to the Google home speaker.

Having our diaries and schedules hosted in the cloud and accessible remotely is a really useful tool for us.

I've learnt to multi-task like crazy over the years. It's rare that I'm not doing at least 2 things at once....

I regularly help with homework whilst cooking tea,
Or talk on the phone with my stirring hand free,
I'll fire up the laptop with my tea on my knee,
Or walk the dog whilst on hands-free,
I'll hang out the washing whilst moving a bike,
I'll drive in rush hour reciting times tables,
Or spellings (heaven help us) or sometimes old fables,
I'll monitor gaming whilst ironing Dad's shirts,
I'll flip pancakes whilst dancing and singing big smirks,
Multi-tasking and motherhood are partners in crime,
Possibly as parenting uses up all their time!!

I can be cooking and doing my food shop online
I could be watching the kids while browsing the net for something the kids need (shoes, clothes etc)
This defo helps modern family life for us

I set up an online shop at the weekends which I add to through the week, batch cook as much as I can when I can and have lots of lists everywhere!

Badly! I feel like I'm never I the right place at the right time - always only just on time for either work or school. I do everything I can on line, which helps but am still permanently exhausted...

I have twins so I’ve become an expert in multi tasking. As babies I used to put them in their bouncers, strap on my breast pump and pumping bra, bounce them with my feet and hold their bottles for them at the same time.

Lists
Clothes laid out the night before
Minimal clutter makes the house run smoother
Meal plans
Cleaning / tidying while kids play etc

I've managed to wash dishes, sweep floor and cook a curry meal all at the same time whilst dancing and singing for my demanding 1 year old while she ate banana in her high chair.

Its quite a regular occurence tbh.. and something I definitely couldn't have done before she came along!

I can cook a decent meal one handed while breastfeeding...

I don't multitask as much these days as the children are older, and so is my poor brain!

On a monday we have a mad dash, as after school I have to do dinner straight away as the children have swimming. So at times, ive had my daughter in the kitchen whilst im making dinner, she will be reading to me. If she came across any words she didn't know, I would get her to spell them out to me, and then tell her what the word was.
I have breastfed whilst doing many things- listening to reading, helping with homework, emailing, etc.

Always keep a list. In fact, lots of lists.
Help with homework whilst cooking dinner.
Watch a sports match whilst dealing with emails/texts.

It’s something I’ve become better at as a mum - out of necessity! So after work we will have dinner as a family and then I will make my lunch for the next day whilst simultaneously loading the dishwasher, putting on a laundry wash, tidying the kitchen and supervising DD1 with her homework, whilst DH helps DD2 with her reading. Weekends are for quality time though!

When I was b.feeding dd2 I used to put her in the sling and feed her whilst making dinner. I can empty the dishwasher whilst on phone, phone calls are great for getting stuff done. Killing two birds and all that.

I always used to breastfeed while eating my dinner and playing minecraft with my then 5 year old on playstation haha. Such a mum life!