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.

During dinner or bed time i do somethimes weekly shopping online.

I do all my grocery shopping online with Ocado, I get a delivery Saturday morning while kids are still lounging about in their PJs and as soon as I put it away I make my delivery for next Saturday. I add stuff as needed through the week and tweak it to take advantage of new offers.
I listen to my youngest read while I wash up.
I book holidays/tickets/buy uniform etc whilst listening to the youngest reading or listen to my daughter play her instruments.
I fill in surveys for a bit of extra cash whilst watching junk on the TV after the kids have gone to bed, that's my best multi tasking ha!

Me and my husband share the household chores and have set chores so we know who and when things are done etc! I do about 2/3 of everything because I'm home more. He works long hours!

I just completed a job application while cooking dinner, and helping the children do their homework (argh we forgot and left it to the last minute! A poster on Volcanos, and a diary entry!)

Used to do loads now less. On iPad, Check research things. Go to shop, clean tidy, put out rubbish, recycling. Cancel event as too tired.

I catch up on the week's TV while ironing. Everyone else has to find their own thing to do as I'm I'm charge of the lounge for a couple of hours when I do this. It means I get peace and quiet to catch up on my favourite shows whilst doing an otherwise very boring job.
Then the rest of the family collect their piles of ironing and put it away- I'm happy to rope them in for that last bit!
and I never, ever iron teatowels and knickers just to stretch out my tv time. Honest!

I really struggle with multi tasking with a 4 year old and 3 month old so I do a lot of household tasks like online shopping, admin etc when they are in bed. I end up making mistakes if I am trying to do something important with a baby screaming and a 4 year old moaning for a drink.

It is just easier to do it all in the evening and takes the pressure of having to complete tasks while dealing with two young children. I do also try and go little tasks as I go. So while the 4 year old is having a bath, i’ll wipe the sink down. While the baby naps, i’ll run around doing dusting and putting a wash on etc.

MissingDietCoke

Please can you tell me the name of your wonder app? I would love something like that to coordinate all the diaries across all the devices. At the moment I rely on my Outlook diary on my phone, which is synced to the school diary (bit of a double edged sword - great to know when inset days are; I don't really need to know when it's Mexican theme day for school dinners!) and also to Facebook which is great for reminding me of birthdays and events that I am interested in but it would be perfect if it also synced with mine and DP's work diaries (different platforms) and if I could also share some of it with exP to keep track of DS's activities and movements.

Oh and I have a separate app for reminders as I can never work out how to get Outlook to do it reliably!

I travel a lot for work, and Amazon Prime and Ocado apps on my phone are key to keeping things going. DH also sorts the weekly shop when on the train, does the school meals order online, and generally we make the most of any bit of time thats spare outside the house so we have more time free at home.
We also take photos of invitations, trip info letters and so on and attach them to the calendar entry so everything is in one place

As a single parent, I am solely responsible for everything.
I make notes, schedules, basically everything on my computer of what to remember including shopping lists. Print them out. Stick on fridge and computer desktop. Spreadsheets are also my friend!

I set notifications of everything on my connected calendar, between my computer & phone.

Meal plans also enable me to stay organised. YouTube is a fantastic source of guidance & inspiration for meal planning, prepping & recipes.

Meal prepping is a life saver. Every weekend, in accordance with the meal plan, I either prep the ingredients for meals or Pre make them and then freeze. Enabling a 'straight to oven/slow cooker/Halogen' approach on a busy evening!

Slow cookers are wonderful! Just throw ingredients in on a morning, put on low and et violà!
The Halogen Oven is also a family favourite! A very underrated gem. Around £30-£40 and not only do they use roughly 75% less electricity, but they also cook things so so much quicker, saving huge amounts of time! Also they take up less worktop space than a microwave. Highly recommended.

Supermarket website login has my usual monthly shop saved, with only minor adjustments each shop. Saving time and likely money too!

Also, and very importantly, routine is the key. To remaining calm & organised.

Lots of shared lists beteeen me and DP on phone with lots of reminders!

Lists, lists, lists! And an up to date calendar and diary! I also make the most of my time sat in the car waiting for after school clubs/activities to finish - life admin, emails, paperwork etc..

We are an extremely busy household so everything is done by organising our lives as much as possible but the most important task is feeding us all. I multitask by cooking most of our weekly evening meals on a Sunday evening. It means have numerous saucepans on the go at one time and not mixing up our planned meals! It means during the week I simply take the prepared meals the night before, ready to warm up when we eventually all get home.

I’m using my phone pretty much all the time. I’m paying my rent while my 3 year old is asking me to sing for her or get her L.O.L. Surprise doll dressed every 2 minutes, because she likes to get them naked
Or talking to my DH when he’s in the shop and I’m stirring two meals at the same time. I can answer my phone with my nose, wrist, elbow and even toes if needed. I also play Pokemon Go every time I’m walking somewhere.
Not sure whether that’s the answer to your question though.

I'm by no means an expert at any sort of multitasking, but I did manage pretty much any household task while breastfeeding or I'd have got nothing done during what felt like endless cluster feeding!

I rely on the calendar on my phone to remind me of everything lol. Other than that I do all of my holiday research, online shopping etc in the evening whilst "watching" TV - I'm even learning Spanish whilst doing the housework at the moment in readiness for our next holiday!

I only discovered on line shopping after a bit of hellish Christmas shopping with a toddler in a pushchair,that was 13 years ago and I haven't looked back but it has changed so much.
The kitchen calender is the only way we keep things together with what everyone is doing,appointments ,school events,work,reminders like car MOT.I need to find time to work out how to do this on the computer and sync all our phones,maybe people would remember then instead of me having to remember everyones schedules.

I meal plan and make shopping lists on my pc. I keep all of my to do lists, packing lists and kids activity schedules in online calendars etc. I shop for all gifts on line. My pc helps me fit it all in!!!

Wouldn't know where to start with 4 under 7. I multi task all day!. Breastfeeding while putting the washing away/basic jobs. Meal plan so you can prep dinner during the day is helpful

I book an arrange appointments on the walk to and from school. Most places now send you a text with confirmation now so no need for pen and paper to write it down.

I still have to watch the children while there in the bath, I do my online shopping while sat on the bathroom floor or I clean the sink/toilet if I don’t need to do the shopping.

I make a checklist on my iPhone for things I need to complete that week. Tick them off when there done.

I do stuff like car insurance renewal, changing gas and electric suppliers while at work on my lunch break.

I batch cook which seems a chore at the time but saves so much time overall. I listen to audio books whilst walking home from work as I never have time to sit down and read. 9/10 I record my TV shows so I can fast forward through the ads. Bought a decent hoover and can now hoover in half the time it used to take me.

Actually used the toilet with my then clingy baby on my knee! Then sent a picture to my other half showing him the joys & glam of motherhood!!! 🙈

I remember when dd was born, I often helped my ds build his Lego whilst breastfeeding her.

I use my phone a lot. I use it to order most goods online.
I do a lot of click and collects on my phone also.

Just today I talked to my sister on the phone for about half an hour whilst cleaning my cooker.

I can't imagine not being super organised and multi tasking with a child or else it'd all fall apart...homework, washing, shopping, cleaning, dinner money, trip money, pack up, clubs, Birthdays, etc. It's sooohh tiring though having to be on top of everything, all of the time! I get up at 5am to do as much as I can before the school run, so I can at least concentrate on my daughter after work and school, and also during our weekends together as I work alternate weekends and also share weekend with her Dad. I keep everything written down on a diary/calendar and love a sticky note reminder on the fridge.

Wonderlist for shopping, adding all week then emailed to DH to shop on way home from work.

All correspondence dealt with on the doorstep : Post, bills, letters from school bags etc. Envelopes, stamps, pens, calendar, cheque book all in one place and everything answered, paid, added to calendar, filed immediately or back in book bag or on post pile. On the way out each day I check calendar and take outgoing post.