How do you manage everything?

[Gingerbreadcookiesandcream]

How do you manage working as well as keeping on top of the house, cooking, kids homework, working out etc etc? My OH often works long hours or has to travel with work and I find on my work days (I'm part time) I'm just so tired once I'm home. I don't have family nearby or a big freezer to batch cook unfortunately but I feel like I could improve my routine. I feel like I constantly clean or tidy when not at work 🙃
I would be so grateful for any tips or ideas that others find useful to manage it all. Thanks in advance!

Sorry, nothing but empathy from me. My DH always worked very long irregular hours or away completely. And looking back, yeah, it was just quite shit really. It all fell to me. Doable (just) when they were tiny and I wasn't working for 3 years. But when I went back to work it just wore me out.

I honestly do not understand how in families where both parents work FT very long hours that they manage to have any down time whatsoever.

I've got to the age of 50 and I'm starting to flag. I have nothing left at the end of the day.

You'll find asking on mn most of them have cleaners

I think there are some answers: do a loading of washing a day. Meal plan for the week and do one shop accordingly rather than dash in each night to grab something. Have your work outfits sorted the night before so no rushed hunting in the tumble dryer or ironing etc in the morning.

Use an app like TOMM or Flylady or something if you need prompting what household task needs doing each day. It does help. Ifyou stick to it. But it doesn't work if you are too knackered to do something off it and say "ah fuck it, I just want to sit down with a cuppa for half an hour."

I'm honestly just too tired to do the things that need doing these days. So I just don't do them and often have a snooze after work instead (my kids are teens).😄

TOMM and Hello Fresh/Gousto are my saviours

There's another thread inactive at the moment with lots of responses that might be helpful Struggling with the transition from nursery to school as a single parent.. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/4890950-struggling-with-the-transition-from-nursery-to-school-as-a-single-parent

Lower your standards.

It doesn't matter if the washing piles up.

Get the DC to do chores

I probably do a massive full clean once a week. Takes me a few hours and I rope the DC's in to help. DP helps when he's back from sea.

But I've learnt to walk past the washing pile after work :)

I do try and do one load a day but it doesn't always work that way.

I do not have a cleaner

I work full time with a toddler and my partner travels a lot with work. I don't have a cleaner (partly because I don't have time to find one 🙈).

My house is a bit grubby tbh. I manage to keep on top of laundry by working from home a couple of days a week. We only have a small freezer, but we try to batch cook one meal each weekend so that over time we build up a small selection of freezer meals to have midweek. We usually eat the same things every week.

I'll be honest, being able to work from home in a fairly easy job with some degree of flexibility helps enormously. I have times when I feel like I'm drowning juggling work and housework and nursery drop offs/picks ups and sick days (there have been a lot of them recently!) but I know it would be a million times harder if I was out the house 5 days a week with a long commute.