I know I have been absent from this blog lately. I think most of my friends understand that I am super busy with work and H, and that blogging has been totally put on the back burner. I am trying to focus more on my health, well being, family, and work-life balance.
No, nothing is wrong with my health, but I need to make sure I continue to stay healthy so that I can take care of my family and be the best Mom possible. I wish I had more time to exercise, but I just don't. So I have been trying to be more relaxed, and take a little more time for myself to reduce my stress level.
I've been thinking about things I can do to reduce my work load, and free up more time. My career tends to be fairly demanding, and its hard to cut things out in that area. So basically I sacrifice working out and me time to compensate.
I was thinking about all the things I do now that I am a mom to try to be more efficient. If I show you mine, will you show my yours? Any suggestions on things I can do/not do to make my life run more smoothly? The Husband told me that I needed to slow down and do less, and I laughed at him. What exactly does he suggest I cut out??
- Wake up earlier - 5:15 to get myself ready and beat traffic
- Switched to wearing mostly dresses to work so I have less to pick out. Totally nixed accessories. No time.
- Make a week worth of lunches for myself on Sunday so something is always packed
- Use commute time to accomplish phone calls, make appointments and catch up with friends
- Cut out working out at lunch, so I can get more done and actually leave on time
- Switched my working hours to 7:15 to 4:30 to beat traffic and have more time at night with H
- Dye my own hair (less time at the salon)
- Order more things online (less time shopping)
- Use the crock pot more
- Make a few freezer back up meals to have handy in case I don't get time to make dinner
- Prepare larger meals on Sunday so there are more left overs
- Have the maid come more often
- Delegate and utilize Husband more -My Mom is great at helping me with projects, and The Husband is also very helpful, but I just have to ask for help and remember he isn't psychic
2 comments:
I hear you. It's a lot to balance. My hours are 7a-4p. I get home between 4:30 and 4:45 during the week. Just putting that out there for context...
One thing I do to save time is make a bunch of chicken in the crockpot, then shred and bag/freeze to use in later meals. This helps a lot. I should also do the same for browned ground beef but haven't gotten in the same habit.
This is the "recipe" I use for the chicken. It's from my blog, which has a lot of quick and easy meals - http://sureisgood.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/easiest-chicken-ever/
Here's a good version for doing the same thing for chicken tacos/other Tex-Mex type meals (the crockpot version is at the bottom of this post) - http://sureisgood.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/chicken-taco-night/
Anything I can prep in advance, I do. My biggest time saver though is that I do not cook every night. I use a cook-leftovers-cook-leftovers rotation for the most part. This helps save time but also helps ensure we are using what we buy. For example, tonight we are having black bean quesadillas (the only cooking is sauteeing the onion/bell pepper, then heating the quesadillas...no meat to cook). We are doing those two nights in a row so we will use all of the tortillas, cheese and salsa we bought, as well as most of the sour cream.
I also throw in things like eggs & toast, or BLTs or grilled cheese and tomato soup - quick and easy meals but we are still eating at home. Last night we had homemade sloppy joes. Total time in the kitchen was 15 minutes, then the filling simmered on the stove while we played.
As for cleaning, I always make sure to take 5-10 minutes after dinner to get all the dishes cleared, the counters wiped and the dishwasher started. My husband will usually take our 2 year old daughter upstairs to start her bath or play while I do this. Gives them a little time just the two of them and I can quickly get the kitchen clean. I also really strive to use our daughter's naptimes on Saturdays and Sundays to get cleaning done. I still pick up during the week, fold laundry, vacuum at some point mid-week, etc. but the bulk of the cleaning is taken care of on the weekend during her nap.
And the most important thing to note here is I do what I can but it's not perfect. We have a clean house but it's not always perfectly tidy and it's never immaculate. That's something I have come to be able to live with in exchange for more playtime/relaxed time with our little one and my husband.
Take care and best of luck to you.
Also - could you maybe pair up your accessories for each outfit when you pick out your outfits for the week? Maybe stick them in Ziplocs, poke a hole in the bag & slip the bag over the top of the hanger? That way you don't have to choose accessories every day but you still get to wear them. Just an idea!
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