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Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category

Organize Your Week – Daily Tasks

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

Introduction

I am a big fan of the Flylady website because I think they give such great tips on keeping up with your home. I wish that I could say that I follow them all and have a house that is in fantastic condition all of the time, but unfortunately I have not been that diligent about it. I do take basic principles from the site and try to apply them in my home, but I have worked out a system of cleaning that works for me. Maybe my system will not work for you, or maybe you can take ideas from it and make it your own.

I divide my system by days of the week, but I do have those chores that come up daily that need to be accomplished. If I can get these simple chores done and not even accomplish the day of the week chores, I am pretty pleased with myself. These are the things that I must get done in order for me to feel a sense of accomplishment for the day. You can really tell that I have a toddler because my list seems to get shorter and shorter as my son becomes more active. Here is my to-do list each day:

Amy’s Daily Routine List

1. Make the Bed

As soon as I get out of it and not a second later. If I wait any length of time on this chore, I can guarantee that it will not get done.

2. Do the Dishes & Wipe Down the Kitchen

This includes loading and unloading the dishwasher for the day. I try to unload the clean dishes by the end of the day because this helps me stay ahead of the game for the next day. I also do the dishes as I go when I am cooking and preparing our meals. By doing this, I end up with less dishes at the end of our meals. I wipe down the counters, stove, and appliances before I got to bed. I always have a clean sink at the end of the night as well as a clean dishtowel and washcloth to work with for the next morning.

3. Wipe Down the Bathroom

Now my routine may seem a little ridiculous, but it works for me. I wipe down the bathroom when I am getting ready to take my shower. While I have the water warming up and I am getting ready to hit the tub, I work on wiping down the bathroom instead of wasting that time. Each minute to me is invaluable and this is the perfect time for me to get this done. I wipe down the bathroom with a bathroom cleaner, pour the toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet, and empty the trash while waiting for the water to fill up. After my bath/shower, I then scrub the toilet, clean the tub out (this I only do once a week), and then dispose of the trash as well as the dirty towels. To save time on this chore I keep bags underneath my trash bag in use, that way I always have another bag ready to go when I empty the trash. I also keep household cleaners in each of my bathrooms and in the kitchen. I find that if I have a shelf of cleaners in the room with me, I am more inclined to use them more frequently and I have less of a chance of putting it off. I know this makes me sound like the laziest person in the world, but if those cleaners are not in the same room, then you can forget about me cleaning it. I have a basket of cleaners in almost every room of our house so that I can get my chores done.

4. Do the Bills

I do the bills as they come in because I don’t like to have them pile up on me and to have to do them all at once. As soon as I get the bill I put it together and get it ready to go minus the stamp. In the stamp spot, I write the date for when the bill is due. I put all of my bills in order with the bill that is due first on top. I also separate these bills into two piles with a post-it note. The reason for this is that my husband gets paid every two weeks. Since we are always written down to the last dime I save those bills until he gets paid and send out the first batch with his first check of the month and the second batch with the second check of the month. I have found that this system saves me from a lot of late fees and has enabled me to be on top of these bills. Some people save even more time and money by paying their bills either online or having them automatically withdrawn from their accounts. Personally, timing is everything for me and because we have to be so careful with our money, I don’t want to chance it with automatic withdrawals considering there are times that there just isn’t money in our account to cover the bills.

5. Make Dinner

This is one that I do almost every day with the exception of a meal out once in awhile. I try to do all the prep work in the morning so that I can save my time later in the day. I lay out any meat that needs defrosting, cut up any vegetables that are going in my dishes, and lay out the dishes I will need to prepare the dinner. By doing all of the prep work ahead of time, I find it much easier to accomplish a nice meal within a timely fashion. I have found that the crock-pot is a busy mom’s best friend as well. If I use this, I put everything in it the night before and stick the crock in the fridge. I then take it out in the morning and have it ready to go in plenty of time for the dinner hour.

So now that you know my everyday routine we can begin discussing how to break the other tasks down into more manageable chunks. Once again, you can make your daily tasks fit your daily life. Maybe you have obligations in the evening or during the day that would not allow you to accomplish what I get done. In this case, you feel free to change my schedule around to fit your needs.

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Gettin’ Quick in the Kitchen

Wednesday, June 9th, 2004

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had food prepared before you got home from work or if you simply had a few steps completed in the dinner-making process? Well, this can easily be done with some planning on your part. Here are a few of my own ideas and how I have saved time in the kitchen.

Make two of whatever you are making for dinner. This really is one of the easiest ways to save time and requires very little effort on your part. If you are making lasagna for dinner, for example, you would just prepare two of them and freeze one of them for a night where you are in need of a quick meal. These frozen meals are great for when you are having dinner guests or someone you love is in need of a meal due to an illness, a birth, or a death. Just think of this as preparation that will make you a better mother, friend, and hostess.
When cooking meat products always cook extra. Whenever I am cooking meat I always cook an extra pound and either store it in my freezer or fridge. This meat can be used for a casserole (which saves me a step in preparation later), can be given to my one year old son cut up for his meals, or used for sandwich meat (in the case of chicken or turkey). This has saved me lots of time on numerous occasions and also allows me to toy with the idea of making more complicated dishes because I do not have to go to the trouble of cooking the meat.
When cooking meat products always cook extra. Whenever I am cooking meat I always cook an extra pound and either store it in my freezer or fridge. This meat can be used for a casserole (which saves me a step in preparation later), can be given to my one year old son cut up for his meals, or used for sandwich meat (in the case of chicken or turkey). This has saved me lots of time on numerous occasions and also allows me to toy with the idea of making more complicated dishes because I do not have to go to the trouble of cooking the meat.
Double all of your cookie recipes. You can either freeze half the cookie dough (wrap this in plastic wrap then wrap over it with foil clearly labeling it) or you can freeze the cookies already baked in a plastic container. These are wonderful for last minute functions where you are required to bring a dish or snack. Who needs prepared cookies or cookie dough when you have a stocked freezer of it prepared by you? Just think of all the money you will save on your groceries by doing this?
When cutting vegetables for a meal always prepare extra and place them in baggies to be used for healthy snacks for the children or for your casserole dishes. I would suggest that you not wash the vegetables beforehand; they will last much longer in your fridge. I always label the vegetables with the date of purchase as well so that you do not end up using out-of-date and less than fresh vegetables.
Use your crock-pot! This is the greatest tool ever known to busy mothers. You can save even more time by preparing everything in it the night before. Then in the morning, when you are usually the busiest, you only have to plug it in for a delicious home-cooked meal. Please see my Quick and Easy Recipes section for some great recipes using your slow-cooker.
Try your hand at once a month cooking. I personally do not use this method cooking only once a month because on many of the dishes I prepare, I enjoy eating them freshly prepared. There are many people who are very successful at doing this and have found that by cooking for one or two days that they can eat for an entire month. There are other options for doing this type of bulk cooking, but on a smaller scale such as once a week. By doing this in more manageable fragments, you can still save yourself a lot of time in the kitchen. Some books I would recommend for learning more about this are:
Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
By Deborah Taylor-Hough
Once a Month Cooking

Frozen Assets Lite and Easy: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
By Deborah Taylor-Hough
Always make plenty of leftovers and use them. Do not allow these to sit in your refrigerator untouched wasting both food and your precious time. Send them as lunches for your husband, reheat them for quick dinners, or use side dishes again pairing them with a new main course. You can also modify the leftovers. For example, if you have leftover mashed potatoes, you could add sour cream to them and top them with chives, roast garlic and add it to the potatoes, or make meatloaf but use the mashed potatoes for the center of the loaf. As you can see, with a little creativity you can make your side dishes something brand new with very little effort.
Be adventurous in the kitchen, but be realistic. Trying new recipes is great, but realize your limitations as a cook and as a mother with a limited amount of time. Many times I have attempted dishes in gourmet cooking magazines that have turned disastrous and have caused me a lot of tears. Try new things, just try them on weekends where you have more time and try to avoid trying them when you have guests coming over. Nothing is more embarrassing then serving a dish that is inedible or having no dish at all to share with your guests. Try to learn from my experiences- everyone has limitations and you know what yours are.
Cut your vegetables and fruits before you start on cutting meat, poultry, or fish. This will save you time because you will not need to wash the cutting board before cutting the meat.
Make sure your pantry is always stocked. Nothing kills the cooking moment like not having the ingredients on hand that you need. Much of this can be prevented if you do your menu-planning and grocery shopping well.
Wash your dishes as you prepare them will save you on clean-up time at the end. Make sure that your dishwasher is empty and ready for dirty dishes and fill as you go. By doing this, you can really relax at the end of your dinner.
Use an egg slicer for slicing mushrooms- it saves a lot of time.
Use an empty salt shaker for dusting powdered sugar on baked goods. It will dust more quickly without the clumps. You can also keep flour in a salt shaker to dust pans quickly- just store this right in the freezer.
Prepare “special” meals for the family on the weekends when your spouse can help you with the children. This is the perfect time to try those gourmet recipes you have been dying to try, but just haven’t had the time.
Enlist your helpers. I know that this can be messy, but let the kids participate in preparing the meal along with your spouse. By allowing the children to aid in the dinner-making process they will probably eat more of it and have a lot of pride in themselves because they helped you prepare it. This might not save on time, but it just might help get you that Mom of the Year Award you have been dying for.
Boil your pasta and steam your vegetables at the same time. If you buy a splatter guard for your skillet, you can simply rest this on top of your boiling pot of pasta and throw your vegetables on top. Tada! Perfectly steamed vegetables and pasta using one pot.

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