It's a rare day that I don't fall into bed thinking about how busy the day was. I sometimes ask, what am I doing wrong? But when I talk to friends, they all say the same thing: life is busy, it's impossible to get everything done!
I refuse to accept this. There must be ways to save time and still enjoy life without it running us all ragged. So I polled some friends and got some great ideas. Then I tried them out. Read on to find out which tips worked for me - and can work for you too!
How do you save time? Tell us for the chance to win a $50 gift card to either Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts (winner's choice!) and a cute kitchen timer. Plus, submit an easy recipe for a bonus prize. If we use your recipe in an upcoming blog post, we'll send you a $25 Amazon gift card to say thanks!
Most experts say that if you are doing two things at the same time, you are not doing either of them well. I beg to differ. On tasks when my brain runs on autopilot, I'm much more efficient when I multitask. For example...
Make a boring chore fun and you'll want to get to it, like ironing while binge-watching TV or cleaning the bathroom while listening to a podcast.
Exercise with a friend: you'll be getting healthier and finding out the latest gossip. Schedule in a weekly time on your calendar and you'll be more likely to stick with it.
Use waiting time, like your train-commute or your kid's gymnastics class, to cross a few things off your to-do list, That quiet time is perfect for finding dinner recipes, ordering groceries online, or doing vacation research. Alternatively, save that time to catch up on social media, and then resist checking your Facebook feed the rest of the day.
Plan for the unpacking while you are shopping: When unloading groceries from your cart to the conveyor belt at checkout, group them in order of where they go in the house, so they get bagged in that order (dairy together, fruit together etc). Then the groceries are easier to unpack when you get home.
Reminder: My kitchen timer gets a lot of use, but not just for cooking. It's the perfect way to remind me to get things done. For example, I put it on when I throw in a load of laundry so I don't forget to put the wet clothes in the dryer.
Deadline: Timers are also a good way to create an artificial deadline, like when I'm going through the pile of papers my kids brought home from school. I just put on the timer and try to get it all done in 5 minutes - it forces me to make decisions more quickly and keep me focused.
Note: Make sure the timer is in another room and doesn't stop beeping until you manually turn it off. Is it annoying? Definitely. But does it force me to stop what I am doing and change the laundry? Yes.
There are three ways to enter:
*One lucky commenter, Tweeter or Instagrammer will be chosen at random to receive a $50 gift card to the winner's choice of either Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, plus a Hitechway Cute Digital Count-Down Up Kitchen Timer. Giveaway is open through August 27th, 2017 to U.S. residents at least 18 years of age. Entrants must be a member of SheSpeaks. If you are not a member, click here to join. Winner will be notified by email.
I use my commute to talk to my long distance relatives! And I swiffer my solid surface floors if I'm on the phone at home.
I make a to-do list but I also have stopped worrying about things that don't get done immediately (this has come with many years and with age).
I like to juice everyday and drink it for lunch! This not only helps me feel less heavy and more energized during the second half of my day but I feel great about getting all my veggies in one helping. It does take time however and the cleanup can be a mess. So what I do is juice the night before and keep it in an air tight container. As long as the container is air tight the nutrients from the juice can last up to 5 days! Do this at night right before you go to bed so you can leave the dirty pieces of the juicer soaking overnight and it makes cleanup the next morning as easy as rinsing things off!
I check my email while watching TV at night.
Throw it away
Garlic - olive oil and red pepper flakes, on pasta. YUMMY
For early morning workouts, I go to bed in my exercise clothes. That way in the morning I can just brush my teeth and go!
I write a list every day. And this helps me to stay very focused each day.
Calendars! I need wall calendars, desktop planner, my Outlook calendar and my phone calendar. I need them all to really thrive, but I use each one for different kinds of appointments and motivators!
White board Calenders to write appointments, events, & projects/bills duy, also writing lists on my phone with the errands that I need to do during the day.
My favorite tip to save time is to fix dinner that leftovers will last a few days. My easy recipe is slow cooker BBQ pulled pork. Pork butt or roast, chopped onions, and favorite BBQ sauce in the slow cooker set to low overnight or 7-9 hours. Take out, shred, add more BBQ and put back in slow cooker to keep warm. Leftovers are great for sandwiches, tacos, even served on rice.
My quick fix recipe: get a soft tortilla, put spinach and feta cheese inside (or any type of cheese), fold in half (like a soft taco) and bake for 10 minutes with 400F. and that's it - an easy and nutritious meal :D
For many, many years I wouldn't leave the house before washing every dish, bowl or utensil that was left in the kitchen sink. Now I don't mind letting some items accumulate and washing them later when I return.
Multitasking helps me save a bit of time and sometimes helps pass time doing something boring (ie: folding laundry while catching up on my TV shows!) My best easy recipe is one pot pasta. All you need to do is cook up the pasta according to the directions on the box, drain it and then add whatever you want. Canned veggies helps cut down on time spent if you're in a hurry and often the pasta is still hot enough to warm up sauces and melt shredded cheeses so pour it on, give it a mix, put on the lid to keep it warm and wait a few minutes for everything to get warmed up and melted. If you want it cold, just as a salad dressing and canned veggies and instant pasta salad!
Put it in writing, I need to do more of that!