I am still getting a hang of this whole working single mama of two thing.
I have to say that while I am less tired than I worried about (given that Tiny Boy wakes a minimum of 3 times per night, and sometimes as frequently as every hour), I have a lot of trouble finding enough hours in the day to do what needs doing. Part of the problem is that I spend about 9-10 hours in bed every night. Not sleeping, mind you, but resting. I'm guessing that's a very fractured 7-8ish hours of actual sleep at best, plus plenty of nursing/snuggling time. That is, I can do very little at night before I crash.
I'm working on finding shortcuts, outsourcing (I'm in the process of hiring a student "housekeeper" for a couple hours per week), and other time savers. Limiting my email/internet time. Going grocery shopping while LG's at gymnastics class. Cooking mostly by way of the crockpot, and only foods that have less than 15 minutes prep time. Buying more stuff via Amazon (I recently got a free Prime membership) so I don't need to go to Target or places like that. Using a timer when I sit down to grade.
What are your timesavers and tips, readers?
I have to say that while I am less tired than I worried about (given that Tiny Boy wakes a minimum of 3 times per night, and sometimes as frequently as every hour), I have a lot of trouble finding enough hours in the day to do what needs doing. Part of the problem is that I spend about 9-10 hours in bed every night. Not sleeping, mind you, but resting. I'm guessing that's a very fractured 7-8ish hours of actual sleep at best, plus plenty of nursing/snuggling time. That is, I can do very little at night before I crash.
I'm working on finding shortcuts, outsourcing (I'm in the process of hiring a student "housekeeper" for a couple hours per week), and other time savers. Limiting my email/internet time. Going grocery shopping while LG's at gymnastics class. Cooking mostly by way of the crockpot, and only foods that have less than 15 minutes prep time. Buying more stuff via Amazon (I recently got a free Prime membership) so I don't need to go to Target or places like that. Using a timer when I sit down to grade.
What are your timesavers and tips, readers?
I'm not a fulltime working mom--but one of my timesavers is having gotten into the habit of putting in a load of laundry every morning after everyone's finished showering (before doing the off-to-school run). If I don't have enough clothes for a load, that's when I do towels and/or bedding. I throw it into the dryer whenever I get a chance later in the day, sometimes not until the evening. This is my way of making sure that laundry doesn't pile up and take over the weekend; plus, now that I'm into the habit, I just don't spend time strategizing about laundry anymore.
ReplyDeleteDiapers.com on my iphone. I add things (all kid stuff and all drugstore stuff) whenever I am thinking about it, often on the bus commuting and then once a week review and hit "order."
ReplyDeletePartially prepared meals. Eg the veggies are already cut up for stirfry
grocery delivery. Saves HOURS
ignoring all of my friends. Saves a ton of time.
I also like soap.com/diapers.com. They have free, 2 day shipping if you spend enough and I get my detergent, soap, shampoo, pet food etc. through them. It sounds like what you're doing with Amazon. We also tried (only once, but not because it didn't work well) Once a Month Mom. This website gives instructions for doing all your cooking for the month (except it was really like 5 meals a week, not all of them) in one weekend and then freezing. It was a great month! It was a pretty daunting weekend of cooking, though, so I think that's why we haven't repeated it.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend we debated if it was finally time to use a drop off service for the laundry. We didn't do it but after spending all weekend catching up, I'm kind of tempted.
Routines help a lot. (Check out flylady.net if you don't already have routines in place.) I also do at least one load of laundry daily and outsource what I can; our nanny does the boys' laundry on the days she works, and we have a housekeeper who comes once a month for the "heavy" cleaning (wish it was twice a month).
ReplyDeleteThings I know I will need more of, like diapers and batteries for toys, are on "Subscribe and Save" from amazon.com. I'd love to groceries and toiletries delivered but haven't found a place that'll do it for what I consider to be a fair price.
I buy prepared dinners from one of those meal prep places (they go by different names) so I only have to stick them in oven--no shopping or meal prep required.
I'll need to check out diaper.com before I decide if it's worth keeping the amazon prime. Good to know.
ReplyDeleteI should say I do some cooking for the week on weekends, too, though can't imagine for a month...
S...the rhetoric of Fly Lady makes me nuts!
I prepare a lot of meat at once, like chicken, or hamburger meat, then freeze it in meal-prep portions. This way I don't need to spend a lot of time preparing the meat and can spend more time preparing the rest of the meal. This is a good way to make home-make spagettii sauces, stir-frys, etc.
ReplyDelete---ST
I must confess that I just hired a personal chef... he drops off 10 dinners every other week in nice little freezer-compatible containers. Healthy, easy to heat, and no work to prepare or many dishes to do after. Where I live this is not so unheard of, and the cost is about the same as eating out every night. So, not cheap. I'm not sure how long I can rationalize the expense, but it is definitely a dream.
ReplyDeleteThis is a stupid yet weirdly helpful one for me: I pump into freezer bags and I find that labeling the whole week's worth at once and paper clipping each day's together makes the whole pumping thing a fraction less brain deadening. Since I'm always desperately squeezing it in in the middle of grading and eating and whatever, having even one step fewer makes a difference. I also use the microwave steam clean bags for pumping supplies and bottles.
ReplyDeletei always shop online (amazon is my favourite). here are my housework shortcuts lol: http://jclmellor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/housework-short-cuts.html
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to check out that link--thanks!
ReplyDeleteAmen to the microwave steam clean bags! I'm not pumping enough at this stage that any is going in the freezer...I pump directly into the bottles he'll have tomorrow. But I'm really hoping that NEXT WEEK is the last week of pumping. We'll see. Gah.
InB, if you can swing it, that sounds awesome.
We send out our linens, though this probably represents more time-saving for me than it would for you, since it saves us a trip to the laundromat.
ReplyDeleteOne of the places I'm teaching this semester has Moodle and turnitin, and I,m doing more of my grading and attendance and so on that way, which feels like it is saving time and wrist strain -- I can just click a button instead of writing "comma splice" 900 times a week. The other campus has an antiquated blackboard system that wipes out any time savings I have accrued by being a total pain in my ass.
We are in a diaper quandary, as target has changed theirs, and now we don't know what to buy. May return to amazon, but it is hard to beat the price of target, with free shipping over $50.
Do you have some crockpot recipes to recommend? We got one recently in the interests of saving time, but the food has not been that awesome thus far. Also, we were feeling pretty sodden from lack of fresh vegetables.
Bionic, yeah...laundry for me is about the easiest thing I do (even with cloth diapers) as I can even do it while I'm sleeping :)
ReplyDeleteAre you vegetarian? Most of my good crockpot recipes have meat, but really any soup/stew/chili turns out fine. Right now I'm cooking one of my "experimental" stews with chicken, sweet potato, garbanzo beans, apricot jam and some spices. Chicken + barbecue sauce is about as easy as it gets. Pot roast is another favorite of mine, as there's enough leftovers to then use the crockpot to make beef + veggie soup or barbecue beef (I think my stint in Texas is showing). Let me know what you guys like to eat and I'll think of other things.
Oh, and our online system is so annoying I avoid it except in lieu of a course packet...