@throwawaymana That is a husband problem. That's also my husband's problem.
What are your "do it all" life hacks?
- Thread starter holyspiritleads2truth
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throwawaymana
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turquoisetiger
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@throwawaymana Cozi
@holyspiritleads2truth My biggest hack has been figuring out the most painful part of the day and how to improve it. For me, that’s mornings (I have to get 2 to daycare by 6:40 and my first grader on the bus by 7:12 by myself). I lay out all clothes, lunches made, breakfast prepped (plates or bowls out, silverware, etc), my bathroom stuff laid out and ready for myself, backpacks packed and at the door or already in the car the night before. My husband and I also do a quick but thorough tidy of the house right before bedtime and he unloads the dishwasher in the am before leaving for work at 5:30. Has helped soooo much to wake up to a clean and ready house.
I also made a chart for my kids (7 and 4) that reminds them to be dressed, teeth brushed, and hair brushed before coming to living room. They like to race me dressing the 1.5 year old.
Just know this works great about 70% of the time and I do admit to getting frustrated to the point of tears maybe 2% of the time still
I also made a chart for my kids (7 and 4) that reminds them to be dressed, teeth brushed, and hair brushed before coming to living room. They like to race me dressing the 1.5 year old.
Just know this works great about 70% of the time and I do admit to getting frustrated to the point of tears maybe 2% of the time still
timothythe2nd
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@bob I hyper-prepare the night before too! Unload backpacks and wash lunch tupperware in the evenings, clean up sink/dishes because coming downstairs to a clean kitchen does wonders for my brain. I get up at 4:15am to work out in our home gym set up, so my clothes are all set out, lunches are already prepped for all of us so just need to put in back packs, coffee gets microwaved, I dress for work and load stuff into the car right before I get the kids up. It’s a well-oiled machine and goes smoothly most of the time. Evenings are still really tough because we get home by 6 and try to head up for bedtime routine by 6:45, which is tough.
atlascloud
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@timothythe2nd Wow I would really love to do this, I’m so impressed. May I ask what time you go to bed? I think part of my personal failure is wanting so much sleep (but that may also be having infant twins).
timothythe2nd
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@atlascloud I’m a twin mom too 
But mine are 3yo now, so absolutely a different ball-game, challenging in different ways. I can usually get them down by 8pm after which I go right to bed, not going past 8:30pm lights off. I’ve never been a night owl type so it’s not hard for me to go to bed that “early”. Another part of the routine is not letting the weekend tempt me to go to bed later, etc. I don’t get up that early on the weekends but keeping to that general schedule has been helpful.
In those early days of twins you do need to protect your sleep! I might consider trying the work out when they nap during the day, and saving the early mornings for when they’re sleeping longer stretches. Hang in there
But mine are 3yo now, so absolutely a different ball-game, challenging in different ways. I can usually get them down by 8pm after which I go right to bed, not going past 8:30pm lights off. I’ve never been a night owl type so it’s not hard for me to go to bed that “early”. Another part of the routine is not letting the weekend tempt me to go to bed later, etc. I don’t get up that early on the weekends but keeping to that general schedule has been helpful. In those early days of twins you do need to protect your sleep! I might consider trying the work out when they nap during the day, and saving the early mornings for when they’re sleeping longer stretches. Hang in there
atlascloud
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@timothythe2nd Thanks so much for sharing! Somehow I’m not surprised you have twins - you’re so efficient!
timothythe2nd
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@atlascloud Thank you! 
I absolutely don’t feel like there are enough hours in the day and I’m not willing to sacrifice my 8hrs of sleep so I do still struggle to do it all, but I do my best to set myself up for success.
I absolutely don’t feel like there are enough hours in the day and I’m not willing to sacrifice my 8hrs of sleep so I do still struggle to do it all, but I do my best to set myself up for success.@holyspiritleads2truth Our roomba was pretty life changing. It keeps the floors clean and forces us to tidy up every morning.
My biggest hack is insisting that my partner do his fair share of the household and childcare work. I still do most of the "mental load" tasks, but that's by choice. He does all the meal planning/grocery shopping and most of the cooking. I do most of the cleaning. We split parenting tasks 50/50.
My biggest hack is insisting that my partner do his fair share of the household and childcare work. I still do most of the "mental load" tasks, but that's by choice. He does all the meal planning/grocery shopping and most of the cooking. I do most of the cleaning. We split parenting tasks 50/50.
jamesmason10
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.@jamesmason10 Roomba won't fall down the stairs, if that's what you mean. Those robots are smart!
jamesmason10
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@carolus We live in a really tall thin townhouse, with flights of stairs basically between every room. So i guess i could do a room at a time but it wouldn't be practical. And wouldn't do the stairs which is the worst part for collecting dust. Unless you're going to tell me they've invented a stair version, which I dream of!
theperfectbone
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@jamesmason10 This sounds like a senior design challenge for an engineering school.
After years of vacuuming stairs with a big vacuum I finally got a stick vac and it's the best. We got the Ryobi so it runs off my husband's drill batteries of which we have like 8 lying around so I never have to worry about running out of juice because I can just swap to a new battery pack.
After years of vacuuming stairs with a big vacuum I finally got a stick vac and it's the best. We got the Ryobi so it runs off my husband's drill batteries of which we have like 8 lying around so I never have to worry about running out of juice because I can just swap to a new battery pack.
jamesmason10
New member
@theperfectbone Yes, hopefully one day!
I do have a stick one but the battery doesn't last, I hadn't heard of being able to use other batteries, will investigate for the future.
I do have a stick one but the battery doesn't last, I hadn't heard of being able to use other batteries, will investigate for the future.
@jamesmason10 Ha! Maybe someday!
holyspiritleads2truth
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@carolus We're also 50/50, it's hard to recognize that if I'm doing chores he's not relaxing, he's taking care of the baby and vice versa. I really wanted him to share the mental load of keeping track of whether we had enough breast milk in the fridge and then I realized the time I would take to communicate about it, I might as well just do it myself. So then I told him in exchange he needs to be the baby proofing Czar.
@holyspiritleads2truth That seems fair! Handing over tasks close to 100% is key. Like, he'll ask me if I have any meal requests or sometimes I'll do a small mid-week grocery run, but that's the extent of my involvement in meals. He'll tidy up and take out the recycling, but doesn't do much cleaning, otherwise. I think we have a pretty good balance.
@holyspiritleads2truth The biggest “hack” of all is letting shit go.
Most people can’t do it all, and you’ll only make yourself miserable if you try.
Sometimes the laundry or dishes pile up a little bit, but we always get to it eventually. Sometimes we make great healthy dinners, sometimes we’re all having frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Sometimes I get a good workout in on my lunch hour, sometimes I use the whole hour to zone out and look at my phone.
Most people can’t do it all, and you’ll only make yourself miserable if you try.
Sometimes the laundry or dishes pile up a little bit, but we always get to it eventually. Sometimes we make great healthy dinners, sometimes we’re all having frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Sometimes I get a good workout in on my lunch hour, sometimes I use the whole hour to zone out and look at my phone.