@quedee This is so helpful. I am borrowing OP’s laundry shortcuts!
I’m adding my own hacks here. I know they might not apply or be accessible to everyone, but here they are:
-subscribe to a healthy meal service. It puts a lot of meals on autopilot so you don’t have to meal plan and prep for the majority of meals.
-have groceries delivered
-maintain a shared, digital calendar with your kids other parents/caretakers to help track kids appointments and engagements. I can’t take the mental load of doing it all myself.
-i chose to raise kids in an apartment/condo building. It means there is no yard to take care of, no driveway to shovel, no gutters to clean, no house to maintain, etc.
-professional cleaner 2x per month
-keep a hidden stash of toys, activities, and interesting snacks to surprise the kids with. I tend to open the stash on weekend days or days that school is closed and I don’t want to rely on screen time. The toys aren’t expensive or fancy, kids just like having something new to open.
-related to the point above, plan a toy swap with people who have kids the same age. Another parent and I will each bundle up a bunch of age appropriate toys, put them in a box, and exchange the boxes. It’s been a great, free way to discover new toys that I wouldn’t have thought to buy and gives kids’ toys another life.
-just say no to invitations and offers that cause unnecessary stress. Ex: someone I’m not that close to invited me to a baby shower. I could have gone but it would have been a pain for me to get to. I felt zero guilt sending my regrets with a gift and a card.
-pack bags you’ll need for the next day the night before and have them ready by the front door.
Edit: two more hacks I forgot:
-I only bring my mail in once a week. When I do bring it into my home, I do it when I’ve also set aside time to go through it and take action on the mail items that require follow up. Basically, I try to deal with paper mail as soon as it’s in my home and not leave it in piles to fester.
-I trained myself to do household tasks more quickly by timing myself doing them. It sounds silly but it’s true that you can cut down on how long you spend on simple tasks, like emptying the dishwasher, if you use a timer and think about how to accomplish them more efficiently.
I’m adding my own hacks here. I know they might not apply or be accessible to everyone, but here they are:
-subscribe to a healthy meal service. It puts a lot of meals on autopilot so you don’t have to meal plan and prep for the majority of meals.
-have groceries delivered
-maintain a shared, digital calendar with your kids other parents/caretakers to help track kids appointments and engagements. I can’t take the mental load of doing it all myself.
-i chose to raise kids in an apartment/condo building. It means there is no yard to take care of, no driveway to shovel, no gutters to clean, no house to maintain, etc.
-professional cleaner 2x per month
-keep a hidden stash of toys, activities, and interesting snacks to surprise the kids with. I tend to open the stash on weekend days or days that school is closed and I don’t want to rely on screen time. The toys aren’t expensive or fancy, kids just like having something new to open.
-related to the point above, plan a toy swap with people who have kids the same age. Another parent and I will each bundle up a bunch of age appropriate toys, put them in a box, and exchange the boxes. It’s been a great, free way to discover new toys that I wouldn’t have thought to buy and gives kids’ toys another life.
-just say no to invitations and offers that cause unnecessary stress. Ex: someone I’m not that close to invited me to a baby shower. I could have gone but it would have been a pain for me to get to. I felt zero guilt sending my regrets with a gift and a card.
-pack bags you’ll need for the next day the night before and have them ready by the front door.
Edit: two more hacks I forgot:
-I only bring my mail in once a week. When I do bring it into my home, I do it when I’ve also set aside time to go through it and take action on the mail items that require follow up. Basically, I try to deal with paper mail as soon as it’s in my home and not leave it in piles to fester.
-I trained myself to do household tasks more quickly by timing myself doing them. It sounds silly but it’s true that you can cut down on how long you spend on simple tasks, like emptying the dishwasher, if you use a timer and think about how to accomplish them more efficiently.
