We’re always trying to make the things we have to do quicker and easier so that we can carve back time for the things we want to do.
When one mum in our Mums of the Shire – Community Facebook Group put a call out for other mums tips to help simplify general mum-life tasks, the community replied with these helpful ideas that we’ve summarised in case you missed (or were too busy!) to read through the whole thread.
8 top tips straight from mums making it work
1. Hire help
Hire someone to clean your house as often as you can afford to. Even having someone else mop, dust and clean the bathrooms monthly will help keep the house in check.
2. Do a daily load of laundry
Put it on in the evening and hang it in the morning. Hang your clothes straight on to coat hangers to avoid as much ironing and folding as possible.
3. Have your groceries delivered
You can get fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood and pantry staples all delivered from small local businesses and save yourself time driving and hunting around the supermarkets. Check out our favourite logical providers here. With lots of them you can also save your orders so it’s easy to make small amends and re-purchase again the following week (or fortnight if you plan really cleverly!)
4. Meal plan
Make enough for two whole family servings whenever you cook and freeze one for the next week. And if you know you have a few hours every week (maybe on a Sunday?) then use that to make a few meals in one go, which will free you up in the week.
5. Become best mates with your slow-cooker
Slow-cooker recipes usually don’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes and will save you heaps of time in the evening when you’re busy trying to tidy and bathe the kids. Even if you just throw in some chopped vegetables in the morning to pair with some quick pan-friend fish, steaks or sausages in the evening, you’ll be ahead of the game.
6. Wake up an hour earlier
This will give you the time to make a list of the day’s priorities, have a shower and a tea or coffee, hang that washing you put on last night and throw some veges into the slow-cooker for dinner before anyone else starts asking you for breakfast.
7. Get a very good vacuum
Invest in a good robot vacuum and let it tidy the floors while you get on with the rest of the day. Our group members recommend the Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum. Cordless vacuums are also great for whipping around the house and quickly tidying messes off the lounge.
8. Encourage family input
It should go without saying that your partner, if you have one, should help with any and all of these tasks when they’re able, but so should your kids! Little kids love using dustbusters and cordless vacuums, unpacking groceries and helping to make dinner and should be putting their own toys away by the time they’re 3. Bigger kids should be taught that helping to keep the house running is part of belonging in a family. If they’re old enough, you can designate things like having them turn the washing machine on before they go to bed so that your list gets smaller and smaller!
We hope these tips help you reclaim a bit of me-time in your busy week!
Got any other tips you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments below.
