Get More Done

I'm not generally one for giving hints and tips on how to do things better in domestic life because, hey, who am I to talk? Dutch people always have their curtains wide open for everyone to see into their houses all day long, because they believe if you close your curtains, you have something to hide.

I do.

An embarrassingly messy house.

But that doesn't mean I don't do a lot of work around the house or that my house is particularly dirty. I know, I know, 'you can't clean what you can't see' so my default of having a messy house, mine HAS to be dirty, right? And disorganized? And total chaos?

Not so. Just small, filled with a lot of stuff we don't really need but can't seem to release ourselves of, and terrorized by two small children and all their little compatriots. It doesn't mean I don't have a system of getting things done. Wanna know how I do it?

I love multi-tasking. I love multi-tasking. I love multi-tasking. I love multi-tasking. I love multi-tasking. I love multi-tasking.

And in case I forgot to mention, I love multi-tasking. The secret is, I don't believe I have to be the only component of the multi-tasking. We live in an age full of technological appliances, love them or loathe them. Most of our houses have dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, computers, camcorders, crock pots, bread machines, etc. I use and abuse all of mine to the max, and I make them do the multi-tasking for me. My rule?

Everytime I leave the house / will be otherwise 'unavailable' for a while, I set one of these things going.

This may seem obvious, but it takes a little forethought and/or can me taken further than you might think. For example, I have a lovely little feature on my washing machine that I can determine its starting time up to 23 hours in advance. So most nights, I put a load in before bed and set the timer to have it finish just as I'm waking up. Then it's a quick 4-5 minutes to throw things in the dryer / hang on the line, and my participation in a load of laundry is finished before we even leave for school in the morning. The clothes haven't sat in the washing machine overnight getting that icky 'we've sat in the washing machine overnight' smell or wrinkling beyond all recognition, and it doesn't take up a single moment of my day because I accomplish this while sleeping. Fan. Freakin'. Tastic.

Brainstorm; the multi-tasking world is your oyster on this! Examples could be....

Tasks to Accomplish
* laundry
* dishes
* charging batteries (camera, hand-held video games for travelling, laptops, etc)
* burning home movies to DVDs
* food marinating / defrosting
* crock pot / bread machine recipes
* uploading pictures for printing / making online photo books
* watering grass / plants with the sprinkler
* airing out cushions / blankets in the sunshine

'Downtime' to Accomplish Them
* leaving the house (school, grocery store, visiting friends, dr appt, etc)
* Family Game or Movie Night
* overnight
* friends over for coffee, dinner, etc
* bath/bedtime for the children
* working in the yard / garden
* chatting on the phone

The lists are endless, I'm convinced. Clearly, this doesn't solve the problem of a messy, cluttered house....since I have one of those. But it does mean you're only ever tripping over surface clutter, not failing to get things done. (hey, the difference in those two things makes sense to me!) And psychologically, it just feels good to come back from somewhere and have clean clothes, clean dishes, and freshly aired bedding waiting for you.

Ok, I'm shutting up now. I have a whole other post to write about how I easily get 'big' tasks done on a regular basis, but this took me ages to write and I have a TV date with my husband.......so I need to put a load of clothes in the washing machine.

PS - For those of you in live in places where it gets too cold to have windows open for X number months of the year (like us), do it anyway.....when you're not in those rooms. I open the window in the kids' bedroom when they're playing downstairs, and have the bedroom door closed so the cold air doesn't get into the rest of the hosue. When it's nap or bedtime, just close the window then. (also have their closet / drawers open when the window's open so the clothes get aired, too)