Put Systems in Place to Run the Home
A friend of mine called Rev Stephen Chalk once said to me, “Discipline gives you freedom”. I don’t have time in my life to run round in circles and be a slave to my home so this is why I look for ways to make life easy.
Time saving systems for the home will help a busy household run more efficiently. And most take no time at all to implement…..
I don’t believe a busy household can run their lives efficiently from a calendar in the kitchen. Make sure you arm yourself with a large desk diary which is never removed from the house.
Everyone puts in so that nothing is missed out… birthdays, parties, school events, dental appointments, work commitments, refuse days (no one in my house can use the excuses they didn’t know when the bins were to go out!). What you are doing here is eliminating error, conflict and confusion.
If you have room get 3 washing baskets – I use White, Grey and Black. Everyone knows whites in white, coloureds in grey and darks in black. Any child over the age of 6 can work this one out!
Set yourself up an area which is your office. There are so many small filing cabinets, funky file boxes etc that will make bill paying and bank statement storing a much more efficient task.
Think logically about how and where you store things. For example, I wear glasses so where I store my spare pairs and sunglasses I also have cleaning wipes and my screwdriver that tightens the arms. It truly is little tweaks like this which in the long run will save you time. And my God there are never enough hours in the day!
One lady I worked with on ‘Perfect Housewife’ had such a stressful start to the day, due only to inefficiency, that if I was her I’d be in a darkened room with a gin and tonic by 11.00am! She had three children and not a day went by when someone wasn’t late for school or had forgotten a piece of kit. There was general screaming and shouting from everyone and it was just awful. Not wanting to see her resort to the G&T by midmorning, I put a system in place to make life easy…
First I gave her 3 large baskets which lived in the hallway. No child could go to bed until they had but their satchel, completed homework, sports kit, musical instrument etc in it for the following morning. Coats and scarves hung on a peg in the hall and uniformswere in the bedroom complete with clean pants socks and shirt. In the kitchen, cereal bowls etc were out and ready for breakfast.
When we tested this new regime out it was bliss – a calm, orderly, happy start to the day. No arguments and no stress. Bliss!
I know you will have ideas and tips of your own so please let us have them.