Housework hacks

[Cat Alberts]

Small electric oven with a timer.

Basket in the windowsill next to frontdoor for car-stuff (keys/paper/satnav/etc)

Basket in windowsill next to frontdoor for bycicle-stuff (keys/etc)

Keys always in the doorlock on the inside.

Electric kettle for boiling water.

Online banking, automated most bills.

Hired help with cleaning, once every 2 weeks, who is fully aware of ADD.

Sold everything related to projects that had been lying around for more than 2 years- made someone else happy with it.

Well, not everything, still have some chairs I found to fix up, it’s been 10 years.

Buy in bulk – toilet paper, dishwash detergent, tampons, soap (major life safer, emergencies only once every 2months, not every week)

Have food delivered to the house. I get a lovely krate of organic vegetables every friday. I try to order 10kg of meat every 2 months for in the freezer. Saves enormous amounts of time of thinking about what to eat and when to buy. 1 bill for 4 weeks of food.

And a labeler-machine, so every box has been labeled and I don’t have to open and look into every single one to find something. Which ofcourse happens a lot when something ends up in the wrong box, but less often than before.

But papers are still piling up everywhere- desk, couch, side table, on top of filing cabinet…

And I forget where my phone is all the time, and I only have mobile so I can’t call myself to track it down.

Anyone?

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

For filing: make an appointment with yourself on a day that doesn’t conflict with your other tasks (like receiving and storing your food orders).

If it’s simple paperwork that you don’t need to look at, just file, consider hiring someone to file it or ditch it for you (I did that, just beware that you might just generate more paperwork or throw out less because you personally don’t have to deal with it, more than you’re doing now).

I like your “get rid of it if it’s more than 2 years old” rule. We could apply that to some green-looking things in our fridge

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Keep your phone with your keys, in the basket by the front door. When you use it, put it back in the basket after, as you would put a standard house phone back in it’s cradle/base thingy. This works for me most of the time.

Can’t help you with filing. I have papers everywhere. I try hard to deal with papers as they arrive into the house, and sometimes I can, but it’s one of the things I struggle most with. Even with a hubby who deals with most of the filing.

REPORT ABUSE

[creativeendeavour]

If you have a Gmail account you can call phones anywhere in North America for free. Call your cellphone from Gmail if you need it to ring.

REPORT ABUSE

[laddybug3]

Lists-what you have to do and what time it has to be done. Remember to give yourself longer time to do the work.

Check lists-I have check lists when I am in the car. Such as wear the belt, check mirrors, and make sure everything is checked before I put the key into the keyhole. Check lists for classes-books, homework, test and quizzes prep, and make sure I have supplies.

My keys have a spot in my purse, cell phone, wallet, extra pens, and pencils

REPORT ABUSE

[quizzical]

The papers will kill us all

Hubby does most of the paperwork, but the kids’ school stuff tends to be my area.

Homework papers and artwork go in a newspaper-size basket on a shelf in the kitchen. Generally I only have to go through it twice a year. 99% of it ends up in the recycler, but it’s easier for me to do it that way than to decide every day what is a “keeper.”

I use magazine files – those cardboard narrow boxes that can stand upright on a shelf – for the other stuff to be filed and I keep my categories broad. The most effective one is simply called the “handy file” – I even put that on the label – and that’s where I put all those random things that I might need in a few weeks or months, such as paper copies of schedules that I’ve already put in the computer, the information booklet from the kids’ piano teacher, the summer camp fliers that come home – all that “just in case” stuff that times out after a while. When the box gets too full, I weed it out.

3 mail pockets by the door: one for mail, one for the kids to put papers in that I need to see/sign; and one with my name on it. In that one I have two folders: “To Do” and “Calendar.” I might add one for store receipts as well. Whenever I add something, I quickly leaf through to see if anything needs immediate attention; if not, I have a standing weekly appointment on my calendar to update the calendar and deal with the papers in the To Do folder.

Regular weekly chores on the calendar as recurring appointments. Different chore for each weekday. Less-frequent chores on weekends on a rotating schedule, also on the calendar.

Dry-erase markers by the bathroom mirror, along with those round cosmetic cotton pads to use as disposable erasers. I write the reminders right on the mirror. Way better than Post-Its.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts