I hate that my life is always rushed; the things I miss the most about my life pre-children is the ability to take my time over things. Like getting up in the morning. Like having breakfast. Looking out of the window. I am always rushing back from places, rushing the children out of the door, rushing in and out of the shower. Blow drying my hair is often a luxury too far.
But one of the benefits of this fast-paced existence is that I have learned how and where to cut corners and trim time. I have also identified the things that take too long, that make things worse. So here is my list; please add to it with your own because seriously, I could use the help.
Things that save time:
1. Jamie Oliver's new 15 minute recipe book. They take 30 mins but they're delicious and easy (if you buy the right ingredients)
2. Taking the time to go through the kitchen cupboards properly before ordering the supermarket shop so that I can tell at a glance what we need and what we don't
3. Ordering the supermarket shop over the internet (subject to number 2)
4. Ordering most stuff over the internet (with a caveat... see number 1 of the next list)
5. Laying out clothes for the following day before I go to bed. Five minutes is not long enough to shower, get dressed AND work out what to wear
6. Keeping my daughter's hair cut in a bob so I don't have to plait it/clip it/spend hours brushing it in the morning (and it's devastatingly cute, which helps...)
7. Getting a good hair cut every 6 or 7 weeks.
Things that do not save time:
1. Impulse buying online and having to return huge parcels back to the post office
2. Exercise DVDs. Probably would save me time, but I never get round to doing them.
3. My phone(s). All the time I save being able to email on the go is more than made up for by the time I spend googling random things and refreshing my emails to see if there's anything new
4. Bundling the children out of the door too quickly. Two minutes later one of them will inevitably have a call of nature/have no coat/have no drink/need a nappy change and the nappy bag is at home. Tortoise works better than hare with young children.
5. Multi-tasking where it isn't absolutely essential. Nothing gets done properly, I start to feel scattered and then inevitably drop one or more of the balls I'm juggling.
Now, over to you...
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