The University of Notre Dame’s scientists believe that people who snooze their alarm in the morning could be “chronically tired”.
I laugh at this, because yes, I am chronically tired but when your alarm is your child, it’s tricker to turn them off for ten minutes.
It suggested that the best way to beat this groggy feeling of the chronically tired is to sleep until your body wakes you naturally and to drink less caffeine.
Ok. If you can do that, great, but for most people – who work or have children – that’s not possible. So, I’ve made a list of simple things that make my life easier and give me more “me time” as a result.
Happier brain equals better sleep. That’s what I’ve found anyway.
Since having Isaac, time is of the essence and I am always looking for things that save me time. Some of them are free, others are items I’ve invested in for the sheer purpose of making my life easier. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me.
Lenor Crease Release
I don’t love ironing but I do it because everything feels so much nicer when it’s done. Lenor Crease Release cuts my ironing time down. It even stops me from having to iron some things – like pillowcases and sheets – if you put it on as soon as you get them out of the washing machine.
The one-touch rule
This is a big one in our house. If I pick up Isaac’s cup from the lounge, I try not to just place it in the sink. I wash it up, dry it up and put it away. That’s one-touch from picking it up to putting it away. It saves us so much time in the long run.
Eufy Robot Vacuum
This is a must-have if you’ve got a dog. Our robot vacuum comes on every night when we’re asleep and thoroughly cleans all of the downstairs. It’s easy and quiet and it saves us so much time. We still do a ‘big’ hoover quite often, but it’s not as often as it would be without it.
The daily reset
I wrote an entire article about the daily reset, something that I did with Isaac when he was a newborn that really helped me. It’s a 30-minute re-set where I set an alarm and just spend that time doing whatever needs to be done. It could be cleaning the house, it could be doing a deep skincare routine. I go with what feels right.
Syncing our calendars
If you’re not syncing your Apple calendars with your partners and/or children (if they’re old enough), how are you surviving?
Planning our meals
I thought this was quite self-explanatory, but a lot of people don’t do this. I use the notes app on my phone to plan every meal of the week – breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks. I do that while doing an online shop so I know what we’re going to eat every day.
If I’m in a huge rush and don’t have time, I will re-order what I ordered the week before and then slightly mix up the recipes.
For both Isaac and us, I live by the What Mummy Makes cookbook. I have a lot of baby/toddler cookbooks but this one has the easiest, most stress-free recipes in it.
Fridge planning
As soon as our food arrives, I sort out the fridge. I bring anything going out of date to the front, so I’m not wasting any food. I cut up all the fruit (grapes etc, but not strawberries because they don’t last). I take everything out of its packaging and put it into Tupperware so it’s easy to grab as the weeks get busy with Isaac.
A capsule wardrobe
If you don’t already follow me on TikTok, you can here. That’s where I do most of my fashion content, including updates on my capsule wardrobe. I lost my sense of style after having Isaac and I found that a stripped back wardrobe really helped me. Now, I go shopping with purpose and don’t just pick up things I don’t need. It has helped me cut down on waste and save money.
PictureThis
There aren’t many apps I will pay for, but PictureThis is one of them. I love gardening but I’m not the best at it, this is like having a gardener in your pocket. It has helped me diagnose problems with my plants before they arrive and my plants are so healthy at the end of the season as a result.
Amazon wish lists
This isn’t exactly new, but so many people aren’t creating these. This is especially great if you’ve got children with birthdays and Christmas coming up. The dreaded ‘what does Isaac want for his birthday?’ isn’t so dreaded anymore when I can reel off loads of things I’ve been stockpiling.
GetSorted
While we’re on the subject of apps, GetSorted is my number one favourite app for newborn parents doing the night feed. It lets you flick through all of our pictures and swipe to either keep or delete them. I managed to shave thousands of photos out of my camera roll.
Vileda Windomatic Window Vacuum Cleaner
My windows seem to be permanently full of handprints. I’ll blame Isaac but they weren’t much better before he came along. This saves me so much time on my window cleaning and the results are far superior to before.
Ok, these are the ones I can think of so far, but I’ll add to them whenever I think of another one. Enjoy!
What do you think?
You must be logged in to post a comment.