Saturday, October 6, 2012

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day 6} : plan ahead.

Welcome to day 6! I am pretty proud of myself for blogging 6 days in a row already. Just goes to show that I can make time for what I want to do; it's not impossible. Like Grey's Anatomy. Somehow I always manage to keep up with what's goin' on at the hospital. :)

So, the name of the game for day six is plan ahead. Having a plan in place will make your life go a lot more smoothly. And isn't a smooth day like gold for the working woman? Of course, our weeks will have their surprises, and sometimes no amount of preparation can calm the storm that is our home. But some good prep work goes a long way when home isn't your full time job. Below are some things we can plan ahead to help us stay organized!

1. Meals
Having a meal plan not only helps you grocery shop wisely and save money, it keeps you from ordering pizza every night on the way home. It doesn't stop me every time, but it helps. There are definitely days where I scrap the plan and enlist the help of one Papa John.

2. Freezer cooking
Having some back up food in the freezer can also save you time and money. And help sever your relationship with the Chinese food place. There are times we work late, or I haven't had time to grocery shop, and it is really helpful to have a casserole in the freezer. I also like to have things in the freezer like homemade pizza crust, freezer burritos, and baked goods. We try to stay away from processed foods, so I love gleaning wisdom and recipes from ladies like Crystal at Money Saving Mom when it comes to freezer cooking in a short amount of time.

3. Outfits
I can't tell you how much time I waste and how much mess I make digging through my clothes trying to find something to wear every morning. My morning routine is something that is seriously lacking. Laying out an outfit at night before I go to bed would be a great step toward a smoother AM.

4. Days of the week
Get old fashioned or channel Sheldon from Big Bang Theory (any other fans out there?) and label your days. Make Monday your laundry day or Tuesday your freezer cooking night, or Wednesday your comic book store night  bathroom cleaning morning. You get the idea. I'm not talking about being rigid or inflexible, I'm just saying that if I always make sure I take 20 minutes to clean my bathroom on Mondays, I will have a toilet that I can allow impromptu company to use. And then I don't have to have another meltdown about how gross my home is and how tired and busy I am. Not that that ever happens. :)

How do you stay organized during the work week? What things do you plan ahead?

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