Free up time for things you love!

This was a busy week! It was filled with 2 days travelling, another full day event with a local client plus studying for my professional certificate. 28 February is the deadline and having that date fixed, time’s running fast! Last night, I almost lost it looking around the house. It was all messy, stuff everywhere. It’s the worst feeling when you’re exhausted, don’t you agree?

These days, it’s easy to free yourself up after a long and hard day in the office. Here are my top 5 tips to save time and gain peace of mind:

What’s happening this week?

Review the upcoming events for the next week. If you have a spouse or children, include them. What’s scheduled for whom this week? Late conference calls, school events, birthday parties? Decide whether you’ll have to attend all these events and meetings. Is it possible to kindly decline one and re-gain some of your time?

When confirming the meetings, also chose your transportation to the event. If your kid’s having a birthday party on Wednesday, who will take them there? Arrange for a car pool early on. Block time in your calendar for the drive to avoid double booking. You don’t want to have an important business call with a bunch of loud children in the back of your car.

What’s for dinner, honey?

As you know what your next week will bring, decide which days you’ll cook or go out to eat.

On days when you’re working late, you may want to make a quick meal. Something you can easily put into the oven while you get changed. Think meals which you’ve cooked and frozen just for these occasions.

Try a delicious salmon in parchment package (single serving). Preheat the oven to 190 C/345 F. On parchment paper, lay some green asparagus, onions, artichoke hearts, spinach or cherry tomatoes. Place the fish on top of it. Season it with salt and pepper, add sliced lemon on top of it. Sprinkle with some olive oil. Close the parchment paper and place it in the middle of your oven. Bake it for 15 minutes. Ta da!

When doing your grocery shopping, get some healthy snacks, too. Nuts, carrots, apples or hummus and vegetable sticks make for a great snack in the office, on the go or when lounging on the couch. They’ll replenish your energy levels, can lower cholesterol levels and provide you with vitamins.

Just what to wear?

There’s nothing worse than standing in front of a full wardrobe and being indecisive – at break of dawn! Choosing your outfit may be a nuisance, especially when feeling rushed. Avoid this time waster by deciding on your outfit the night before.

Iron your clothes, pick your shoes, purse and lay out the accessories. Pack your bag with whatever you’ll need for the next day.

Going to bed that night, you know you can get up as planned and even have some minutes left to snooze in the morning!

What shall I do today?

Create themes for your days. Mondays can be your bill payment day, Wednesdays your grocery shopping day and Sundays your cleaning day.

You no longer do these activities every day off the week. Instead, bundling similar activities will help you save time and keep you sane.

Who can help me?

Living in this region, we have a lot of support! Even without a full time cleaner or maid, you can make it easier. Don’t be shy and ask for help. Enrol your family and give them chores. Book a cleaner. Bring shirts to the laundry for ironing. Request home delivery for groceries.

Check out this cute chores jar video!

The activities that eat up your time and which you don’t enjoy are the first ones to be outsourced.

Barter time and activities with friends. You may not get anyone to iron your shirts. But if you cook in batches, for example, exchange some portions for some baby-sitting. If they’ll also batch cook, swap some servings. It increases your selection of yummy home-made meals in no time!

I’m going to bring the shirts and suits to the dry cleaner now. Ironing this weekend is not an activity I want to spend any time on. We’ll enjoy the beautiful weather and go cycling instead!

What activities do you pursue or cut that save you time? I’m looking forward to reading your first comments this year!

Until next time,
Agni