Day 8: My Favourite Time Saving Tips

I missed posting the other day. Well, actually, I had a post all set, forgot to hit "post" and ended up having a really, really long day and the original content became irrelevant. So, let's see if I catch up with a post this morning and another later today (or will do so another day -- but, 30 posts in 30 days WILL happen). Being short on time has me thinking about some of best time-saving tips as a full-time working mom which help ease the chaos of the day. Here are a few; I encourage you to add yours in the comments below.

1. Batch up cooking - freeze and save. I'll post on pulled pork later and how I get 8 family dinners (32+ meals) for about $30 cdn so, keep an eye out for that.

2. Use your crockpot. The biggest impact this and batch up cooking seem to have on saving time - is the clean up.

3. Engage your children in household responsibilities at an early age. The reality is you cannot do it all yourself but more importantly, each member of the household has a role to play. Make it part of the routine.

4. Establish some sort of routine. Our greatest time saving routine tips:

• As soon as the boys get home from school, shoes are put away, jackets are hung up, back packs are hung up, library books are put in a special location designated for just that and they take their lunch kits to the kitchen. Having that library book place is key to save you from searching for books later; promptly going through lunch kits is also key if you have kids like my boys and they come home with half eaten items... the mess after even a few extra hours takes that much more time to clean up. 
• Same thing from coming home from sports activities - especially swim lessons. We wash out the suits in the sink at the pool and the second we get home, towels and suits are hung up to dry. Failing to do this results in added laundry and the only laundry time saving tip I have is to lessen the amount whenever and however possible.

Now, it's your turn! How do you maximize your time?