You know you are busy when you forget to eat. I come from a long line of Italians. Eating is ranked just below breathing. Someone is considered too skinny and near death if their pants size falls below two digits.
So you can see that things have come to extremes in our household. My husband has a full time job with several important projects. He is also working on finishing our basement work as a freelancer and have taken on many extra hours in the last two month, partially from the needs of my clients and partially from our goal to pay off debt, including dental bills and our car payment. We’ve only eaten out once this month, which means extra time cooking and doing dishes. And of course, we still have three young children who are young enough to generate more chaos than they solve.
We aren’t super people, so there have been some tradeoffs. Our house is, well, less than tidy these days, for one. It is definitely not decorated for Easter, and the in bins are growing large with non filed paperwork. We’ve had to let things go since there are only so many hours in the day. Still, you won’t throw up, I think, when you have to use our kitchen or bathroom (at least not from disgust) and the dust bunnies stay hidden under the beds.
In keeping house while life is busy, there have been a few things have been helpful for us. Surprisingly multitasking was not one of them. I found that this more often becomes a hindrance to getting things done.
1. Setting priorities.
Understanding the minimum of what you need to have done and letting the rest go will go a long way in calming the stress and resentment about not getting it all done. In our house during extreme business, for example, our list includes making sure that there are regular meals and baths, paying bills, making sure the kitchen and bathrooms are spotless, and the clothes and bedding are clean are our high priorities.
2. Establishing a routine
Establishing a regular routine during very busy times can be tough, but it is important. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find the time to get those important priorities completed. You might have to have some flexibility with your routine, but you should try to stick with it for success. For example, morning works well for me, so I’ll take a few moments to wipe down the bathrooms and either throw dinner into the crockpot or do my meal prep. I’ll sort mail while waiting for the school bus and do laundry right before bed.
As for eating, well, I broke with my routine to take a conference call and then forgot all about it.
How do you keep house when life gets busy?
Focusing on Your Home’s First Impressions