This Year's Lifehacks, Part 1

Productivity? Let me google that for you, Mom...

About once a year a do a post on my "lifehacks," those simple little things that revolutionize your entire life. In the past I've shared that I:

• Precook all (or most) of my meat for the week,
  
• Use plastic dollar store baskets in my fridge, freezer, and pantry (this is one of my favorite things EVER),
  
• Use a vinegar/water solution to clean most of my kitchen surfaces, from the floor to the counters to the wood tabletop,
  
• Attach my keys outside my purse with a carabiner so they don't get lost in the depths when I have a kid on my hip and groceries in my hands, and...
  
• Pick a parking aisle at each store (Target, grocery store, Costco, etc.) and park in that same aisle EVERY time I go, so I can never lose my car. It is always SOMEWHERE in that row! I would not like to mention how many times I lost my car before I figured that out.

There are a few more things if you peek at the previous posts, but those are my favorites, and things that I still do, and love, on a regular basis. Looking back, I'm relieved to say I am impressed at how far I have come as a wife/mom/housekeeper. I'm still not good at it, but after 4 years of being at home, I finally feel like I am beginning to get the hang of this.

Here are my hacks from this year. I hope you will share your tricks with me in the comments! I have gotten some in past years that really changed the way I work around here. :)

• Use a laundry basket to carry in groceries. Steve thought of this. It makes our Costco hauls much easier to get inside. Not bad if you're climbing flights of stairs to an apartment, either. Less trips = better.
  
• Finish what you start. Simple. I didn't realize why I never got anything done until I realized I would start cleaning something and then peter out halfway through because cleaning sucks. :/ So, when you get bored or something starts to suck, finish it anyway, and the end result should make you feel pretty good about that. (Hint: This applies to most things in life, not just cleaning.)
  
• Run the dishwasher every night, unload & reload every morning. Now that there are four of us, we go through a lot of dishes. Two years ago--okay, even one year ago--our kitchen was like a permanent disaster zone; I was always one full load of dishes behind. So now I start the D/W before bed, and unload it in the morning.

• Do stuff while the kids eat!!! The only time I can be sure my kids will be still, quiet, and happy, is when they are eating. They are physically pinned in their chairs, and since they are genetically similar to me, food makes them really happy. Dinner we try to eat together, but I get a TON of things done while they eat breakfast and lunch (most of it is in/near the kitchen so we can still talk/chat).
• During their breakfast I:
• unload the dishwasher,
• start/move a load of laundry in the basement,
• pack up whatever we need for our morning outings,
• make my bed (if I haven't already), and
• get dressed (for outings or the gym).
• During their lunch I:
• prepare my lunch for later,
• prep anything I can for dinner (cook chicken, chop veggies, etc.),
• clean up any leftover dishes, and
• sometimes move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
  
  This is also when I do my interviews with the kiddos! Every 6 months or so I just set up the video camera on them while they eat (or sit down with my computer to type) and ask them a bunch of questions. It is one of my favorite things to look back on how they spoke, what they loved, etc. in those intervals--and if its lunchtime, they're stuck in one spot to actually respond to the questions!
  
• Have a (loose-but-scheduled) daily routine. Six months ago I realized that I was wasting a lot of time, and missing out on a lot of things I really wanted to do. Around that same time I got a copy of Organized Simplicity (by Tsh of Simple Mom) for free on my Kindle. Kismet! Tsh suggested making 3 lists: one of things you ACTUALLY do every day, one of things you HAVE to do everyday, and one of things you WANT to do. Then you look at the things you actually do, and cut out the fat so you can fit in the things you want to do. I did it, and then I made a big, big schedule change.
  
  Last week I found myself in the same rut: lots I was missing out on, messy, disorganized days. So I sat down, made more lists, and rebooted my days. I have a loose schedule of things we do everyday, so I can be conscious that cleaning at 10am when the kids are stir-crazy is a bad idea, but at 1, after they've eaten, I have a golden 30 minutes while they play. Stuff like that. I type it up and stick it on the fridge to keep me dialed in. I would be happy to share my schedule if you care to see exactly what I mean. It has made me SO MUCH calmer.

I actually have a few more things to share, but I think I'll break here for now. Please, please tell me your tips and tricks in the comments! We're all in this together, right?