Do you have no time for homemaking and the tasks that includes? It’s okay to take shortcuts. We all have busy times in our life when we need help.
When talking to others about homemaking the struggle I hear time and time again is finding enough time for everything that needs to be done. I understand I struggle with this often as well.
There is so much to do when it comes to homemaking; cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry, the list goes on and on. And that’s on top of all your other responsibilities.
It’s easy to find tips for better time management but sometimes there is no amount of time management that can give us the time we need for everything. It’s okay to use shortcuts.
You don’t have to have made from scratch meals every night, your home doesn’t have to be perfectly picked up at all times, your home doesn’t have to be perfectly decorated.
I’m a perfectionist and someone that wants to do it all. It’s even what many expect of me. People will message me for bread recipes just because they assume I make everything in our home from scratch. While at times in my life I have done this, right now isn’t one of those times.
I posted an Instastory a few days ago and in the background, you could see things piled on my sofa because I hadn’t had time to pick up that day. That’s real life. I had been on vacation and then was working on some business stuff and a little mess isn’t a big deal.
While I love to share how to make your home amazing and do all the things, I also want to share that you can’t be perfect and you can still be a great homemaker when your time is limited.
When You Don’t Have Time for Homemaking
There are a lot of great shortcuts you can use when things are busy and you feel like you are losing control. For me, I’m running a business and that takes up a lot of the time I used to use for things around the home. I also have made it a priority to keep evenings and most of the weekends pretty free so I have time with my husband, friends, and family.
I don’t use all of these shortcuts all of the time but they are great things you can turn to when you need a little help. Taking care of yourself should be a priority and that may mean you need to use some of these shortcuts.
Less Time Cleaning
Hire someone to clean for you.
There is nothing wrong with hiring a cleaning service. If this is something you can afford and will allow you to take care of your other priorities better, do it.
You can have someone come weekly or even just for a deep clean if you are overwhelmed and just need help getting back on track.
Declutter.
I’m not a minimalist and I’m not suggesting you become one unless that appeals to you. However, having less stuff makes cleaning a lot easier.
If you haven’t decluttered in a while do a big cleanout, get the family to help. You could even have a garage sale to make some extra money. Just make sure to keep up with it after.
Additional Resource: Tips to Make Decluttering Easier
Try a power hour clean.
When we are busy we are often distracted which can make everything take longer, even cleaning. Try doing a power hour clean where you are really focused to help get as much knocked out as possible.
Additional Resource: Get Your To-Do List Done With a Power Hour
Create a morning and evening routine.
Having a bit of cleaning added to a morning and evening routine can help you stay on top of things with limited time. If you don’t have a routine yet you maybe need to try a few different routines to find the best one for you.
Additional Resources:
Less Time Grocery Shopping
Use grocery store pick-up.
Many grocery stores now allow you to order online and pick up your groceries. There are even services that will deliver your groceries to your home.
Order your food online.
You can also order a lot of groceries online from places like Thrive Market and Amazon Prime. Usually, this is for non-perishables but there are more and more places where you can order fresh food.
Only go grocery shopping once a month.
This is what I do and it works really well. It also helps me save money. It can seem overwhelming and yes you may need a small stop every 1-2 weeks for some fresh produce and milk but even if you have to make those quick stops you will save time.
Additional Resource: Once a Month Grocery Shopping
Less Time Cooking and Meal Planning
Use a meal planning service.
If doing meal planning on your own is taking too much time try a service that does it for you. Eat at Home is a great option, they make the meal plans and the shopping lists for you. It makes it all very easy and they even have a slow cooker option.
Use meal kits.
There are so many meal kits out there now. They send you all the ingredients you need for your meals and easy to follow recipes. This can cut out meal prep time, keep you from ordering out, and cut down on grocery shopping time.
Additional Resource: An Honest Blue Apron Review
Try freezer cooking.
Freezing cooking is a great way to save time on daily cooking. You can either double meals you are making and stick the second one if the freezer, that’s an easy way to build up a stock. Or you can have a day that you make a lot of meals at once to freeze.
Additional Resource: Intro to Freezer Cooking and 50 Healthy Freezer Meal Recipes
Less Time Doing Laundry
Do less laundry.
Are you washing things you wore for an hour? Many clothing items can be worn more than once and cut down on laundry time. This also helps your clothing last longer. My husband and I both have baskets where we put clothes that can be worn again. It keeps them separate from our clean clothes and still out of the way.
Use a laundry service.
If you really have no time for laundry consider if it’s worth hiring this task out. This may not be the best option if you are sensitive to harsh chemicals or avoiding harsh chemicals on your clothing but it can save you a lot of time.
Use a clothing rental service.
Something that has cut down on my laundry is renting clothes. I use Le Tote and love it. You pick the clothes you want, they are shipped to you clean and you ship them back dirty. They take care of the cleaning, which is really nice for the dry clean only items.
The most important thing with homemaking is finding what works for you and your family and having a comfortable home that you can all enjoy. If that means taking shortcuts or even hiring people at times in your life, that’s okay.
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