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Originally Posted by annethcz  I'm a night person, so I do as much prep work as I can the night before. This means that I make sure the house is in order before I go to bed. I make lunches, pick out clothes, set up breakfast, make sure I have dinner planned for the next day, pack any bag I might need, etc. By being prepared for the day, it allows me to chill out and enjoy the day as it comes.
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I do this too. There are a lot of great suggestions already posted, I haven't read them all though, so some of what I write may be redundant. But here are some of the things I do. (About me: married working, student mama to one toddler)
Because we are all so busy and have things that we need to take with us every day, each family member has a backpack that we keep in the kitchen (currently on the floor or counter, but we bought hooks for them to hang on - just gotta get them up
). I use the packs to carry diapers and lunches for ds and my own work and lunch for me.
I plan out meals a week in advance (this is a big help for me - keeps us from eating out and spending too much). I only buy ingredients needed for meals, along with standard lunch and breakfast items. I check the meal plan in the evening after dinner and get the items needed out of the cupboards or freezer to stage dinner for the next day.
I have a schedule for diaper laundry (every other day) and prepare all diapers for daycare the night before. Wash diapers first thing when I come home from work every other day.
The rest of the laundry is divided into four hampers (5 if you count the diaper hamper). One for me, DH, DS, and the forth one is for towels and underwear (which we keep in the bathroom). All the clothes are washed in cold and the towels and diapers are washed on hot. So there is no sorting (aside from putting things in the right bin). This makes laundry easier. Clothes are washed every Saturday. I wash sheets and towels every Sunday. I usually scrub the bathroom when I get up on Sunday morning and before I wash towels. Laundry is folded in the evenings after ds goes to bed or during his naps. I put things away in the morning or just before bed, depending on how busy I am.
Sweeping, dusting, dish washing are done as needed. Usually once a week, once every two weeks, and twice a day, respectively. Since I only clean with vinegar and water and baking soda, I have a box of baking soda in the kitchen and bathroom and a spray bottle with vinegar/water in each room too. I keep color coded microfiber clothes in baskets in kitchen and bathroom too. Using different colors helps keep the bathroom ones separate from the kitchen ones. The cat gets fed and box scooped once a day. I sweep up stray litter around the box generally every day too.
I sort through the mail daily as soon as I get it. Bills are put in a special folder right away junk mail goes straight in the trash. I check the books and write bills once a week (usually during my lunch break at work).
The whole family has meds/vitamins in weekly pill boxes. I fill them every Sunday evening. We all take them before bedtime. DH get's DS ready for bed while I tidy up the downstairs and pick up any stray toys. DH and I take turns putting DS to bed.
For me, the biggest helps are preparing lunch and outfits the night before and also meal planning. Without these two things, our lives would be much more chaotic. Good luck!
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