Time Tidbits: Healthy Women

Recently, Healthy Women conducted a survey of over one thousand women to find out when they are most busy. No surprise that the survey found women feel the biggest time crunch from 6-9 am and again from 5-8 pm. These are my busiest times too - getting people ready, and the whole dinner-time and evening activities.

HealthyWomen created a list of a dozen great time-saving tips.

1. Make Fridays leftover night – you will clean out the fridge and save time and money (especially compared to going out to eat).
2. Use commercial breaks to squeeze in some of the end-of-day chores – sort laundry, start the washer, vacuum a room, unload the dishwasher, organize the kitchen counter. You can also use it to do mini-workouts.
3. Sign up for free automatic bill-paying services and make sure to get online access to your bank account - paying bills automatically saves time, postage, and gas!
4. Combine as many errands as you can into one outing to reduce travel time.
5. Ask for help! Keep a list of your errands and an ear open in case your spouse, relative or friend is headed to the same place.
6. Ride your bike, walk or run to run local errands – eliminating the need to take time to exercise later.
7. Set a schedule and establish boundaries throughout the day. For example, at the beginning of each conversation, tell others how much time you have available. It’s as easy as saying, “I’m glad you called, but I’ve only got about 10 minutes to chat…” (this actually works really well, and people do appreciate knowing up front)
8. Make email more efficient – spending the time to unsubscribe for all the junk emails will give you an inbox with just the information you want, and less time deleting the stuff you don’t.
9. Take public transportation to work, and use that time to read, update your to-do list, or answer personal emails.
10. You may not need to shampoo every day - your hair will be healthier and shinier and your shower will be shorter (or skip showering every other day - if you aren't working up a sweat this won't be a problem).
11. Keep your period light – at least packing for it. Wear a menstrual cup all day and save time packing up other protection.
12. Set your clothes out the night before.

This last one is something I've really been trying to do. Not so much my clothes - I work from home so it doesn't matter what I wear - but my daughter's clothes, lunch, and anything else she needs for preschool. It's made mornings so much more relaxed! I'm also trying to implement a "do it now" philosophy - if it needs to be done, I do it right away, instead of letting things pile up (which really tends to de-motivate me).

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and Softcup and received a $30 gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”