Absolutely not!  If you want to take me time, you
have to MAKE me time.

In an average 24-hour day, 8 hours are spent
sleeping (hopefully), leaving 16 hours remaining.
If you work outside the home, telecommute or run
your own business, you’ve committed 9-10 more
hours (including commute time, if applicable),
reducing the hours available to 6.

Getting ready for work in the morning and going
to bed at night may eat up another hour and a
half.  Now you’re down to 4.5 hours left in the
day.  But you still haven’t cooked dinner, done
any laundry, helped with homework, chauffeured
the kids around and picked up around the house.

How can you do all of that and take me time? By
spending that 4.5 hours more efficiently.

The following tips will help you to do just that.

1. Dinner doesn’t have to eat up (pun intended) a
lot of time.  Between slow cookers and delicious
30-minute meal recipes, dinner can be ready in 40
minutes or less.

2. While your food is cooking, wash some of the
dishes you used during preparation and set the
table.

3. Have your family help you get dinner ready.
It’s a great opportunity to get something done
AND catch up.

4. While you’re making dinner, have your kids do
their homework at the dinner table.  That way
you’ll be available for quick questions.  If they
need help with problems that will be more long
and involved, save those for after dinner.  In
the meantime, they can finish most of their
homework while you cook.

5. When you’re on the phone catching up with
friends or family, clean the kitchen.  It’s
amazing what you can accomplish during a
conversation.  Wipe down the counter tops, empty
the dishwasher, clean the inside of the
microwave, scrub the top of the stove, and wipe
the refrigerator door.

6. Use your toaster oven more and your regular
oven less.  Many toaster ovens come with a baking
or convection feature.  Use it as much as you
possibly can.  Not only will you save on your
electric bill but the toaster oven is much easier
to clean.  And when the trays get so that you
just cannot clean them anymore, throw them away.
You can purchase inexpensive replacements at Bed,
Bath and Beyond or Linens n Things.

7. Limit after school activities.  Yes childhood
is a time to try many different things—just not
all at once!  Limiting extracurricular
involvements will reduce the stress level in the
family; allow kids plenty of time for homework
and sleeping and help you keep your sanity.

8. Create a box or tote bag for yourself stuffed
with magazines you want to read, notes you want
to write, bills you have to pay, grocery lists
you want to make, coupons you want to go through,
etc.  Take this with you whenever you drive your
kids to their activities.  While you’re waiting
for them, get out your box and keep yourself
productive in the meantime.

9. Determine a laundry schedule that works for
you and stick to it.  Some families like to do a
little bit each day.  Some families prefer to do
it once a week.  The nice thing about laundry is
that you can put a load in and then go do
something else.

10. Make your house LOOK clean, even when it is
not.
a. Keep it clear of clutter.  When a home is
clutter free it looks cleaner, even if the dust
is piled up.
b. Insist that beds be made every morning.  It
really only takes a minute.
c. Don’t let dishes pile up in the kitchen sink.
Put them in the dishwasher.  If they are not
dishwasher safe, store them in there until you
have time to wash them.
d. Do not allow clothes to be thrown around the
room or piled up.  If they’re dirty, they go in
the hamper.  If they need to be dry cleaned, put
them in a bag specifically designated for this
purpose.  Otherwise hang them up or put them
away.
e. Room most items from the bathroom counter
tops.  If something MUST sit out, purchase an
attractive container to store it in.

This great article was submitted by Jackie McLaughlin.
Jackie operates Making Me Time.com
(http://www.makingmetime.com), a website
dedicated to showing you how to make time for “me
time” every single day! Subscribe to her FREE
monthly ezine full of tips and tricks to free up
hours in your week. Just send a blank email to
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