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Time management - cooking, cleaning, and exercise

Discussion in 'Spotless Kitchen' started by kkrish, Apr 22, 2012.

  1. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Kylie

    Love the exercise routines that u hv included in yr thread.
    Thank you.

    You come across as someone who loves to exercise, handles both office n home chores and is also good at time management.

    While I say yes to the first one, Let me make it very clear here that I am NOT GOOD at time management at all.
    In fact the very reason I started this is share my inadequacy in trying to do it all and not being able to.
    So please do not look up to this thread as an answer or solution to time management.

    I am trying out FlyLady's method, but tweaking to suit my lifestyle and sharing it with everyone. I am putting one step forward and two steps back.


    However, looking at some of yr timings, I feel either u work at supersonic speed or I am too slow. For eg. u take a mere half hour to finish yr dinner, wash the dishes, clean the kitchen n mop the floor. While I take 15 mins to finish dinner, 20 mins to do the dishes and another 15 mins to clean to kitchen top, stove, chimney, sink n sweep the floor [we r a family of 4]

    If you really look at my "what I really did" you will see that I have taken more than 30 minutes.

    Please also remember that I am writing this at the end of my day and am giving just an estimate of times I started. They may be plus or minus 5-10 minutes.

    One more thing: as for cleaning the kitchen, I am "clean as you go" person. I have a damp cloth with me and I keep wiping the ktichen counters and the stove sides after every job.

    Also my stove top is a flat glass; easier to clean.

    I also cook immediately after my evening coffee and the vessels that I use are washed immediately withe the coffee cups. I also sweep after every time I cook.

    So it really takes less time to wash after dinner; just two plates and two glasses, and perhaps a container or two and two ladles.

    While this week I was focusing on exercises that can be done without any special equipment, I was planning to give small tips for our grooming next week.
    But I will share with you all one week of cooking schedule and this time I will document start time, and finish time.
    If it is too much information, just bear with it for a week.

    Anyways, ur routine is quite motivating n encourages one to be on the move always.

    I am glad. As I mentioned at first, please do adapt only those that you think will fit you and your lifestyle.

    It will be quite a while to reach my goal of doing something for just 15 minutes a day and have a clean home with time left to do exercise, watch a movie, read a book, take up a craft project, knowing that everything is taken care of.

    Thank you for your valuable feedback. It helped me rethink what kind of information that is needed here.
     
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  2. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Wednesday April 25 What I did today
    This week the Zone is Master (Main) Bedroom.
    *****************************
    5:00 am – 10 am: I woke up at 5. Had my coffee. But after yesterday’s gardening, I was introduced to muscles I didn’t know I had, my body was begging to get back into bed. I thought 5 minutes. When I woke up it was 6:15!!
    No morning workout…who needed it anyway? I quickly checked in the freezer...Ah...I had some vathakuzhambu and some plaintain curry. Put them out to thaw. Made buttermilk oats for breakfast, set the rice cooker, and heated up the vathakuzhambu and plaintain curry. Yep, no fresh cooking today. Had my shower and just wiped the shower door and walls – the rest of the bathroom looked okay.
    Had my b’fast and left for work. Parked the car far away.
    Fortunately I was on time. So work started as usual without panic
    .
    10:am – mini fitness routine for 3 minutes
    I worked thru lunch also. However, I took many breaks and walked to fill up my bottle of water, then walked to the printer and stuff. So was not sitting through out.
    2pm – I had a training in another building. So I walked to and from.
    5:30 pm – home. worked an extra 30 minutes.
    6:00 – 7:30 pm - Gardening
    7:30 – Wiped down shower and let dry after shower.
    8 pm: Dinner was quickie uppuma. Same routine Washed dishes, cleaned sink. Wiped down stove top, swept floor. No mopping.
    No music practice for 3 days….
    9-10 pm – Before bedtime routine. Posting this to IL.
    Below are before and after pictures of my two day efforts.
    006.JPG 007.JPG
     
  3. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Thursday, April 26 plan
    This week the Zone is Master (Main) Bedroom.
    *****************************
    5:00 am – 8 am: Same as Tuesday. Park the car far away.
    Tomorrow I will be in an all day training. They are predicting thunderstorms tomorrow. So I will stay put indoors.
    5pm – reach home.
    6:00 – 7:30 pm – Master bedroom cleanup.
    7:30 –9:30 pm: Post clean up routine
    9:30- 10 pm – Before bedtime routine.
    ************
    002.JPG

    See you all tomorrow.
     
  4. manjukps

    manjukps IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Kamala,

    Why I prefer the morning work-out is I can take bath after that. If I finish the commitment then I can be relaxed. If I postpone I'll end up skipping due some unexpected work or I may feel lazy. Once I finish, then I can be relaxed in the afternoon to recharge myself to carry on till night. With chennai heat very difficult to walk I treadmill which is in first floor near open terrace. Till Last month power cut had been from 2 to 4, now shifted to 4 to 6.

    Ok for today skipped walking, but did yoga (along with surya namaskarams which includes the postures as shown I your above reply "great men think alike, so do women:thumbsup") as I cannot go for yoga class as planned since I have to go to DS's school to enquire about getting season ticket and get that for him in station. Already he had been shuntted between stations by railway personnels. He is upset as only now he is getting exposed to real outside world.

    Regards
    Manjukps
     
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  5. Megalife

    Megalife Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi all
    Hipppyyy...ya...ya.....last day of this mind-numbing, monotonous week! This week we had a string of lame training sessions at work. God...how I hate training! Do I think I know it all???.... And do not need training???......NO! Its just that some of them kill you by dragging the topic.
    OK, before Kamla squeezes the life out of me for deviating from the thread:
    5:15 am -My Dh was woken up a bit earlier than usual by the corporate HR manager.......one of the employees father had passed away (RIP) and needed to rush to his Country! And I cannot sleep with noise around so I woke up too!
    So what???.... I was treated to a steaming cup of black coffee at 5.30 am! Since we had some bonus time at hand we thought of sorting all the bank docs. out, it was in a mess and took 30 mins. 6 am shower. Got this brilliant idea of surprising the kids with some feathery banana pan cakes.....15 mins and the breakfast was set! Dh woke the kids in the mean time, my DD wakes up eyes shut and hands stretched for her DAD to carry her. She says she intends doing so untill she is 17! ....and I wonder what are her plans after 17? Son, woke up with his copyright tag line " G Morn...and what's for beakfast?" GLUTON!!!
    6.30: dressed up for work, had to change twice!
    6.50: Kids all ready, suited and booted with theirlittle tummies full!
    I smiled, pleased that one day I had got out on time, and could drive at a normal speed like an ideal resident! BUT.....( and I hate those "but")
    I forgot where I had parked my car? 10 precious mins were gone with myself and my team of brats hunting down the car! Didn't have a choice.....drove again like an asylum resident! Muttered to myself that ‘some people’ can never ever have the privilege of leisure time! Dumped the kids at the school gate by 7:30 am....horned and honked my way to work......parked the car and dashed for the employee electronic scanner; including the grace period we have to sign in by 7:45 am latest!!!!!....tick....tok...tick...tok went the damn scanner as if ridiculing me! YUp...I did it. Just barely escaped being late, I was grinning like a fool, as if I had just hit the Jack pot!
    Got settled at work, dealt with two troublesome environmental agencies! I keep wondering why some people are so exasperating.
    Plans for evening:
    2;30 drive home, 3 pm lunch, a short nap before the kids arrive, instruct the maid to polish the furniture ( if I ask her to it whilst I am at work, all she will do is polish herself!!!)…. plausible watch Tezz as a family in the theatres….still unsure, reviews do not sound great!
    MEGA
     
  6. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Hello everybody!
    This morning I woke earlier than usual. I was very hungry. Don’t know why.
    ***************
    My morning routine was the same. I walked 45 minutes.
    Parked my car farther away; fortunately it was just drizzling. Then I walked to another building for my training 6-7 minutes– four times.
    Exercise today was good
    .
    003.JPG
    ***************
    Evening was my master bedroom clean up. Dinner was dosai with leftover sambar. So I began my work at 5:30 pm.
    I documented the start time and finish time and how I did it. Please note that my bedroom size, and the amount of stuff in it, are totally different from others. So it may take quicker or longer for everyone else.
    ****************
    Although FlyLady’s method is to do this room 15 minutes each day for a week, personally I like to clean the bedroom thoroughly at one stretch.
    Here goes.
    Items needed: Large Laundry basket, vacuum cleaner; 2 cloth (I use microfiber cloth – they are good)-one damp one dry, Windex or any glass cleaner.
    By the time I gathered these it was 5:36.

    5:36 – 5:52 pm
    Collected all the stuff except clock, from end tables, on top of dresser, on the floor, in laundry basket. Took basket out of the room.
    • Moved all moveable stuff out of the room.
    • Removed all the pillows, comforters, and curtains and placed them out of the room.
    • Left bed sheet on the bed.

    5:52-6:35 pm
    Starting at one corner vacuumed the ceilings and came back to the starting point.
    • Then the walls the same direction, window shutters, the baseboards, doors, door sills, and the space between carpet and wall. Used attachments to get into small spaces.

    6:35 – 6:45
    • Vacuumed floor.
    6:45 – 7:45
    Wiped windows and shutters
    • Wiped ceiling fan
    • Then replaced furniture back in position; thoroughly wiping down each with a damp cloth and then with a dry cloth.
    • Hung curtains.
    • Removed sheet and vacuumed bed.
    • Put fresh sheets, fresh pillow covers and fresh comforters. Hung fresh curtains.
    • Placed old sheets in laundry bin. Washed one comforter.
    • Thoroughly wiped the doors with a little Windex.

    As I had already de-cluttered the last time I was in this zone, there was not much stuff.
    I hope you find this cleaning detail useful.
    While my plan was to spend 1.5 hours it actually took an extra 45 minutes for a total of 2.25 hours.

    My bedroom is plain and Spartan and I like it that way. I found thru experience that the more stuff, more dust accumulates. My bedside table holds a desk lamp, my iPhone for alarm, and a book-clip-on light. I like to read a few pages before calling it a day. The last thing I see before switching off the light for the day are my sons’ pictures when they were toddlers.

    mstrbed 006.JPG

    The one exception is a 5 ft cupboard to hold our towels. I am again old school and do not like to store towels in the bathroom. So we have this placed just outside the bathroom door. The top two shelves hold towels for daily use, the third holds small towels used for travel and in the bottom shelf are towels for guests.
    mstrbed 001.JPG

    We also do not comb our hair in the bedroom. That is done in the bathroom where there is no carpeting. This makes it easier to clean.

    I also managed to practice my music before coming up to document this.
    Will see you tomorrow.
     
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  7. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Manju
    I understand the reason for preference for a morning workout. You are right; many times I have postponed to afternoon which never happened.

    Hope you got the season tickets for your son. It is unfortunate that a simple thing as acquiring a season ticket should be made so difficult.

    Have a great day. I saw your post in clean home. Thank you for mentioning my thread.
     
  8. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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  9. Magee

    Magee Moderator Staff Member Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi Ladies,

    Happy to join here..... very nice & interesting thread.
    I am working + homemaker (Dual role:cool:), we are two member family (myself and husband).
    I start from home from 8.20 AM to work and again get back to my home by 7.15 PM.

    will catch you soon with elobarate details of my schedules.

    Magee
     
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  10. manjukps

    manjukps IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi Kamala,

    Though I skipped my morning walk, I preferred to walk back to the station from my son's school as my son and friends walked. Finally I ended up buying regular season as the railway authorities are not giving it since it is vacation time. They are ready only to issue in the month of June. They should have been plain on this to the students. But they made students shunt between stations and not made the point clear. The school authorities issued form specifying 'No vacation now'. May be it is communication problem between school and railways.

    Being friday skipped workout in the morning, as did intense (though everyday I wipe and put kolam) cleaning the pooja room. Yesterday itself I washed the silver lamp along with other items used for abhishekam everyday.
    so the lamp needed special attention like putting chandan and kumkum etc. Will try to walk before shower in the night.

    Normally I do multitasking. While I am browsing put the grinder on to prepare uthappam batter following idli batter. I also have a practice of grinding one other batter such as adai, aappam, uthappam whenever I grind for idli. So the grinder needs one cleaning. Mostly this serves me the whole week. If needed one more time I prepare idli batter.

    A quick tip is : Take 1.5 : 1.5 : 1 of boiled rice, raw rice and Urad daal and a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds. Make this as flour and store. Whenever you want uthappam mix with right amount of water. Even you don't have to mix properly. Even if there is lumps pour some more water to immerse the flour. Next morning mix it well and your uthappam batter is ready. Like wise mix right amount of daals, red chilli, asafoetida and powder it coarsely. You are ready with instant adai. I know you cannot make flour in US like in Indian rice mills but try mixing the flours you get. When I lived there Idli rava is the one I used for everything.

    Also I take my nap as late as possible so that I don't oversleep.

    Regards
    Manjukps
     
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