I think that time saving tips are life-savers for people who are trying to juggle many roles (e.g. a mum, a daughter, a boss, an employee, a friend…) and choose not to have a domestic helper.
Personally, I am still in a quandary whether to engage a helper in future. Even though I openly advised my mummy friends who are also working mums to engage one in Singapore because of the overall cost and time savings they will enjoy, I am not sure if it is “morally” right to do so. This requires a separate article to explain the moral dilemma that I face.
I have previously shared about 3 vegan brain food. In that article, I preached about the idea of preparing time-saving fruits – berries, for our children.
While I do not have children yet, I am still fascinated by time-saving tips for mum because I think it is always good to be prepared. This is what I told myself when I embarked on my tutoring journey the last 10 years. Till date, I still do not feel ready for motherhood even though I interact with children and their families on a daily basis.
If you are a new mum, to-be-mum or an experienced mum, this article is for you. I hope you can share some of your tips in the comments section below too!
Here are some new ideas that I learnt today:
1. Split the task of ferrying children
This is such a good idea but it is contingent upon whether you can meet good neighbours. I think it will be easier for people in Singapore who live in a community that have young families and children of the same age to adopt this strategy. I live in an older neighbourhood so I doubt the chances of meeting a neighbour friend like this will be high. Nevertheless, it’s still a great idea worthy to be shared with more people!
” Mrs Yeo and her neighbour take turns ferrying their children to and from school. This frees up some time for her to attend to her chores and freelance work. It also saves her the hassle of bringing her younger child along, especially in bad weather.” Source: Singaporemotherhood.com, CONSTANCE SEOW
2. Break down large tasks into manageable portions
“Large tasks may appear daunting and require more time than is available. In order to make full use of little empty slots of time, Mrs Lim breaks down large tasks into smaller ones which can be completed in 15 minutes. For example, rather than to try and clean the entire house in a short window of time, she focuses on a corner and continues the next time she has an available time slot.” Source: Singaporemotherhood.com, CONSTANCE SEOW
I have known this tip but I almost always forget to practise it in real life. I get carried away by so many other distractions that I find it difficult to return back to the tasks. Sometimes, I just give up. I think my frustrations and distress coincide with the menstrual cycle. I find my living environment the most intolerable during my pre-menstrual week and that is when I will make an effort to keep things back into the cabinets. I am noting this down to remind myself to break down tasks and follow through with the to-do-list.
The article listed down 10 tips but I am only re-sharing these 2. You can check out more ideas by reading the full article here.