How to Multi-task at Home

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Whether you’re single or married with children, your home should be as organized as your workspace in order to create a comfortable, welcoming environment. Here are some tips on minimizing household tasks and maximizing your personal potential through multi-tasking.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Multi-tasking at Home

Step1

Keep home and work separate. The concept of prioritizing can’t be emphasized enough and keeping your focus on work at work and home at home means that the individuals in either place are going to get your full attention at a specified time. That means that you’ll stay productive and they’ll stay happy.

Step2

Bundle your services. Save time and money by keeping your land-line phone, wireless, internet and cable costs all on one bill. This saves money in the long-term (you can add lines and have money left over to go toward your zillion-inch flat screen fund) and cuts down on the number of bills that come in each month.

Step3

Create schedules. Children especially benefit from the structure and security of scheduling and schedules teach them how to organize their time and stay on-task. They will thank you when prioritizing (there’s that word again) their time during the activity-packed high school and college years.

Step4

Skip the stereotypes. Culturally, women are assumed the better multi-taskers and are expected to approach household chores as such. Besides being a debilitating concept, there is no proof that members of both sexes can’t improve upon their multi-tasking skills. Split the chores and spice it up with a reward for whoever finishes first.

Step5

Keep good nutrition a top priority. Ready-made and processed food products are loaded with fat and preservatives. Take a half-hour to create a meal plan for the week, another half-hour to buy the groceries and a couple of hours to prepare everything on your menu. Put the prepared food into compartmental containers and freeze what you won’t be eating within the next day.

Tips & Warnings

If you must conduct business outside of the workplace, try to limit it to email. Emails take only seconds to answer, but a phone call can cut into personal or family time.
Delegating tasks to others in the home is not tyranny. It’s just plain smart.
If you make yourself available, people will take advantage. Limit the number of phone numbers and email addresses that you give away.