Getting tasks done when you are waiting for something else to complete

So what I am talking about is cleaning whilst the kettle is boiling and making sure our kids are safe and okay, we take out the bins to be emptied and whilst I wait for a vlog to upload, will clean the plates, cups and other items away that we used for Breakfast.  

I am not a fan of multitasking but am a fan of using my time wisely and making sure that the important things are done. Like today I have to take a picture of a fence that has fallen down and that my son is ready for school and write this blog whilst I eat my breakfast. 

I like to make sure I do some cleaning and tidying so will take a break from my laptop to do that as I can get burn out by being on my laptop all day. I like being productive and making sure my mind is healthy and feel good each day. I do get apprehensive and have an inner fear, but have these feelings managed. My son is challenging in the mornings as he has so much energy and not plain sailing and wants my attention a lot. 

So I will get up make sure he has his breakfast, is dressed and I'm dressed and whilst we share some toast I will go on my laptop and go through my Notion plan, today I went through my diaries to go through sone important dates for next year and what I plan to do today.  

Whilst waiting for my son to come home from school will play music and exercise, mainly legs and it is items that won't leave you procrastinating or distracted by leaving the tap on for hot water to come out, unattended. 

So short tasks that can be done whilst watching the sink fill up to clean the mugs we've used and have my morning coffee and get myself set up to do bits on my laptop and vlog. 

When cooking dinner I will play music and dry up from Lunch keeping things out that I need for dinner and during the afternoon will prep for dinner, depending on what I am making for dinner and again to take a break from my laptop and if I am going upstairs take an item that needs to go upstairs and love running a bath and scrolling on my phone or listen to audiobook or music.

If it isn't a bath night for me but for my son, I will get into my PJs. 

So to save time do tasks whilst you waiting for the kettle to boil or cooking dinner, etc and remember to have breaks and in evening you wind down to have a goods night sleep and that you feel good in what you have done today.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

My Daily Routine 2024

It is good to have a daily routine as this helps with developing new habits, like I will at 6:30am I get dressed and is when my son is supposed to put his uniform on, even though today, as I write this blog got dressed at 7:20am this morning but it is okay. As long as he puts it on and in time for when he is picked up to go to school, then that is what I focus on. 

Being flexible has helped me stay on track of my routine so this morning I won't be on my laptop only now because I will be taking a notebook to have a coffee as I have some bits to pickup like food and my husband wants a watch he has seen in one of the local charity shops and I like to check out the  clothing and accessories, then coming back home to then, use my laptop. I try to keep my time on my laptop to a minimum of an hour or two hours through the day as if I work on too much I get burn out and effects my sleep if on it in the evening so I will work on it up to 2pm each day and stop. 

Then through out the day I will tidy up the kitchen drying up the crockery used for breakfast lunch and put it all away keeping out what I will need for dinner and usually my husband will wash up and dry. Do a bit of cleaning in the other areas at home and fit in some exercise. I no longer give myself too much to do, but what I can realistically do. 

I use Notion to plan, today I am waiting for a Academic planner I got from Amazon only £5.99 (not sponsored) as I missed having physical planner as when I write it down aswell using digital resources, stays in my mind better and going to reuse my Personal Size Planner to take with me, to keep up to date with my son school events and term dates and other appointments, as I couldn't remember when I had my Mental Health Review and wrote it down on a bit of lose paper but had to go searching so to make my routine to have physical planners and diary to help. 

Having dinner at the same time has helped to wind down the evening for us to relax, catching up on TV, but on Wednesdays my son has an afterschool club so I will be walk to his school which takes about an hour and half, so my husband will cook and come back by train and picks us up. This is why it is good to be flexible, for my son as he enjoys it and it is nice to have some days where I don't cook and at the weekends we go back to our home in Wimbledon and I stopped bringing my laptop to concentrate on spending time with family and I work on the local hospital radio station and my son goes to a rugby club and I make sure that I get out and about and helps with my mental health to do different things at the weekend ready for the regular weekly routine. 

Thank you for you those who are regular viewers of this blog. I write many and if you'd like to read more blogs then please check out my Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/thetypicalLondongal/

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

When you have a lot of responsibilities

It really is a funny time of year as my motivation to get things done gets harder. I feel more tired and I know it is just my body adjusting to the season because of the change of daylight. Yet I have to get up making sure my bed is made, look after my son to help make sure he is ready for the day and getting few tasks done before my son's taxi arrives to take him to school. Then once he is at school pop out if I need to pick up any groceries or other items, work on my content and then be ready for when my son returns and tidy and clean up after breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Meal we like to have shops and vegetables and mash potato 

Having a lot of responsibilities comes stress, so I take my time and give myself less to do on each day and like I am clearing out my closet and just by doing a bit each day I can already see the room take shape and have more space so I can organise my clothes. The items that has been stored, my craft items in the closet, is to go in the shed we have in our back garden which is going to be where I will be doing my crafting. 

So I am focusing on what I can do still to work towards these plans and each morning I have been working on another book and finding secondary schools and means putting other things I want to do on hold and do what I can. 

I will wash up through out the day as I don't have a dishwasher so wash by hand and that we have all eaten and that my son has his schools clothes ready along with his clothes to change into when he comes home from school.

Divide the tasks, going through what is your main focus? This time of year I do a reset programme, called, Autumn reset to get certain tasks complete to prep before the festive season and focus Christmas and holidays leading up to it and do this reset from September to October. Check out my blog Everyone can be build a castle. 

Divide your year up into quarters. we are now in the last quarter for 2024 and I use Notion to plan, google calendar and notebook. 

To plan meals I use a planner and put this up on the kitchen wall and when it comes to shopping go through what is to be used in a food cupboards and fridge, to check your essentials, like ours is bread, milk, tea bags and coffee, food, like cereal, fruit and what we drink all of the time and plenty to make a meal out of. 

So spend sometime just going through what is the first thing you want to do and put on some good tunes, audiobook or a podcast and lets spend time getting our lives together. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie  X 

  

The Ten things I do to stay on top of organizing my life

There is always a good time to organize and get your life together and I like to do things that help me stay on track of my life and manage it in a way I don't get overwhelmed. 

1. Make sure that my bed has been made and that my son is okay and my clothes are laid out for the day ahead.

2. With laundry I do get help with that, but if I still got laundry to be done I do it in the mornings and then it is done and rotate my clothes, so it all gets worn, if not then it is given away and like to do a regularly declutter of my clothes and toiletries if I see something that is in good condition see if someone else may wear or use them or if there is any wear and tare when checking my clothes, they are dispose of but try to fix clothes now if I can, to try an eliminate waste, to stop adding to landfill.

3. Do a meal plan and think of different meals and check my fridge and food cupboards of what we have in terms of food and groceries and that it all gets eaten. 

4. Prep dinners. Like cutting up the potatoes, vegetables and meats. 

5. Go through my finances each Sunday and check my bank account daily.

6. Planning the week ahead and doing spending plan

7. Clear any dishes washed and put things away

8. Made sure I clean on area a day of my homes, as I live in Epsom and Wimbledon, to look after my son and making sure he is ready for school

9. If my son is unwell like he was this week, make sure I take note of when he has had medicine and his temperature.

10. Take breaks from my phone and laptop to focus on spending time with my son and loves it when we watch a bit of TV together and so I make sure we have that time as children grow up so fast that its those moments that I feel are important. 

I hope that this blog helps you and please follow then you won't miss a post,

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie  X 

Buying Stuff I do not need

I keep getting urges to buy more clothes and notebooks, when I don't need to so I have done a mood board of  items I am going to buy this year to limit it. 

 A Picture from today and want to spend my money to have a coffee and write, rather than a top I no longer need.

I am one of those that will put things in the basket and not buy anything and create wish lists as this makes me really decide if I need it or not and limit what clothing I buy and save for day trips to places, during school holidays or at weekends, for household products. I going to be buying pillows and a new bed sheet. 

To get reminded of what I have I do watch decluttering programmes and Youtube videos and I have filmed me decluttering as stuff is stuff, and so now I am trying to make the most of what I already have, and it feels good to use up what you got before buying anything else. 

Also what is important. Does it better to have nice bedding or buy another jumper because it is cheap? 

It is a decision that I battle a lot with, because I like buying clothes, so before I buy anything more going to have another declutter of my wardrobe and see if can find the items I want secondhand and I do want to change my style a bit. 

How do you shop for clothes? Please leave a comment below, as I like hear others and how they organise their life to help me not be bogged down with stuff. 

I am buying more of what is a good investment, example I have bought a pair of Swimming shorts as I take my son swimming and will be going swimming again once a week when my son is at school and check Better Gyms as you don't need a membership to book to us the facilities and take my son in the holidays, as he has been having swimming lessons, so want him to practice and such a good skill and not have a fear of water like I did. 

So buying items that I know is practical and will be worn and would like to stop wearing leggins all of the time, and save my money towards having a holiday and buy one or two items per year and not every month and now I am debt free check out my Financial Living Youtube channel: Life and Money - YouTube and so want to save and build my income, so I can save for a good holiday and want to go to more concerts and go to another music festival. So I have to decide what it important to me to be able to do that and don't a lot of clothing, and also focus on my health and looking after my body and mind, buy not buying things I don't need. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

Getting Bits Done

Today so far has been a good and productive. I have been getting up early and by doing that it has made me feel energized and it has help complete many things. I today finished my Life Coaching Course, Completed a section of my Counselling course, wrote down all the songs for my radio show on Friday, and posted my Cheat Sheet, check out my blog site: http://everyonecanbuildacastle.com/2024/07/29/weekly-cheat-sheet-acts-of-kindness/ and also my blog site: https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/2024/07/29/weekly-cheat-sheet-five-acts-of-kindness/

What you need not all the time but at the weekends and having a good time away from normality when everything is done. 

I like getting these little bits done and then it helps free up my time to go outside when it is good weather and don't choose to many things to do but what is important. So today I booked my Diabetic Review, as I had to cancel when it was booked, I couldn't make it so I rang the doctors today to book appointment. 

Noone wants to go to the doctors if they can avoid it and I got to book the dentist, but my fear of it is what's putting me off, so I am going to get this done and book for my son and not put it off anymore.

It is good to go through from bottom to top of your house or top to bottom and just picking up bits on the floor that shouldn't be on the floor as you go, making the beds or have your kids make their own bed and do it as soon as they get up and have a good routine whereby everything is done, not having to rush, and leaves time to get other bits completed to, that aren't so important but still need to completed such as going for a coffee and gets bits to eat and today bought a new toothbrush and personal items. 

It so good to manage my time that allows you to rest, get things done and feel that the day has been good, rather than a struggle.

Many thanks for reading, 

Carrie X 

Living in chaos and getting your stuff together

Do you feel that life is chaotic? Not knowing where to begin? I do put things off but I bite the bullet and just do it. You never going to write a book if you don't write or spend time outlining it or having a clean bathroom and not want to look at it so you keep the door closed and not using it to go for its purpose.

Storage for books and regularly go through them and any books that we kept donate, sell or hand them down so another child can enjoy them.

Clear the main areas in your home that is the place where you spend the most time in and the areas you need to use weekly like our bathroom, where we get ourselves clean but that not going to be possible if you can't actually get in the bath because it has a load of stuff in it.

So start with one area like the bath which you use most of the time and the toilet.

We use is the Living room and the Kitchen a lot so we clean this areas first and then clean the rest of house afterwards and main station points, like the dining table, fireplace and windowsills, then the floor and the kitchen the hob, kitchen sink and oven.

I at the moment see that one of my windowsill in the living needs tidying again and staying on top of it can be hard but not impossible to do. 

Clearing it up will take two second so as I write this blog I got up and sorted it out rather than keep looking at it and now I don't have to think about it, and so now can focus on my son eating his breakfast and getting ready for the day. 

Getting out of chaos and organise one area whilst you children have the breakfast, can literally help with wellbeing and a little does go a long way along with tasks that take up the most time, like cleaning the entire house in one day. I prefer to break it up and as thinking about doing it in one day puts me off and why it doesn't get done and like not cleaning the food cupboard all the time, but just taking a two minutes to check to see what is to be used and what I can get by as it is Saturday shopping day, that we can use up that helps to keep it tidy and is laid out so it can see everything.

Then there is bags. I am a bag clutterer and find it hard to keep them tidy so I will make sure that before I use a bag that I go through it and any recipes is in a little purse to put them in or with my Filofax which I use to go through my finances and that I go through what I have in them and if I can downsize on some days and I have been good I have stuck with my main handbag for about two years and not bought a new one and feel good about that. 

When it comes to rooms I will go through my clothes once a week to go through them and what have some clothes in Epsom and in Wimbledon so go through what I have that I can keep in Epsom and what I can keep in Wimbledon. I like having a sort through and rotate my clothes and anything that I know I am not going to wear, goes. 

So just taking two to ten minutes to just go through different places can help control the chaos. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X