Don't come at me, but I use both paper and digital. I know, I know... I should choose, but y'all I just cannot give up my paper planner. When I make an appointment or we have plans, travel, whatever, I do add it all to the digital version, but I update that paper planner regularly too.
Digital might be handy, but it's not pretty and doesn't give you the same sort of satisfaction holding an actual product in your hand does.
2. Meal planning, meal prep, or wing it.
I plan meals, weekly for the most part. We're always up for spontaneous dinners out with friends, but I still need to have a rough menu for the week. I would find not having a plan to be unnecessarily stressful.
I can cook so if I need to wing it I will, but that is so rare. I make a menu for. the week, shop for ingredients, and for the most part stick pretty closely to that menu.
3. Do you choose your outfit the night before?
Nope. If I have an appointment, or we have church the next day, then yes I think ahead of time about what I'll wear, but life is super casual on the lake so dressing doesn't require a lot of planning. Swim suit-check. Cover up-check. Let's go.
4. Tips for managing laundry and ironing.
Throw a load in first thing in the morning and follow it through all the way to the putting away part of the job. Don't let laundry get away from you.
Here's my tip for ironing-marry a man who excels at ironing. Works for me.
5. Grocery shop in store or online.
In store. Hubs likes to say I need to handle every single piece of produce before choosing the exact right one, and he's not wrong. For the most part I don't mind grocery shopping.
6. Best tips for getting out the door in the morning without the chaos.
Retire lol.
7. Share your easiest dinners for crazy weeks.
Tacos, breakfast for dinner, rotisserie chicken with some rice and veggies on the side, pasta sauce that's been frozen in batches to pull out when you're too exhausted to cook. Same with soups, chilis and stew. Make enough for two meals, eat one when you make it and freeze the other.
8. Best tips to keep your house organized during the week.
Having grown kids certainly helps. Course then they have kids of their own and when they bring them to Nana's house all bets are off.
9. Share your easiest breakfast.
I make hard boiled eggs and keep those in the frig for an easy grab and go early morning protein. I always have fruit and yogurt in the house.
10. Share your best overall tip not covered.
Set a timer for ten minutes and do a speed clean/pick up of an area that's making you twitch.
Don't go to bed with dishes in the sink or crumbs on the counter. You might hate the idea of doing one more thing, but waking up to a sink full of dishes is a sad way to begin a new day.
Prioritize sanity over perfection.
You're doing great!
I love these tips for the season of life you are in! I also use a paper and digital planner. Thank you so much for joining us this month.
ReplyDeleteI do a lot of these things, too! I feel like there is a different kind of retired life when one spouse is still full time. Tom leaves the house at 7:30 and comes home close to 6 and there's no popping in at home during the day. He doesn't want to go out on weeknights, and I didn't either when I was working. There's usually one night a week that he comes home and I am out for a bit. It works for us.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have any clothes that need to be ironed anymore if I promptly take them from dryer and hang. I also discovered the steam fresh setting on my dryer and can "iron" in 3 minutes!
Prioritize sanity over perfection- YES! Some of the people who HAVE to have a spotless house or counter actually have OCD and other diagnoses that compels them clean over and over. My husband jokes that he wishes I had something like that sometimes! I also like to pick out my fruit and veggies. The seventeen year old employee at the store- I'm glad the teen has a job- but he or she is not the one who's going to be eating the food so I want to pick it out!
ReplyDeleteYes, I love the timer idea and use that for myself often for tasks I tend to delay. I don't mind in store grocery shopping either. I know those little ones love coming to your house! Enjoy another day of retirement!
ReplyDeleteHad to smile at your tip for ironing. I have a similar tip for dealing with supper dishes.
ReplyDeleteI use both a paper and digital planner too. Sometimes it is easier to write it down on paper instead of opening an app and putting it on there.
ReplyDeleteI love a bit of meal planning, when I don't we seem to have no idea and just order a takeaway!
I am terrible for keeping on top of the laundry! I am great at washing and drying it but not so much at sorting and putting it away.
When Joe's calendar was still in the mix, we kept a paper calendar (a big one) in the kitchen pantry, with both of our appointments and activities. I kept mine in my phone calendar, but we always checked the paper calendar before scheduling anything so there were no over-laps. Now, I just use my Google calendar. I do not do meal planning, unless I have guests staying for a few days or longer. Yes to keeping the laundry done and no dishes in the sink! xo
ReplyDeleteI use paper plus digital, too! I meal plan my lunches plus the big Tuesday night meal for YA. The rest of the time we are winging it!
ReplyDeleteI use paper and digital diaries too and we often cook two meals at a time and freeze one. And I have a hubby who can iron.
ReplyDeleteWe are both very smart in the same way when it comes to laundry or ironing - marry well. Haha! I agree with the empty sink and clean counters before bed. It's always worth it. Retire is my favorite tip for a chaos free morning.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely more health issues. True about the laundry and meals to plan. I use paper and I set timers on my phone for all of my appointments. We usually plan day to day for meals. Yes, I only choose an outfit if I have an appointment. Mark irons his shirts and does laundry. I shop in store for groceries. I agree with your meal plan for busy weeks. Good idea on the hard boiled eggs. We never go to bed with dishes in the sink. Fun post.
ReplyDeleteBest tip? Retire. I love it. It really does help. In so many ways!!:)
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Joyce - retirement brings a new lens to the word "busy" and, for the most part, it's pretty wonderful! I do find that I do much better and accomplish more when I have structure to my days, so things like grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning and daily pick ups are all built into my weekly routines!
ReplyDeleteI love your musings on being retired and how life changes once that happens. I also love the "set a 10 minute timer and deal with a problem area" tip. I need to do that more often as you can really get A LOT done in 10 minutes!
ReplyDelete