Being a Manager of Your Time

Halfway through 2017, I started to make myself “house manager”, rather than the “suck it up and do it all-er” that I found myself sometimes slipping into. In 2018, I am kicking it up a gear.

I knew I wanted to reduce the amount of thinking, remembering and mental energy doing things that could be routined and automated to go with my overall goal for this year to reduce stress this year.

This is not a comprehensive list of what can be done & I am sure there are a variety of companies that can fulfil these roles, but these are the services/products I personally use and have no complaints about.

What I Have in Place Now in Date Order

1. Joined a co-operative for bulk, quality food ordering. 10 local families have come together to purchase wholesale ordering from Ceres Organics. Once a month we place an order for good food that can keep and reduce the amount of time & the cost we spend in the supermarket for OK food.
2. To co-inside with the above, I used FlyBuy rewards to acquire some glass food containers. This is so, at a glance, I can see what requires reordering.
3.  I hired a cleaner. Yes, I could clean my house and do still get a deep clean/organising bug, BUT there is something very satisfying about working in my office, delivering for my clients or taking my kids out, whilst my house is being cleaned by someone who is much better at it than me.
4. Bathroom products – For the past 5months I have done 3 bulk orders from Totally Balmy. This makes me so happy for so many reasons. First, it is a brilliant local kiwi business. Second, there is a zero waste delivery option. Third I don’t have to worry about running out of soap, body wash, shampoo or shaving cream. How blooming awesome is that!
   

   Yes, there is more.

5. I have really loved finding ways to automate things, that I didn’t even realise were things like Loo Roll. Who wants to be caught out short on loo roll? Never worry about it again with SmartAss (brilliant branding to boot).
6. Toothbrushes, I now just by 4 bamboo brushes a year for each family member, once a year.
7. I got myself a reusable razor from Biome Eco Store. You can get similar products from NZ but this was a well times FB advert. I love it and will not be going back. Note; it works great with Totally Balmy’s Nourish body soap as shaving cream substitute.
8. Steal straws from Created Homewares for the convenience of never having to buy something again and again.
9. Dog food. Yep dog food. Feed My Food Baby asks for info on your dog so it delivers the right amount for your dog as you need it. How cool is that!

Stuff I’ve been doing for a few years, so worth a mention; Moon Cup, Re-usable shopping bags and Direct Debit (paperless) set up utilities etc with the bank.

All this cuts down huge amounts of thinking time. Not only do I not have to re-buy stuff but anything that runs out is either automated or done as a bulk order. I imagine I have saved a few hours a week and plenty of worry time.

How can you manage your house more, so you do less?