Grocery shopping, putting away clean laundry, and cleaning my house are probably at the bottom of  my fun list.  I love to cook and though I do enjoy planning the meals and having fresh ingredients on hand to prepare them, the actual shopping is something I could do without.  So over the years, I have learned how to streamline the  shopping process and now I have it down to only requiring about two to three hours each week.  I have tried to get away with less time and some weeks I can, but for the most part I have to allow at least two hours.  Here is how I manage the shopping in my home.

I keep lists separate, visible, and easily accessible

First of all, I always use a list!  I find that when I shop without a list, I always end up buying things we don’t need and having to make a follow up trip back to the store for something I forgot.  I also spend more time in the store itself because I am less focused and more distracted.

On average I shop at four stores regularly throughout the month.  I shop at two grocery stores that I hit every week, Target that I try to keep to once every other week, and Costco which I only shop at once per month.

The grocery stores I limit to just food and I use two different grocery stores because I like the fresh produce and meat selection better at one of them.  My husband also stops about twice a week at our grocery stores to pick up fresh fruit.  He is a BIG fruit eater and I learned early on that I could never learn to pick a peach that would pass his inspection so I gave up and now he does it.

For shopping at these two stores I use the grocery shopping checklist included in this meal planning eBook.  I keep it hanging on my refrigerator door and just check off items throughout the week as I realize we need them.  The day before I go grocery shopping, I make my meal plan for the week, add the items I need to the grocery list, and head out to the stores to shop.  This entire process (meal planning, list making, and shopping at two stores) takes me about two hours or less.  I can usually plan my menus in less than fifteen minutes because I rely on the monthly meal plan I created and because my list keeps me focused, I can get in and out of both stores in about ninety minutes.

The other advantage to keeping my grocery list on the refrigerator as opposed to online or on a smart phone app, is that everyone in the family can see it and add items to the list themselves.  I am slowly but surely teaching them to stop telling me and to just write it down.  I also think just carrying around a paper grocery list in the store is easier than having to have my phone out and reading it from there.  I can’t tell you how many times I have dropped my phone (I have a crack in it to prove it) and I always seem to have a hard time of finding a place to put it down safely while I reach for something off the shelf.  So for me, paper is just easier.

The other hour or so I spend on shopping comes from time I spend at Target, Costco, and running small errands.

In regards to Target, I also keep a list for things I need at Target (cat food, birthday gifts, toothpaste, etc.) on my refrigerator.  I also keep a small dry erase white board on the mirror in my bathroom so that we can remember to add it to the list.  If we wait until we are downstairs to add it to the list, it usually gets forgotten.  And just like the grocery list, I am teaching the kids to write down the things they need rather than rely on my memory.  I try very hard to keep Target shopping to an every other week trip rather than a weekly shopping trip in order to save both time and money.

I also shop at Costco about once a month and if I can get away with it, I stretch it to every six weeks.  I keep the Costco list on this dry erase do list and note board.

And when it comes time to go shopping, I take a picture of the list with my phone and set it as the wall paper, so that I can easily see it.  This is the only non-paper based shopping list I use.  Sometimes, if my husband is going to do the Costco shopping, I will send the picture to him and he can read it directly off his phone.  When the shopping is done, we erase it from the board and start over.

Schedule it on my calendar

Every week I schedule grocery shopping and errands on my calendar (usually after working on Thursdays) and do everything I can to keep it to the same schedule and day every week.  I really do not like shopping on the weekends because the stores are so much busier and no one seems happy to be there, so I very rarely go to the stores then.  I also allow time in my calendar to do some errands and can usually get all shopping and errands done at once.  Only when I have a lot of errands  (like when I am planning a birthday party or getting ready for a vacation), do I sometimes need to allow for extra time.  For the most part, errands for me consist of dropping books off at the library, stopping at the bank, or picking up something that I can’t get at my regular stores.

Shop once per week

I also work really hard to only shop once per week and avoid having to make extra stops throughout the week because I forgot something.  I am usually able to pull this off by making sure I take time to meal plan and from time to time asking my husband to pick something up while he is at the store picking out his perfect peach.

How do you manage grocery shopping and errands in your home?  You can share your strategies in the comments below.

How do you simplify your busy week?? Easy, you simplify systems and do them once weekly, instead of daily! With this in mind, my week starts by getting organized on Sunday. Here are some of the things that make my life easier and I believe they will do the same for you!

Breakfast

On Sunday I like to prepare an easy, but healthful breakfast that will last the week. My favorites are quiche and egg cups (that I can fill with fresh herbs & veggies).  They are great in the refrigerator and they only need 30-60 seconds in the microwave to warm them up! It’s a super-fast and yummy way to start each day.

Lunch

While the quiche is baking, I find it helpful to hard boil some eggs. Then I chop up a head of lettuce, carrots, and onions. Now I know in a pinch I have a healthy lunch to count on. I also chop up our favorite fruits and make a quick fruit salad. This is great to add to any meal, or as a snack. You could even pre-package some pretzels or chips into individual servings to make quick work of lunch prep!

Clothes

Sunday evening I check the weekly forecast, and then help my son pick out clothes for the week. We make little “packets” of everything he needs. I just fold a pair of pants around a shirt, socks, and undies. It sits on a shelf in his closet (but you can also get hanging weekly sorters). Each morning he grabs the “packet” and can quickly get dressed. Since he is involved in the process he is fine with the outfits each day (hooray for no arguing in the morning)! For girls, you could even add the accessories (hair ties, barrettes, jewelry) into the “packet”.

Unfortunately there will still be some things you have to address each morning, but if you prepare them the night before your morning will go smoother.

Moms run on Java (ok, at least I do): So, every night I like to set up my coffeemaker for the next morning. I get the coffee, mug (or travel mug depending on my schedule), and spoon all set out. In the morning it is ready for me (which is great because I can’t process too many thoughts before my first cuppa joe)!

Breakfast & Lunch: It’s really nice to enter the kitchen in the morning and have the table pre-set for breakfast. Take a few minutes the night before to do this, and you’ll feel a new sense of calm in the morning (and get to enjoy a few more minutes of family time during breakfast). The same goes for lunch, pack the lunch bags at night (use the snacks & things you made on Sunday to cut down on time), add a freezer pack in the morning, and you’re ready to jet!

Backpacks & Shoes: A good habit to teach your children is to prepare their school items (backpack, shoes, jacket) for the following day after they complete their homework. No more running around looking for a left sneaker while worrying about missing the bus!

Breakfast & Lunch: It’s really nice to enter the kitchen in the morning and have the table pre-set for breakfast. Take a few minutes the night before to do this, and you’ll feel a new sense of calm in the morning (and get to enjoy a few more minutes of family time during breakfast). The same goes for lunch, pack the lunch bags at night (use the snacks & things you made on Sunday to cut down on time), add a freezer pack in the morning, and you’re ready to jet!

Taking the time on Sunday and in the evenings to get organized will surely make your weekdays easier!!  What else could you “automate” in this way? I’d love to hear what you do to make your life easier!

Bobbie Friedman is a Professional Organizer, Home Management Consultant, and the owner of Simplified by Bobbie located in Pennsylvania.  She is dedicated to helping individuals and families simplify their lives!  Through personalized organizing services, hands-on help, and knowledgeable guidance she’ll help you establish effective ways to manage your schedule and home; turning CoMpLiCaTeD into Simplified.

Visit www.simplifiedbybobbie.com to learn more, view before & after photos, and read helpful organizing tips.  Contact Bobbie for your FREE phone consultation, and make your space & time work for you

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how we manage our family schedule and the tools we use to keep on top of everything, so this week I thought I would talk a little bit about how I keep track of all the things (minus housekeeping and chores) that need to get done in my home and work.

My basic approach to keeping track of all the non-recurring things that need done is to keep the list manageable, keep work and home separate, make it visible, and share ownership.  Here is how I do it.

I don’t write everything down

In the past I used to keep a master list of every little thing that needed done.  Whether it was something critical and urgent or just something that should be done someday, I would write it down.  But I was beginning to feel bad about all the things I wasn’t getting done and it was stressing me and my family out, so I stopped.  Now I only write down things that either are critical or important, or have a specific due date.  Things like “buy birthday gift for party on the 16^th” or “return library book due on the 23^rd” automatically get written down.  But things like, “repair nick in the wall” or “clean tile grout” don’t get written down unless they are something that I consider really important that need to get done.

I also don’t write down things that are just a regular part of my daily routine.  Things like “make dinner” or “grocery shopping” never make it on my list of things to do.  I do block of time on my calendar for things like this, but I never write them down on my list of things to do.

I keep my work do list separate from the home do list

I also like keeping my home do list separate from my work list because it is just less overwhelming and easier to manage.  When I am at home I don’t want to be distracted with everything I need to get done for work and when I am working I don’t want to be distracted with things that I need to do for the family.

I keep track of my things to do for work primarily with the task manager in Microsoft Outlook and Evernote.  And I keep track of my home do list with this dry erase board.  It hangs on the side of my refrigerator.

Recently, I have been playing around with Remember the Milk to keep track of everything, but I am still in the early phases of seeing if it will work for me.

I keep the do list visible and easily updated

For me to keep on top of things and not feel overwhelmed, I have to keep my list of things to do in front of me where I can see it frequently and easily.  If the list is tucked away in a notebook or isn’t easily accessible, I forget about it and end up forgetting things.  Most of the daily activity for my family happens in our kitchen, so this is where I keep my do list for home.  This organizer is used to collect all the paper that comes home in the kids’ backpacks and in the mail.  And just about every day I go through the paper and mail and if it requires me to do something I just write it down on the dry erase note board which is right next to the organizer.

In regards to work, most of the items that drive me to add things to my do list either come from specific project plans I am working on or electronically in the form of email which is why I use Outlook and Evernote to keep track of my work list.

I share ownership with the family

One thing I try really hard to do is share ownership with my family for adding things to our do list.  They have a tendency to just tell me things and rely on me to remember them and though this may have worked when I was younger and my mind was sharper, it is a much less reliable approach now.  So when they come home from school and tell me that something needs to get done, I encourage them to add it to the list themselves.  For example the other day, my daughter came home asking if we could donate socks to a sock drive that her school was doing for children in need, so rather than me add ‘buy socks for sock drive” to the list, I asked her to do it herself.  Getting everyone involved in adding things to the list is still a work in process and I am still pretty much the owner of the list, but it is something we continue to work on and improve.

So how do you manage and keep track of the do lists in your life?  You can leave a comment or suggestion in the comments below.

A couple weeks ago I talked about the philosophy and habits of how the family schedule is managed in my home, so this week I thought I would take some time to talk about the specific tools we use for managing the schedule.

In our family, we use a combination of paper and electronic calendars to manage our schedule.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages which is why I use a combination of the two.  I like the ease of use and accessibility of my electronic calendar, but I also like the ability to see each month in its entirety on my paper calendar.  I have yet to find an electronic calendar that does this well.  Also, the wall calendar is just easier for the entire family to see and update.  If we just had an electronic calendar, only I or my husband could see it easily.  I have learned that if it is too much hassle for my kids to use something, they won’t bother.

We use Microsoft Outlook to manage our calendar electronically

Both my husband and I use Microsoft Outlook to manage our email and calendars.  I like that Outlook collects both my email, calendar, tasks, and contacts all in one place for me which is why I continue to use it even though it is pricey.  I have thought about switching to Google Calendar, but I don’t like that I would have to switch back and forth between the calendar function and email function and frankly I just don’t think it is designed as well.  It is free though and a great option if you don’t want to spend the money on Outlook.

 I am the master keeper so to speak of the schedule in our home and when an event or commitment comes up that my husband has to have on his calendar, I just create a meeting and send him the invitation.  Since he uses Outlook too, he just simply responds and adds it to his calendar.  This works REALLY well for us.  He likes the simplicity of having everything (his work and personal) on one calendar for himself.

We then both sync our Outlook calendars with our phones (I use an iPhone and he uses a Droid), so that we can reference them easily when we are away from our computers.

We use a wall calendar too

Our electronic Outlook calendars are great when we are on the go and for making sure that my husband and I have everything in one place, but I still prefer to use a monthly family calendar at home.  The family calendar is kept on our refrigerator and we use it to keep the individual schedules for all of us.  I like that I can see the entire month at a time as well as past and future months.  And I like that everyone in the family can see our schedule too.  The kids have learned to check the family calendar before making plans and to add things as well.  This way they learn some time management skills and share in ownership for their schedule.    It’s just easier for us to manage and update especially when we are in the throes of our evening routines or morning rush.

At the beginning of every month, I go through the calendar and write in all of our family commitments using the calendar stored on my phone (which was synced with Outlook).   And then at the start of each week, I make sure both the electronic and paper calendars are updated with anything new added.  Sometimes things will be on the electronic calendar (usually appointments made outside the home or via email) that aren’t on the wall calendar and sometimes things will be on the wall calendar (usually added by the kids themselves or that came home in the backpacks) that aren’t on the electronic calendar.  It takes about 5 minutes to sync them up and make sure both are up to date.

It took a little trial and error to figure out what works best for us and our system isn’t perfect, but it does keep us on track 98% of the time, so we are sticking with it for now.

What tools do you use to manage your family schedule?  You can share your suggestions and ideas in the comments below.