I have been back at work since the New Year and after having had 10 days break it feels strange. While I was at home I made some really good progress on my decluttering journey, most notably, the scanning of almost 2000 photographs.
Now I am at work each day, I feel as though I am just marking time rather than making any appreciable progress. The last few days here have been extremely hot which adds to the general lethargy.
However, as I review what I have actually achieved I realise that the constant streamlining and decluttering of the past year or so have really made a difference. It is easy to do very little and still manage to have meals made from scratch, dishes done and kitchen cleaned, the living room neat and tidy and the washing and ironing up to date.
I have resorted to having the same meal tonight as we had last night. Conjuring up new and interesting meals is not very appealing in the excessive heat after a long day at work, so it is ham and salad again tonight. I am looking forward to it as I really enjoyed our dinner last night.
The weather will become more moderate and work somewhat less demanding soon but in the meantime I will coast for a few days and all will be well.
What strategies do you have for when you have limited time or inspiration? What do you let slide and what is deemed as essential in your household routine?
organised castle 
I really like this post.
I’m using my Christmas/New Year holiday to make solid progress on my “catching up at home” tasks as well. I have been decluttering and crossing jobs off my list that I’ve been putting off. I even cleared the mending basket recently which was a big deal for me! You must feel so satisfied about having your photographs sorted.
It’s inspiring to read that you can keep your home and tasks flowing smoothly even when you’re busy – it makes all the decluttering and organizing so worthwhile. I go with simple meals when I’m busy also, especially leftovers. I like to keep the basics done, such as quick, healthy meals, laundry done, paperwork processed, picking up so the house looks tidy, wiping kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and emptying bins. Because my home is pretty organized to start with, these things don’t take long. If I let them pile up, that’s when it’s a bigger job to get it back under control.
Thanks again for your inspiring post.
Thanks, Kim. I find that if I can keep doing the small things every day it is so much easier than trying to have a huge blitz.
Nothing bad about having a healthy meal twice :o) Sounds very tasty actually!
We used to have a terrible time coming up with a menu for each week. So my husband and I made a list of absolutely everything we know how to cook. We keep the list in a three-ring binder with our looseleaf recipies. Whenever we can’t figure out what to cook for the day or the week, we can just go to our little binder and pick from our list. No thinking required!
The ring binder sounds like a great idea. I usually menu plan for a week at a time but I have got out of sync over the Christmas break and the hot weather has made the whole idea of eating fairly unappealing. It is much cooler tonight and we had spaghetti bolognaise from the freezer. I always have some quick meals frozen as we don’t get home from work until quite late.
Nothing wrong with having a healthy meal twice! Sounds very tasty actually.
We used to have a terrible time coming up with meals for the week. Then we decided to write down absolutely everything we knew how to cook and we put the list in a three-ring binder that also stores our loose recipes. Anytime we’re not sure what we could make we just whip out the binder and pick. It’s our own menu!
You’ve got quite a nice collection of recipes on this site. You could probably even use the blog to manage a list if you didn’t like using a binder.
Hi Fairy
I also live in QLD and am feeling your pain with the heat. I suppose we can’t complain too much because really we haven’t had many days like the last few this summer. I am back at work next week and I am ticking things off my list…handwashing that is always left at the bottom of the basket, pantry cleaned out and organised, thorough scrub of showers and baths, plus all the annual doc & dentist check ups. I have found a great new blog that helps me, http://beccisdomesticbliss.blogspot.com/ and she suggests a good idea for menu planning that I have everyone thinking about. I find that if I know what I am cooking when I get home I don’t mind preparing a meal…it’s when you have to think of what to have and then cook that gets me rattled.
Enjoying you blog
Anny
Hi Anny
Thank you for dropping in and your kind comments. I am now following your blog and will check the link you posted also. It is always great to get new ideas.
Fairy