MAKE TIME TO SAVE TIME

CLEAR OUT THE CLUTTER

CONSTANTLY NEGOTIATING around the clutter in your home wastes time.

• De-cluttering allows you to make space for the things that you do need to keep and makes it easier to tidy up.
• Identify your clutter problem areas and deal with them one by one.
• Don’t get overwhelmed. Go into one room and identify a problem area, then work on it, or even just a section. If the whole wardrobe needs sorting, start with the sock drawer. If the kitchen looks like carnival night at the dumpster, clear one drawer or cupboard at a time. Time yourself and devote an hour or so per session to the task, until it’s done.
• If you’re not sure whether to keep or throw away something, ask yourself: Do I really want or need it? Is it in good order? Have I used it recently? Will I miss it?
• Be ruthless. Haven’t worn that skirt for 12 months? Give it away. Do you hate the Eiffel Tower doorstop your aunt gave you for Christmas? Take it to a charity shop.

TACKLE THE HOT SPOTS

CLUTTER CAN SNEAK UP ON YOU – one folded newspaper in the corner quickly becomes ten.

• If paperwork is your weakness, get a filing system and create a separate folder for bills due, bills paid, banking, tax documents, receipts, warranties etc, and file them each day.
• Try to be realistic about recyclables: keep a few takeaway food containers or empty jars, not hundreds; one or two carrier bags or padded envelopes, not piles of them.
• Not all clutter is obvious. It can be hidden in storerooms and cupboards. Recognise clutter hot spots and give them regular attention.
• If you’re a hoarder, get organised about your storage and display systems, so that what you keep is not filling up your living space.
• Once you’ve got your clutter reduced, stay on top of it. All you need to do is spend a few minutes every day returning things to their proper place – this is now simple tidying, rather than de-cluttering.

SORT, STORE AND TOSS

SORT CLUTTER INTO labelled cardboard boxes. Try this:

• Box 1 – Everyday things that need to be put back in their place.
• Box 2 – Things to be given away or recycled.
• Box 3 – Items that you don’t need every day, but need to store.
• Box 4 – Anything that can be categorised as “absolute rubbish.”
• Box 5 – Items you simply can’t decide what to do with.

Put everything in Box 1 back where it belongs, take Box 2 to a charity shop, label and decide where to store Box 3 and dispose of the contents of Box 4. Now go back to the contents of Box 5 with a newfound zeal and make a decision.

DEVELOP GOOD KITCHEN HABITS

A KITCHEN STRATEGY will save you some serious time.

• Tidy and clean as you work – you’ll maintain order in the kitchen and be organised in advance. Observe a few basic rules of hygiene: wash the sink, the work surface and utensils as soon as you have used them.
• Instead of piling the dishes up in the sink, put them into the dishwasher immediately after you have used them. And don’t forget to turn it on as soon as it’s full.
• If you don’t have a dishwasher, run a sink of hot, sudsy water before you start cooking and wash up as you go – when you have finished cooking, the washing up will be pretty well done too.
• Peel vegetables over a paper towel so you can quickly throw the whole lot in the compost bin.
• Keep pets, purses, money and unpaid bills off the benchtop, along with anything else that shouldn’t be there. Not only does it add clutter to your preparation area and make cleaning up a time-consuming job, these things also leave germs behind.
• Put away all your parcels as soon as you come home from shopping and throw away or recycle the empty containers immediately.

COOKING: THINK BIG

YOU CAN FREEZE at least half of what you prepare and save a lot of time.

• Aim to double, triple or quadruple ingredient quantities. It won’t take you much more time, but you’ll have one, two or three dishes that are ready in the freezer, so on at least this number of evenings you won’t have to cook. This trick works with just about all types of dishes.
• If you make shortcrust pastry, cookie dough or pizza dough, make two or three times the quantity and freeze the excess.
• Make double quantities of cakes and muffins – they freeze well and are perfect for children’s lunchboxes.
• When making crepes, prepare a large batch and freeze what you don’t eat in a stack, separated by baking paper circles.
• Instead of frying onions for particular meals, consider doing a large batch at a time and freezing it in recipe-sized portions.
• By quadrupling only one dish once a week, you’ll have up to 27 dishes in the freezer after two months.