Hacks for busy people
December 11, 2019 6:25 PM Subscribe
I just started a new job which requires international and domestic travel, improving my language skills and long hours. I am single and live alone, and have to run a household and want to do all the normal person things like socialise and date outside of work. What are some hacks for getting everything done, especially the necessary washing shopping cooking and cleaning whilst still leaving time to sleep? Note I am on a modest budget but can consider some expensive suggestions anyway.
Clear the extra crap from your life now.
Have a dedicated "travel" set of everything so it's always easy to pack (even if it means purchasing make up doubles)
A place for everything and everything in its place
If you're in the US you can sign up for an email of whats getting delivered in the mail every day which is super helpful to just check in and also follow up on anything that looks important.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:56 PM on December 11, 2019 [4 favorites]
Have a dedicated "travel" set of everything so it's always easy to pack (even if it means purchasing make up doubles)
A place for everything and everything in its place
If you're in the US you can sign up for an email of whats getting delivered in the mail every day which is super helpful to just check in and also follow up on anything that looks important.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:56 PM on December 11, 2019 [4 favorites]
Outsource as much as possible - cooking, shopping, cleaning, etc. When I was on the road almost every week, I hired a cleaning service and settled for easy meals (or takeout). Also keep a second set of travel stuff as much as you can, makes packing way easier.
I asked a related question last year when I was feeling overwhelmed with my travel-heavy job and got some excellent answers, might be worth looking there for additional ideas.
Also, I know you didn't ask this, but you might want to have an exit plan just in case you get burned out on being a road warrior (and you likely will get tired of it, sooner or later). Saying it's a tough lifestyle is an understatement.
posted by photo guy at 7:25 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I asked a related question last year when I was feeling overwhelmed with my travel-heavy job and got some excellent answers, might be worth looking there for additional ideas.
Also, I know you didn't ask this, but you might want to have an exit plan just in case you get burned out on being a road warrior (and you likely will get tired of it, sooner or later). Saying it's a tough lifestyle is an understatement.
posted by photo guy at 7:25 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I started keeping all my toiletries in a zip-open hanging toiletry bag even when I'm at home. I keep it hung up in the shower, and when I travel I zip it up and take it with me. Then, when I get where I'm going, I already know where everything is in it and I've got my routine.
(The liquids and gels in it, I keep in TSA-friendly little 3oz squeeze bottles, which I refill from my bathroom closet as needed. It means I can buy them in big, big quantities without having giant bottles cluttering up the shower.)
I also have a big messenger bag where everything has exactly one home — including not just my laptop and so on but also not-work stuff. There's one place for Tylenol, one place for prescription meds, one place for hair ties, one place for my umbrella, one place for headphones, etc.
This stuff saves time because I can avoid running around my apartment looking for stuff (or running errands unnecessarily when I give up). But it also saves a ton of brainpower. I can show up in a random city, drop my big bag by the bed, hang up my small bag in the shower, and know where everything is — meaning I can stop thinking about it and focus on doing the hard stuff.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:31 PM on December 11, 2019 [7 favorites]
(The liquids and gels in it, I keep in TSA-friendly little 3oz squeeze bottles, which I refill from my bathroom closet as needed. It means I can buy them in big, big quantities without having giant bottles cluttering up the shower.)
I also have a big messenger bag where everything has exactly one home — including not just my laptop and so on but also not-work stuff. There's one place for Tylenol, one place for prescription meds, one place for hair ties, one place for my umbrella, one place for headphones, etc.
This stuff saves time because I can avoid running around my apartment looking for stuff (or running errands unnecessarily when I give up). But it also saves a ton of brainpower. I can show up in a random city, drop my big bag by the bed, hang up my small bag in the shower, and know where everything is — meaning I can stop thinking about it and focus on doing the hard stuff.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:31 PM on December 11, 2019 [7 favorites]
See if you can work from home some days when you’re not traveling. It’s a great day to do laundry, have groceries delivered, put stuff in a slow cooker.
posted by vunder at 8:05 PM on December 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by vunder at 8:05 PM on December 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you for all the answers so far - this is great! I think photoguy’s thread and the answers here probably cover travel enough as it will not be super frequent, but I’d appreciate more advice about managing the long hours as that is one thing I have been pretty lucky with to date.
posted by EatMyHat at 10:37 PM on December 11, 2019
posted by EatMyHat at 10:37 PM on December 11, 2019
It may not be financially possible, but if you can reduce your commute time (eg, move closer to work, work from home sometimes, buy a car instead of taking three buses, etc), that will allow you to reduce the number of hours you are away every day.
As others have suggested, you can trade money for time to get all kinds of services completed -- cleaning, laundry, etc. Like moving closer to work, not all of these may not be financially possible, but as your work hours grow, your free time becomes a more precious commodity and the trade-offs start looking different.
At some point, though, you basically have to triage: this thing is important and you will make time for it; these other things are not so important and you will let them slip. You probably can't work longer hours, travel more, and still cook amazing dinners every night in a sparkling clean house while maintaining an active social life and lots of hobbies. Something will probably need to give, and you will have to know your priorities.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:37 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
As others have suggested, you can trade money for time to get all kinds of services completed -- cleaning, laundry, etc. Like moving closer to work, not all of these may not be financially possible, but as your work hours grow, your free time becomes a more precious commodity and the trade-offs start looking different.
At some point, though, you basically have to triage: this thing is important and you will make time for it; these other things are not so important and you will let them slip. You probably can't work longer hours, travel more, and still cook amazing dinners every night in a sparkling clean house while maintaining an active social life and lots of hobbies. Something will probably need to give, and you will have to know your priorities.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:37 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
For traveling - I second the duplicates idea. Have duplicates of everything you possibly can including meds and toiletries that always live in the travel bag. But ESPECIALLY? My travel life-saver is a small travel bag that contains a duplicate of every charger I need AND A SMALL POWER STRIP with like three plugs and two USB ports, because hotels never have enough outlets in the right places.
For time - outsourcing, routines, automation, and batch processing are your friends. Batch/freezer cooking that can be done on the weekends coupled with an Instant Pot for easy low-energy-requirement cooking. Set your bills to autopay.
Prioritize ruthlessly and make sure that you include self-care, leisure, and fun in your must-do list.
I can highly recommend a bullet journal (the basic kind, not the art project kind) to serve as your backup brain.
posted by oblique red at 6:56 AM on December 12, 2019
For time - outsourcing, routines, automation, and batch processing are your friends. Batch/freezer cooking that can be done on the weekends coupled with an Instant Pot for easy low-energy-requirement cooking. Set your bills to autopay.
Prioritize ruthlessly and make sure that you include self-care, leisure, and fun in your must-do list.
I can highly recommend a bullet journal (the basic kind, not the art project kind) to serve as your backup brain.
posted by oblique red at 6:56 AM on December 12, 2019
Doing Clear/TSA Pre-Check is the best advice I was given when I started traveling for work. Not precisely a hack but it will save you time and make your life more pleasant. You might be able to expense it.
Secondary to this, if your credit card(s) don't come with access to airport lounges, you need one that does. As a business traveler, airport lounges are a high quality of life improvement. Some offer free snacks and beverages, quiet space to work or unwind or sleep, and some even have showers! If you are issued a company credit card, check to see if it comes with lounge access.
You might be asking yourself what these have to do with running your household. These two things have literally saved me days when added up in aggregate, and I have used that extra time and less stress to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast at my house instead of racing to the airport heart thumping, or trying to get ONE MORE REPORT written before I run out the door, etc etc.
posted by juniperesque at 8:55 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Secondary to this, if your credit card(s) don't come with access to airport lounges, you need one that does. As a business traveler, airport lounges are a high quality of life improvement. Some offer free snacks and beverages, quiet space to work or unwind or sleep, and some even have showers! If you are issued a company credit card, check to see if it comes with lounge access.
You might be asking yourself what these have to do with running your household. These two things have literally saved me days when added up in aggregate, and I have used that extra time and less stress to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast at my house instead of racing to the airport heart thumping, or trying to get ONE MORE REPORT written before I run out the door, etc etc.
posted by juniperesque at 8:55 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am in a similar situation, except I rarely travel for work anymore. Here are some things I do to manage everything:
1) There is not really a lot of cleaning to do, because I simply pick up after myself as I go. My main cleaning is from cat chores, but the benefit of having cats is worth it to me. I have litter genies for the litter boxes so I don't have to take the trash out 1-2 times per day. I have a small countertop dishwasher, which is great for one person. I try to vacuum weekly (basically this is another cat chore), and this got much easier once I got a vacuum I actually like. I have a swiffer for quick dust-mopping. The main theme is to have tools that make cleaning fast and easy. Also don't feel like your home has to look like a magazine ad at all times.
2) I order meal kits, which is not cheap, but it's a huge time saver, and it means I don't have to think about grocery shopping or really do grocery shopping, beyond like, picking up basic breakfast foods and snacks. Also, I would eat out a lot more without them, so honestly it saves me money. Sometimes I get annoyed about the expense and feel like I should be taking advantage of the great grocery store a mile from me, so I take off a few months and just make copies of some of the recipes from my former kits. But then I get tired of that and go back to the easy thing with more variety.
3) I use a wash and fold laundry service. Actually my laundry guy does pick-up and drop-off, so it's super easy. I like supporting the local business, and also I have been a customer for quite a while, so he keeps me on a grandfathered (cheaper) rate, and it's still quite affordable even with a nice tip. If you don't have laundry at your place, I highly recommend this.
posted by ktkt at 10:47 AM on December 12, 2019
1) There is not really a lot of cleaning to do, because I simply pick up after myself as I go. My main cleaning is from cat chores, but the benefit of having cats is worth it to me. I have litter genies for the litter boxes so I don't have to take the trash out 1-2 times per day. I have a small countertop dishwasher, which is great for one person. I try to vacuum weekly (basically this is another cat chore), and this got much easier once I got a vacuum I actually like. I have a swiffer for quick dust-mopping. The main theme is to have tools that make cleaning fast and easy. Also don't feel like your home has to look like a magazine ad at all times.
2) I order meal kits, which is not cheap, but it's a huge time saver, and it means I don't have to think about grocery shopping or really do grocery shopping, beyond like, picking up basic breakfast foods and snacks. Also, I would eat out a lot more without them, so honestly it saves me money. Sometimes I get annoyed about the expense and feel like I should be taking advantage of the great grocery store a mile from me, so I take off a few months and just make copies of some of the recipes from my former kits. But then I get tired of that and go back to the easy thing with more variety.
3) I use a wash and fold laundry service. Actually my laundry guy does pick-up and drop-off, so it's super easy. I like supporting the local business, and also I have been a customer for quite a while, so he keeps me on a grandfathered (cheaper) rate, and it's still quite affordable even with a nice tip. If you don't have laundry at your place, I highly recommend this.
posted by ktkt at 10:47 AM on December 12, 2019
Regarding long hours, I agree with juniperesque's comment on triage (which is also true for travel, to an extent). There's only so many hours in the day, and more work means you're going to have to scale back somewhere else in your life. Prioritize what's important for you, and know where to draw the line so the job doesn't take over your life.
Also, I forgot to mention Global Entry! Far and away the best $100 I ever spent (seriously, I would've paid 10x that), and many higher-end travel credit cards will reimburse the fee. Be warned that applications are taking a very long time to process (popularity + a massive backlog from last year's government shutdown) so I would apply soon.
posted by photo guy at 6:47 PM on December 12, 2019
Also, I forgot to mention Global Entry! Far and away the best $100 I ever spent (seriously, I would've paid 10x that), and many higher-end travel credit cards will reimburse the fee. Be warned that applications are taking a very long time to process (popularity + a massive backlog from last year's government shutdown) so I would apply soon.
posted by photo guy at 6:47 PM on December 12, 2019
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Hiring a cleaning person is a lot cheaper than I expected it to be.
If you’re willing to eat the same thing multiple meals in a row, batch cooking.
posted by mollymayhem at 6:40 PM on December 11, 2019 [2 favorites]