“Tidy as you go” is what she would always say when we were baking, showing me how to wipe down counters and put away dishes while cookies were baking or soup was bubbling on the stove.
As a child, I knew it meant she would let me lick the spoon or search the countertop for rogue chocolate chips that made a daring escape, but as an adult with a daughter of my own, I know it means a lot more than that.
I know it’s a life principle that applies to a lot more than baking. It’s how you run your life, stay organized and survive the hectic schedule of a busy working mom trying to balance raising a family and building a business.
The first thing I tell any mom thinking about starting a business is that she needs to get her family life in order FIRST. You can’t add the stress and chaos of building a business to an already disorganized family life. That’s why I put together a list of my favorite life hacks!
Life Hacks that Make Being a Busy, Working Mom Easier
Practice the Quick Pick-up – Get in the habit of taking something that doesn’t belong when you are leaving the room. It doesn’t take many trips to grab a drink before those little odds and ends that get left behind are cleared out.
Allocate 5 Minutes of Clean Up – Include time for tidying up in every task. That means ending play dates 5 minutes before pick-up to do a quick group tidy so you aren’t left cleaning up the entire mess when the kids split.
Keep Surface Wipes Handy – Stay on top of little spills and messes as they happen with on-the-scene surface wipes, like Windex® Multi-Surface Disinfectant Touch-Up Cleaner.
Train Your Family to Pitch In – Get your family in the habit of tidying as they go. It means putting away toys and games, clearing plates into the dishwasher and identifying small messes before they become big ones.
Preplan Your Clean Up – Before undertaking an ambitious baking project that you know is going to make a big mess, figure out how to make clean up easier. For example, place wax paper under cooling racks to collect crumbs or carve your juicy, roast chicken on a cutting board placed in a lasagna pan.
Stop the Mess From Growing – Don’t let a small mess turn into a giant mess by letting it sit around. Mess always begets more mess. Line the oven with tinfoil, peel vegetables into your food waste container, and sort through the mail over the recycling bin.
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1 When used as directed, kills 99.9% of household bacteria in 10 seconds: Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep), Listeria monocytogenes .
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by S. C. Johnson and Son, Limited. The author of this post has been compensated for this review. Windex® Multi-Surface Disinfectant Touch-Up Cleaner was provided to the author at no cost by Glam Media on behalf of S. C. Johnson and Son, Limited. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of S. C. Johnson and Son, Limited.