The Order Of Things

Imagine yourself taking a shower. (Alone. Imagine yourself alone. This is not THAT kind of blog!) Do you bask in the warm stream of water, soap up, shave your legs, and then wash and condition your hair? If so, you are doing it all wrong.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a Mrs. Bossy Pants today. I have a cold and The Loki stuck a Lucky Charm up his nose last night, so we were at Urgent Care at 11 p.m. No, it was not a Magic Rainbow marshmallow. It was the boring cereal part that nobody wants anyway, which is probably why he stuck it up his nose. That kid is smart for a five year old! (The VERY CUTE doctor denied The Loki the privilege of a sticker or a sucker, telling him, "I don't want you to think you get rewarded for sticking cereal up your nose." I might have swooned.)

But Mrs. Bossy Pants aside, you are still doing it wrong. :)

You see, the order of things matters. I wash my hair first, leave the conditioner in while I soap up, rinse my hair, and then shave my legs. It's more efficient because the time spent waiting for the conditioner to work is used soaping up and the time spent shaving my legs lets my hair start to air dry, so blow drying it doesn't take as long. 

(As an aside, I am such a lying liar. I am way too lazy to shave my legs and hide my Cajun sasquatch limbs under long pants all winter long.)

I got the idea to do things more efficiently from reading Cheaper by the Dozen as a child. There are tons of things that I do in a certain order so that they are more efficient.

When I cook, I put water on the hot stove to begin boiling for potatoes or pasta before chopping my veggies. The water starts boiling at some point while I'm busy doing other things, and when I need the boiling pot of water, I just throw in the pasta. (Iron Chef America uses my pre-boil technique. I'm not saying they got the idea from me. I'm just saying that I had the idea first!) I also wipe down the kitchen counters, load or unload dishes, or clean the microwave or toaster oven while waiting for food that has to be watched closely to cook.

When I run errands, I often number the errands in my planner in the most efficient order to plan around where I will already be.

Before numbering errands:

After numbering errands more efficiently (the pink numbers, with toy store first, then lab work because it's in the same area of town as the toy store, then produce stand and grocery store near the end of the list to minimize melting of ice cream and frozen foods, and finally the library since it's a quick stop on my way home):

For some routines, I actually write out the most efficient way to do them and keep them in the notes section of my planner until I learn them. For example, in the morning:

1. I wake the kids,

2. I get dressed (while the kids are dressing themselves),

3. I start my coffee brewing then make breakfast (while the kids are brushing teeth and hair), and

4. I grab the snacks, my breakfast (to eat in the car), and fill the water bottles and coffee mug (while the kids eat breakfast).

We've tried other orders in the mornings, but with this one, because the kids know I have to do things while they are getting ready, they leave me alone to do them. Before, when they were eating breakfast first, it was a struggle getting them dressed in the morning.

I am currently planning to have Thanksgiving at my house. In my projects section of my planner, I will list the order of getting the house and food ready. The order matters more than usual for Thanksgiving because I can't prep all the food in one day. A few days before, I'll start defrosting the turkey. Perhaps the day before, I will cut the potatoes, bake the pies and cakes, and get all the food out and on the counter, grouped according to the recipes. On the day of Thanksgiving, I will have a very specific schedule of what to cook when. For example, sweet potato pie can cook early as it stays warm in the casserole dish, but the mac and cheese needs to go in at the last minute so it is perfect and bubbly at dinnertime.

When I fold laundry, I place it in stacks that mirror my dresser drawers. Divided up by family member, with underthings, then socks, then pjs, and then tank tops. That way, when I put away clothes, it only takes seconds and they go in the drawers right in order. This technique saves me tons of time, something that is really evident when my husband folds the clothes in a random stack and I am running around putting the older kid's socks in his middle drawer, then my tank top in another room in another drawer, then The Loki's pjs in another drawer in the other room, then a tank top...you see the problem?

Ever notice that if you put a load of laundry in first thing in the morning, load the dishes and run the dishwasher, take out supper to defrost, and spend 15 minutes cleaning, your day goes much better?

Ever notice that spending a few moments after school going through schoolbags or a few minutes after nighttime prayer putting things in a tote bag for tomorrow's errands makes your day easier?

The order of things does matter.

As you go through your day today, think about the order of things. Is there something you can do more efficiently, just by swapping or planning the order? If so, why not do it? It'll save you more time for fun!

Etcetera