Life is featuring some circus-level logistics these days. That’s a reason I’m a big fan of making life easier whenever possible. As I’ve been making the schedule for next week, here are a few things I know make the logistics less complicated.
The grocery store is 5 minutes away. About two years ago a nice McCaffrey’s supermarket opened in the “downtown” of my zip code. This makes the whole grocery procurement process less of an ordeal. Someone can drive there, pick up a missing item, and be home in 15 minutes.
School buses, including activity buses. I know some private schools have buses too, but with public schools, transportation is generally expected. That includes the late buses at 4:30 for the middle school and 5:30 for the high school (these run Mon-Thurs). I do a lot of driving to/from schools but it’s lovely that there is almost always a back-up option if someone can’t drive.
School lunch. Three out of four of my kids buy lunch each day. The other one makes his own lunch. This definitely makes life easier!
Prime delivery. A kid got invited to a birthday party somewhat last minute, and getting a very specific gift that my kid wanted to give was an easy overnight thing. Love it.
Kids who can babysit. This really makes the logistics easier. Last Friday when I had a dress rehearsal, and my husband was still in NYC, it was amazing to have two teen babysitters who could stay with the younger kids. When one of these teens decided last minute that there was something else more exciting it was really good that there was a back-up! (That person was amply compensated for this working time.)
The meal rotation. Generally Monday is pasta night. Tuesday is some sort of chicken (we did fajitas with fresh guacamole this week). Wednesday is outsourced. Thursday is breakfast-for-dinner. This week we did make-your-own pizza on Monday, since we’d had pasta on Saturday for a birthday dinner, but pizza is often the Friday night option. Sundays are generally hamburgers and hot dogs. I really don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about weeknight dinners.
Music teachers who come to us. With four kids taking lessons now this would be a lot of driving if the situation were reversed.
What’s making your life easier these days?
In other news: I won’t be at my desk tomorrow, so here’s a mini round-up of content this week.
First, if you haven’t listened to my interview with Oliver Burkeman…please do! You should also listen to Sarah’s interview with Kate Strickler for Best of Both Worlds
At Before Breakfast I also covered the topics of “The best souvenirs tell stories,” and how to “Make your schedule more resilient.”
At Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, I talked about why one should try to “Go low(er) maintenance.” When I wear my hair about two inches shorter taking care of it takes less time…and it’s still long. There are often ways to save a little time here and there. In life, saving a few minutes tends not to matter much, but with getting ready in the morning, the big win is if you can set your alarm a little later because that extra sleep will be beneficial. I also suggested one “Take the pumpkin challenge” — and idea for a little whimsy I got from my BOBW co-host. Behind the paywall I wrote “You’ve carved out time to think. Now what?” with ideas for structuring a strategic thinking session to make it more useful. Please consider a subscription! I do three free posts a week and two for paying subscribers. I appreciate the support for me and my work.
Now, I, too, consider my use of unexpected downtime to be a sign of whether my time management system is working at all. But, to verify how intentionally I actually make use of my unexpected downtime, Ms. Laura Vanderkam. I will need to send you some of my time-tracking sheets from those weeks that I do have unexpected downtime.
In the meantime, yes, I also think that a lot about productivity is mental.
I just realized that I did not place this comment in the right place.