Get Organized and Save at Least an Hour Each Day

If your home or personal life is chaotic and disorganized, chances are you are wasting at least an hour of valuable time each and every day. You might not actually realize how much time you spend looking for things or trying to deal with the detrimental effects of clutter and disorganization. But, if you took the time to write down the details of your day, you'd quickly see how disorganization is causing you to waste time. Just think of what you could do with an extra hour every day! Although everybody's situation is different, here is an example of an average day in the life of a disorganized person, and how much time they could save by just doing things a little differently.

Morning Routine

Whether you have a busy family getting ready for work and school each morning, or it's just yourself, clutter and disorganization can really take a negative toll on your morning routine. If you pack lunches and make coffee in the morning, you could really streamline the process by doing some of the work the night before when things are less rushed and hectic. Or, save yourself approximately ten minutes each morning by simply packing lunch items in bulk for the week. For example, it really doesn't take much more time to pack five packages of cookies for lunches as it does to pack one. The same is true for cutting up enough carrot sticks for one lunch as compared to cutting up enough for the entire week. If you set aside some time over the weekend to get this task done, you'll have a lot more time and a lot less stress each weekday morning.

Designating a space for each family member to keep the items they need each day is also likely to save at least ten minutes each morning. Install a small shelf or cubby for each family member in the foyer so that everyone can place their car keys, lunch boxes, book bags, and other important items in a specific spot. Once you do this, there won't be any last-minute scrambles to find misplaced items in the morning.

Plan Your Daily Commute

If you frequently run errands while traveling to and from work or school each day, a little bit of pre-planning can often save you ten minutes or more. Instead of backtracking, which wastes time and gasoline, plan a careful route so that you can get everything accomplished in the least amount of time. If your daily commute requires traveling on a busy highway, you can often shave at least ten minutes off your commuting time simply by leaving a just a little earlier. By missing the early morning rush hour, you'll spend less time sitting in traffic, thus saving yourself some valuable time and avoiding a lot of unnecessary stress.

Evening Routine

Once everyone's busy day is done and the family returns home in the evening, there are still plenty of ways that organization and pre-planning can help you save time. If preparing dinner is often a chaotic experience, why not use a crock pot or slow cooker to help alleviate the problem? By just putting a few ingredients in the pot before you leave in the morning, you'll be rewarded by a delicious dinner when you get home. You could even save more time by putting the items in the crock pot the night before, after the household has calmed down for the evening. Put all the ingredients in the crock pot liner and store it in the refrigerator ove
ight. Then, in the morning, simply pop it into the crock pot, turn it on, and leave the house. This one simple trick could save you twenty minutes or more in dinner preparation time each evening.