This life-admin hack is flipping the script of our weekends 👏🏻

Or, free time? I've never met her (until now).

Remember when weekends were relaxing? Think: sleeping in, extra coffee, lounging around in pajamas… I think the last weekend I had like that was probably in 2019.

Now, I feel like I am in a constant game of life-admin Tetris. How do I move tasks and chores around in the right configuration to stave off burn-out, remain productive, and find actual pockets of leisure?

I’ll tell you, this particular jigsaw game is not actually winnable. That said, I’ve tripped into a momentary solution that is working for me—a recent change that is actually freeing up my weekends. Read on, friend!

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Today I offer up one life-admin tip that is drastically improving my weekends, and that is:

Grocery shopping on Thursdays.

How I do it:

Since having kids, I grocery shop (nearly entirely) online — Instacart and Target pick up. If you can get through a grocery store with two small kids, get everything on your list, and leave with your sanity intact, I applaud you! I am not that girl. Instead, I click “add to cart” from my kitchen counter while sipping a glass of wine.

No, you don’t get to pick out your specific produce this way. Yes, you have to add in substitutions for items in case they aren’t in stock. But once you let go of needing the best strawberries and accept that an apple or two could have a bruise, it is SO FREEING.

I place the order on Thursday night, and we pick everything up on Friday after work. By 6:00 pm, groceries are tucked away, the kids are watching a movie and probably eating pizza, and everyone is happy (usually).

Why I do it:

I used to go through my Instacart routine on Friday evening for a Saturday morning pick up. This worked fine, and I’m sure I will still do that from time to time. Since we have a two-year-old that naps, our days look like this:

• 7:00 am Wake up

• Morning activity

• 11:30 Lunch

• 12:00-2:00 Nap

• Afternoon activity

• 5:30 Dinner

• 6:00 Bath

• 7:00 Bedtime

This means that our entire Saturday morning activity used to be grocery pick up and put-away. While not dragging my 2 and 4 year olds through the store makes it easier, picking up everything and putting it away is still about an hour-long endeavor, if not longer.

Now, our morning activity can be whatever we want: make pancakes and lounge at home, visit a coffee shop, go to a park—whatever our hearts please.

I don’t know why, but this has felt so, SO freeing.

Perhaps it is the bit of freedom we have been feeling with our youngest being firmly in the toddler stage and out of the baby stage, but having even the slightest bit more flexibility in our day-to-day has been life-giving.

As you can tell, I’m a schedule-mom. I think routines and consistency make us all happier, and I will likely always be that way. That said, being intentional about freeing up chunks of time that can be less structured (because chores are already taken care of) is this type-A girl’s way of creating space for spontaneity and leisure.

The trade off is, of course, each weekday evening, Monday-Thursday, is taken up by some kind of task or chore, often until at least 9:00 pm. The trade-off is so, so worth it to me, though. ♡

The moment when all the groceries are put away and your kitchen is calm again.

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📓 If you enjoyed reading this, you might also like: The counter lean

🔗 Linked: A new-to-me non-aerosol dry shampoo (lavender scented)

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