Does giving into the mundane (details inside) pan out with more free time and less stress?

Cleaning generally – in terms of immediately picking things up and putting them back where they belong. However, after years of being like “where are my keys” all the time…my boyfriend and I have actually begun to be tyrannical (by choice) with each other about the cleaning – and are finding we are more relaxed in our home generally, and spend less time looking for things that we need, and buying less things that we already have because we forgot where they were. ;-)

@iamthemob: We keep a big bowl on the kitchen island where pockets can empty and keys, lighters, pens, coupons, etc go. It has really helped for me to tell my mom or man, “go check the bowl!”

Organizing and scheduling the mundane does make your life a whole lot easier. If you make it a habit to spend 15 minutes every night before you go to bed picking up, then your space will always be relatively tidy, and easier to clean. Picking up and cleaning are two separate things. If you encounter items that you don’t know where to put them, you probably don’t need that item, and it should be given away.

What’s crushing to the human spirit is lack of flexibility, not scheduling. Eating spaghetti every Thursday night is fine, but if someone wants to eat out that night, and saying no, because the spaghetti sauce is made, that’s problematic.

@BarnacleBill: Today I’m trying to come up with rough menus for each day of the week to see if it will streamline our grocery bill and cut down on fast food splurges. Chaos of spending is crushing in on my spirit so I’m going to try and push back under the guise of of the common good.

I do that. You can save a lot of money.

I buy the same foods every week, but I don’t always eat the same thing. It does save money. I bake 4–6 chicken breasts each week, on Sunday, and use up the meat all week long. Cooked chicken meat becomes chicken enchilladas, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, chicken salad, chicken stir-fried rice. Ground beef becomes chili, spaghetti sauce, meatballs. Frozen cheese raviolis are either eaten with marinara sauce or put in chicken broth as a soup, with vegetables.

One week a month, generally have enough leftovers in the freezer to not have to cook for a whole week.

I used to see this lady around my old neighborhood – she wore a white men’s t-shirt, a full black skirt and some kind of gardening clogs every single day. She was pretty and looked clean and attractive, but always the same clothes. One day I overheard her telling a guy that yes, she had several of each item and the reason she always dressed the same was because she didn’t want to think about what to wear each morning – she had better things to do. Seemed pretty reasonable to me.

@BarnacleBill: Would you PM me your chicken pot pie recipie?

@perg: An ex boss of my was like that. He was a genetic physicist turned restauranteur and his standard uniform was rust Rockport oxford shoes, beige Dockers pants and a light blue button down shirt. His wife said he owned multiples of each, even multiples of a tweed blazer and multiples of a brand and style of tuxedo.

For me it’s the whole traditional office job thing. Up until I was in my latter 20’s I believed that the whole 9–5 desk job was a one way ticket to the insane asylum (truth is I’m still not convinced it’s not). However, trading a regular and known slot of time for a fairly healthy and predictable income does allow me to make much better use of my free time and to fund a few hobbies.

Sure, I’d love to be leading the life of the “idle rich”, but the job itself sucks less than most and I have grown to appreciate a regular routine.

Schedules and routines go a long way to eliminating the guess work and decision making so you just do as opposed to spending 15–30 minutes trying to figure out what you are going to make for dinner or do now or then later. Eat, sleep, go to work, exercise are all static responsibilities for me and best on a set schedule (I have no choice really) and then to sneak in a little random fun is made all the more possible by that regiment.