FIVE WAYS TO FREE UP YOUR TIME (HELLO ADULTING!)

Adulting (noun informal): the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks (thanks, Google). Adulting is, undoubtedly, an extreme sport. Imagine, you are expected to have a financially and professionally rewarding career, maintain your personal and social relations, exercise regularly, eat healthy, pay all your bills while saving investing a huge chunk of your salary, travel, be a good person and... these should be all done while looking good and not being a witch. And oh, don't forget to make home made food. Whew! If you are a millionaire, then no problem right? But what if you're a commoner who needs to hustle and be all of the above?

Firstly, I'm exaggerating. Who's expecting what? We do us and nobody's there to dictate what we should do or who we should be. However, having said that, this doesn't erase the fact that we need to be a responsible individual. Moving to London was a huge wake up call to my ever mommy-dependent self. It's a journey and I'm forever learning.

Go online grocery shopping. 

Who would like to spend half a day in the grocery every single week? I don't mind doing this occasionally but it being a mandatory, regular task can be daunting. Carrying toilet rolls, Method cleansers and fresh produce through London underground does not appeal to me at all. Thank God there are online grocery shops to the rescue. This post is not sponsored but if you're a regular in my blog, you'll know that I'm such a Waitrose fan. I recently tried Ocado and that's my food shopping next week all sorted!

Have a recipe on rota.

I am not a fan of meal prep. I get the concept of it being a time saver but the idea of freezing food is not for me. It works to my disadvantage because sometimes I end up ordering at Uber Eats and Deliveroo which is much worse than a frozen well prepared meal. When you think about it, take aways are mostly deep fried. So, what I usually do is to have a recipe on rota(tion). I've listed it on my FIVE HOME-MADE DISHES INSPIRED BY MY TRAVELS post. It does not need to be complicated as long as a) you find it easy to prepare and b) you look forward eating it.

Adapt a five-to-do-list rule.

It's easy to get overwhelmed when you have 79 items to do but your behaviour will change if you see only five boxes to tick. Speaking from my experience, I've just ticked four out of five today. And that is worth celebrating. Do the same if you want to Marie Kondo your space. Start with a specific place, say, kitchen cupboard. That is your only focus for today. Next week, it's going to be your closet.

Prepare your clothes the night before.

I can't tell you how much time I saved by deciding what to wear the night before. It's helpful to have a capsule wardrobe because you just play mix and match the whole week through. It also works for gym clothes. On days that I need to run, I made sure my clothes and socks are in my plain sight, judging me if I changed my mind!

Write it out.

Turns out time is not the only thing you need to free up but your mind space too. I usually have a brain dump area: it's either Google Keep if I'm on the go or my diary (here's my 2019 one). It's effective to compartmentalise your thoughts. Deadlines, salon and wax appointments, birthday preparations, the list is endless. I easily get crazy if I think about all the things I need to do and it's incessantly in my head. When I write them on my monthly planner (that's why monthly view is a non-negotiable for me in a diary), I can rest at peace knowing that it won't get lost in the sea of my activities.

Adulting can be hard but it's not impossible. If I'm honest, I still like where I am today than where I was during my teenage years. Being at this stage is amazing, you have money, you can go wherever you like, you can be whoever you want to be, but it's not without compromise. Cheers to adulthood! -CMK