We’re always trying to save time and energy, but for what?

We probably all have different reasons, but the main one is to save time and energy in order to have more free time and energy to do what we love. Killing two birds with one stone is like building up a time and energy bank account that we can use for play time.

Find out what my ten top ideas are.

1. Store and Decorate at the same time

Pillow shams are almost always sold with bedspreads; consequently pillow shams are proportionate to the size of the bedspread. In other words a queen-size bedspread has queen-size pillow shams and a king-size bedspread has king-sized pillow shams.

A great way to store your linens is by putting them, instead of pillows, in the shams to fill them out. Our bed is a queen-size and the linens for it, fill the pillow shams as if there are pillows in them! Voila, I kill two birds with one stone; the storage bird and the decorator bird.

2. Sleep and Go Out in the same apparel

In my slob days I slept in my clothes a lot and found that sweatpants and sweatshirts fared nicely through many nights while I was a young mom. Don’t forget my marriage didn’t survive, although I self-righteously blamed it on other things. Once I got organized I got a little more sophisticated…if that’s the right word. I dumped the sweats for the habit of getting up and getting dressed first thing in the morning instead of sometime during the afternoon.

Today, however, I’ve taken a second look at some of the darling workout clothes and honestly some of them could be worn to church! Who’s to say you have to take a shower every day? Why not, on particularly busy weeks, stay in one cute outfit that’s comfortable and doesn’t wrinkle, and just wash your smelly parts in the morning?

3. Reduce Sound Avoid Tranquilizers using one thing

Peggy Ann, one of my daughters called me one day when she was a young mother with a house full of kids (hers and foster) and she said, “Mom, I discovered an amazing thing!”

“What?”

“Earplugs!”

“Earplugs? They’ve been around forever.”

“I know, but I’ve discovered they’re just like taking a tranquilizer! They cut the sound down, but I can still hear if one of the kids is in trouble. The minute I stuck them in my ears, it took the edge off my stress!

4. Spa Treatment and Protection all in one

If you have dry hands and feet, always take advantage of moisturizing while you do other activities. When you wash dishes or garden, put coconut oil or olive oil on your hands and wear surgical gloves and then garden or rubber gloves. Your hands will love you for this.

When you exercise, rub coconut oil or olive oil on your feet and wrap them in plastic wrap before you put sox and shoes on. Your feet will think they’re getting a pedi.

5. Double recipes and avoid making a mess again

If you have a freezer, it’s like having a time and energy vault or safe in your home. Whenever you make a casserole, or baked goods, always double or even quadruple the recipe and freeze the extra unbaked. It’ll be like having your own stash of homemade convenience foods ready to bake! And you’ll only have ONE mess.

6. Play and Sedate all at the same time

I discovered this by accident. I had a birthday party for my daughter Joanna when she was nine. My rule was always the number of guests match the age of the birthday person. With these ten little girls I gave them each a baby bottle (4 oz.) in which I’d cut bigger holes in the nipples and I filled them with Kool Aid. The bottles were wrapped in birthday paper and I gave one to each child. I said, “Okay, when I say ‘go’ open your present and do what comes naturally. There’ll be a prize for the first three who finish first. One, two three, GO!”

Because it was a race, they tore open their packages and of course began sucking the little bottles. (I recommend not doing this with children who have recently been weened because they just might go back on the bottle!)

They had a ball but the most amazing thing transpired! Even though it was Kool Aid and loaded with sugar, the whole party became tranquil. They all wanted to refill their bottles and I let them, just because they were so peaceful and happy.

 7. Kill Two Birds with One Stove

If you’ve known me for very long, you know about the Thanksgiving in which I shoved a Cornish Game Hen in the Turkey because I didn’t have stuffing. At the dinner table when my husband pulled that little bird out of the big bird it was like a National Geographic special. My mother (who was a BO…Born Organized) was aghast at the whole spectacle and I very famously said, “I have literally cooked two birds with one stove.”

 8. Object of Enlightenment and Sleepwear

If you’ve gained weight in the last few months, you might want to wake yourself up to some of the stress that extra weight is having on your body. I call it the Wake-Up Collar and I speak of it in “The Mouth Trap: the butt stops here!”

Take some PJ bottoms and tie knots in the legs down by the ankle, creating two containers. Place any five pound bag of something: rice, sugar, flour and such down each leg. Put the PJ bottoms around your neck so they hang in front of you and walk around for half an hour.

I tried this several years ago by trying to walk on my regular walk up 1200 feet. I was unable to do it and ended up hiding the wake-up collar in the bushes and getting it later with the car.

9. Bathe and Play

This summer, fill a kiddie pool with water and leave it out in the sun to get warm. Let your kids have soap and they’ll get clean while they play.

10. Car Art leads to Clean Car

Let the kids use car chalk (the kind people use to write Just Married on the happy couple’s car) and decorate the car. Give each child a different color chalk. When it’s time to rinse off the chalk, have a surprise for each child when they get all the chalk off.

Another way to kill two birds with one stone is to listen while you work. May I recommend my audio CD sets for "The Mouth Trap: the butt stops here!" and "The GOOD Book: Get Out Of Debt." I have a limited supply of the CD sets for both audio books and I'm not going to produce more when they're gone. So while supplies last, when you purchase the CDs of either book, you'll receive the printed book free. Just click on the cover of the audio book you want to order. 

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