31 Days of Creative Homemaking :: Day 13--Everything I Do Takes Less Than 5 Minutes

Everything I do takes less than five minutes. Okay, not everything I do. But most of the things I do for myself takes very little time. Here are some examples--

Getting ready:
Makeup consists of eye shadow, eyeliner, and when I am feeling really fancy, mascara (mostly because I touch my eyes too much).

My hair is usually in a messy ponytail and when it isn’t, I use two hair products and blow dry my hair only about 1/3 dry. By not having a long beauty routine, I can fit in a workout and shower in less time. I can sleep in longer. And basically, I spend less time on myself so that I have time for other things. Surprisingly enough, I think I look all right for not taking very long. Far from frumpy I hope!

Getting dressed:
All of my workout clothes are matched by tops and bottoms in a basket in my closet. No questions about getting dressed to work out.

My everyday clothes consist of mostly dresses and skirts with tops. All my tops get tucked into skirts. Most of my clothes are either navy, grey, black, red, or pink. Everything mix and matches easily.

My shoes consist of usually flip flops ¾ of the year and flats and boots in the winter. I have shoes in every color I wear—black, brown, nude, and the occasional sparkly or red shoe. They are all cute, well shopped for, but simple enough to wear with almost anything in my closet.

I wear either earrings or a necklace. Not usually both and not anything much more.

I have a collection of purses but usually switch them every few months. My purse is organized in different pouches so that I can just throw everything into another purse when switching.

Watering the plants:
This past spring I streamlined all of my plants so that the majority of them were planted in the ground where they get automatically watered. The few pots of plants I have take me less than five minutes to water the front and the back. I realized that if it took longer than that, I would put it off, and the plants would eventually die.

Meals for myself:
If my day is hectic or I put off eating until I am super hungry, I usually grab something easy and not healthy. Things like chips or even leftovers that are not the best lunch choice for my daily caloric intake.

In order to help keep myself disciplined I will often make a list of appropriate lunch options. They all take less than five minutes so that I am guaranteed to eat soon and without too much effort. These items include, but are not limited to, a shake, soup, salad, oatmeal, and fruits and veggies.

For breakfast, I make the same protein shake everyday for the same reason. It is both delicious and filling enough to get me through a morning workout. My shake is made up of Whole Foods brand soy chocolate protein powder, half a frozen banana, spinach, ice, and a tablespoon of flaxseed.

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My point to all of this is that by doing these daily tasks quickly and somewhat routinely, I am able to have more time in my day to take care of the things that cannot be done so quickly. Making time to menu plan, cook, decorate the house, spend time with my husband, workout, blog, and whatever else I do, makes me a happier and a more purposeful person. Though I still am taking care of myself, my plants, my health, and how I look, but in a streamlined non-time-consuming way.

We cannot do it all. But perhaps we can do things a little more quickly by being creative and cutting back on our routines.

Any tips for doing something under five minutes? 

Check out all 31 Days of Creative Homemaking series here.

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