1. Find good slow-cooker recipes. The time it takes to find them and try them will come back to you a thousand times over. Throw it in the pot in the morning, and dinner-time will feel like you're on vacation!
2. Purge the excess. Excess breeds chaos. If you don't use it regularly or if it doesn't fit, set it free. Donate it to charity or make a few bucks off of it at a resale shop. The extra space you'll have will make your home (even the closets) a place of peace -- a place you actually want to be.
3. Manage your household; don't let it manage you. It usually takes LESS time than you think to tidy up, unload the dishwasher, purge the closets, etc. If you let it go, the work will pile up so high you won't know where to start. And starting IS the hardest part. Imagine you have company coming over in 15 minutes -- and then zoom through as much housework as you can. (Chances are, if you get up a good momentum, you'll want to keep going!)
4. Have the kids clean and de-clutter with you. Impress upon your children the feeling of satisfaction that comes with having a clean, orderly space and with giving to those less fortunate. If you do this, they will learn to be good stewards, to be organized, to be charitable, to value "things" less than people, and to keep a loose grip on the material "stuff" of life. After all, you can't take it with you.
5. Plan your meals for the week and grocery shop accordingly. It will save you time wondering what to make each evening and running out to the store for one more ingredient, AND it will save you money in keeping you from the "need" to order in or pick up restaurant food.
6. (On a more serious note...) Plan for eternity. Today could be your last. Don't make the tragic mistake of thinking it can be dealt with later because "later" may never come.
(Acts 16:25-31) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
