When I taught pre-school, I always read the exact same book (every single day) during lunch time. It was a great way to subtly settle the kids down, get them to concentrate on their food, and prepare themselves for naptime. Anytime I would try to mix things up and read a different book - the natives would get restless and it was always harder to get them to eat and lay down for a nap.

I plan our meals for the week, my clothes for the week and my son's clothes for the week on Sunday nights. The meal calendar goes on the fridge and I put the clothes lists on Post-Its on the inside of our closets. Even if I end up deviating on a particular day, it sets a baseline of meal and outfits that I can put together without thinking.

The first thing I do after putting my daughter down for a nap is reheat the coffee I never manage to finish in the morning. Then I sit down to my laptop to check email and my favorite blogs until my coffee is gone. This takes about 20 minutes. I used to save "me" time until after everything else was done, and guess what? Me time never happened. So now it's the first thing I do when nap time starts. Taking a few minutes for myself to see what the rest of the world is up to, and to reply to messages, I feel better about whatever else I have to accomplish while my daughter sleeps (cleaning, laundry, etc.). A simple thing - coffee and laptop - but it shifts my frame of mind and then the chores don't get to me as much.

I start the dishwasher every night before I go to bed, whether it is *completely* full or not. I used to wait until every centimeter of space was filled, in an attempt to conserve water and energy. But FlyLady taught me that it's better to conserve my own sanity, and begin each day with a clean kitchen, clean dishes and an empty dishwasher.

@michalcrum - I LOVE FlyLady! She saved my sanity! I've had to adapt a little bit, but she is my hero.

So my adaptation: I have to do dishes (we don't have a dishwasher) after EVERY meal. No exceptions. If I wait to do breakfast with lunch...well, we're already behind, and I pretty much never get caught up! Then, after I do the dishes (after each meal), I have to clean up somewhere in the house (usually the living room, sometimes the bathroom or my bedroom) for 5 minutes. Then we clean the kids' room for 5 minutes before afternoon nap and at bedtime, and our bedroom for 5 minutes before our bedtime.

Everything else is on top of that, and I work it in as I can. But if I have no time for anything else and do ONLY those things, and NOTHING else...the house is still manageable. Maybe not perfect, but manageable. It's like magic.

I got a netbook so I can do email and read blogs while I pump; so much lighter and easier than my old IBM laptop. I also read the news on my iPhone while I breastfeed. (We mostly do sidelying so my son wouldn't see my face anyway; otherwise I make eye contact with him, don't worry!) Feeling connected with the world while I do these repetitive tasks helps so much. When my son was tiny I could even watch 30 Rock on hulu on the netbook while nursing, but now he's too easily distracted.

Once supper is in the oven (or on the stove) cooking, I wash up the dishes I used, put away the ingredients I used, and wipe down the counters. Then when dinner is over all that's left are the plates, cutlery, and a few serving dishes. Makes the job much easier.

I've started listening to books on my ipod while cleaning the house, and I find that I look for reasons to keep cleaning instead of reasons to stop. Also, it keeps me from checking email while I clean, which is a big distraction.

I have been trying lately to be more conscious of what I am doing. Usually, I just run on autopilot and stop when I realize I'm exhausted. My day after work is full but works really well. When I get home, I give my toddler some dinner. While she is eating in the high chair, I clean up the kitchen from stray mail, dishes, recycling, etc. and living room from any mess my husband made throughout the day. (Nope - can't get him to help...just doesn't work.) Usually, her meal takes long enough for me to quickly straighten up both rooms and sweep the hallway, bathroom, living room, and kitchen (we have a small apartment with mostly wood floors). After she eats and the apartment can breathe, we play - either outside or in the living room or her room. This time is really dedicated only to her, my husband and myself. No multitasking on quality time. :) After she goes to sleep at seven, my husband and I eat some dinner, and I wash dishes or stow them in the dish washer as I am finished with them. As soon as dinner is over, I put the dishes in the dishwasher or clean them without the dishwasher and put them away. (I've only had a dishwasher for two months, so I'm not quite used to using it.) The remaining time before bed is used for my husband and I - we have a regular routine of television shows we watch and sometimes we read together or just talk. Sometimes I will crochet or sort things like recipes while watching tv. As I am getting ready for bed, I usually start about 30 minutes before I want to crawl into the bed, I go to wash my face, brush my teeth, put anything stray into its place and finally sweep the bathroom floor once more for the evening. (I do it again in the morning as the shower heats up. I have a cat box in there, and she has a bad habit of scratching litter everywhere.) As I am winding down in my bed, I view a few last blogs and messages on my blackberry then sleep. It seems like a lot, but doing a few little things every day cuts down on the effort overall. On the weekend, I get an overhaul day where I mop all of the hard flooring except the bathroom - that gets a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ALL OVER. After my daughter is asleep and my husband is out one evening with his best friend, I fold laundry - my most hated task.

Being really AWARE of my surroundings and actions has helped me a ton. I still have one completely un-unpacked room, but it will get done on one of those overhaul days.

You people are awesome.

I can't commit to save my life, although my husband and I seem to be falling into an unspoken agreement that whoever isn't putting the baby to bed is upstairs cleaning-up the kitchen. Its awesome to know it'll be done, or that that's what I have to do before anything else.