Attention burned out working adults! Do you have more items on your to-do list than you have time?

Here’s some of the activities that y’all must do and the average time per day it takes to do them (source: 2018 American Time Use Survey, BLS).

1. Cleaning the house and doing laundry, 94 minutes
2. Making meals, 61 minutes
3. Paying the bills, sorting mail and organizing the house, 44 minutes
4. Shopping for groceries or gifts, 50 minutes
5. Taking care of the kids – driving to school or activities, 121 minutes

You try to do it all.  You’re exhausted. There’s no time for you.  No time for your exercise.  Your reading.  Cuddling with your spouse.  Your friends.  Your Netflix binges.

But everyone lives this way, right?

I found a better way. Here’s how I did it.

I decided to start doing what I do best, and then outsource the rest. 

I figured out which of the things my husband and I did that either took the most time or that sucked the passion out of us.  Those were prime candidates to outsource.  For us… ding ding ding, cleaning the house and doing laundry!

We had a maid come in once a month but it didn’t feel like it was buying more than 5-6 hours a month. We thought not having to scrub a bathroom done would be enough relief. But nope.

So, we decided to outsource the cleaning and laundry tasks on a weekly basis. And essentially buy back time.

We asked around and found a woman that would clean our home and do our laundry, every week.  We pay her a set hourly rate.  We tell her that the house doesn’t need to be pristine. Do one floor one week while the laundry is going and switch floors the next week. If we’ve done the clothing laundry already because we needed to, then wash our towels and sheets instead.

Believe it or not, there’s people who would love to do your laundry. They need to make extra cash and they find it meditative.

We figured we’d try it for one quarter and if it didn’t feel like it was worth it, we could stop.

After a year, we can’t imagine life now without her.  We get a clean home every week and we only do laundry once a week (vs twice).  And honestly, it’s not that much more $.  Our stress level is significantly lower.  We have more time to exercise, play with the kids or come up with more creative menus for my husband’s personal chef / catering business.

What can you outsource?

Here’s some things you can outsource so you can do what you do best, be you!

1. Cleaning the house and doing laundry
   • Hire a stay at home mom for 5 hours a week @ $x per hour
2. Making meals
   • Meal delivery or meal prep like such as Home Chef, Sun Basket, Blue Apron, Green Chef
3. Taking care of the lawn
   • Hire a gardener
   • Hire a high school student
4. Taking care of the kids – driving to school or activities
   • Try rotating with other families
   • Hire a senior in high school or a stay-at-home mom
   • Hire a loving and local babysitter from friend referrals or background check online sites such as SitterCity, Urban Sitter, or Care

Sources to find one-time or ongoing help

TaskRabbit.com – choose from over 140,000 background checked Taskers for help without breaking the bank

FancyHands.com – a team of US-based assistants at your fingertips to tackle anything on your to-do list

Not ready to outsource yet?

You could still do those things for possibly less per hour than you make.  But you’d be stressed out and trading your time with your family, friends or yourself for what?

I’m ready to do what I do best!

If you have discretionary funds, you can buy time which promotes happiness.  If you don’t have discretionary funds, then you can either buy time occasionally or pare down your big vacations or reduce those expensive meals. Or just give it a whirl for 3 months and then re-assess the value.