# Help needed, suggestions please



## wildwanderer (Mar 2, 2004)

I work a different kind of schedule - I work 24 hr on and have 48hr off. So I work a rotating three week schedule. I am newly married (just hit one year) and my dear husband works 12hr shifts. I am trying to turn our little apartment into our first homestead, we do suprising little laundry, and try to eat in as much as possible. I am learning to dehydrate food (just recieved an excalibur for our anniversary present) and would like to provide our bread and as much as I can. I have found with my schedule somedays I can come home and just hope into everything get cleaning and such done then take little nap until hubby comes home. However some nights we get slammed and I get home exhausted and can sleep until my hubby comes home. I am need a schedule, one that is flexible obviously, to take care of everything I do. I use coupons, we shop sales, we are doing ok money wise and I try to save where I can. We have a well stocked cupboard but no room for a pantry. I do have flour and grains in 5 gallon buckets in the kitchen. SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO? How would you arrange your days. I know if I can find a routine I can probably handle it but I can't seem to wrap my mind around a routine. I have been sick for the last few weeks and just now am starting to get back to everything so please help me here. You guys are my heros I read here for inspiration and today I just gave up and decided if I spilled my guts you all might have some suggestions. Thanks so much - Thea


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## Barleychown (Jan 30, 2008)

Hi there Thea,

My husband works the same 24 on, 48 off. For the first year or so I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to make this schedule "work" with a normal routine. I finally decided it NEVER will. You will need to let go of the preconceived notion of your week needs to match a "normal" week. 

As for baking bred and such, because you never know what your night is going to be like, keep a "back up" loaf in the freezer. Then, if you need sleep, you can just pull that one out and use it. Make meals ahead and freeze them, as well...then when you don't feel like cooking you'll have an easy meal. 

With time you will settle into a routine that works for you. My best advice would be to think outside the box. Odd schedules require odd solutions.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

My DH and I both work crazy swing shift type schedules as well, plus add in a 4yo and a farm-ette full of critters. You can't mke a good schedule because it is all hinged on your night. For me, nothing insures a busy night like planning to do something when I get off. Just do what you can, when you can. FWIW, I do room by room cleaning, rather than all the vacuuming, then all the dusting, etc. I find that it helps to know I completed one full room. I also swear by Pleadge Multisurface, it cuts cleaning times inhaf when you can use the same cleaner on the sink, counters, then take it on for dusting and appliances. I also sort of do a room by what I am doing. FOr instance,I wake up and stumble into the kitchen for coffee, so while the coffee is brewing I'll hit the counters, the sink etc. I know I am not giving you a "routine," per se, but thinking of ways to cut your chore time is a big help. I've been on shifts for 11 years...it is either heavenly or stinky, depends on the night and days, lol. From the way you said "get slammed," I am assuming you are either a nurse or a paramedic (I am a paramedic supervisor, DH is a FF on an opposite shift). I likethe idea posted above of frozen meals. This is where I get into a lot of trouble, money wise and healthy eating wise. I am aways buying "quick meal fixes" because I am too flippin tired to do any real cooking. Unless you work swing shift or are affected by someone working swing shift, it's hard to undertand. It also stinks that on a day feel like doing somthng, DH will have beenslammed the night before and will need to sleep when I want to vacuum.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

EMT, paramedic or FF? I recognize that schedule, lol! I'm a nurse and work 12 hr night shifts, with an irregular schedule of nights - all I can be sure of is that I'll be working 4 nights in 14, but never know more than a month or so ahead exactly WHICH 4 nights. I do not have the kind of set schedule that I had as a SAHM or as I did when I worked regular shifts.

You just have to grab your moments when you can. Since I live 60 miles round trip from town/work, I MAKE myself run my errands most mornings after work. However, if I have just had a night from Hades, I pick and choose my battles. Have to gas up or I won't make it back to town? Priority. Should pick up some bagels and milk, but have plenty of other foods at home? Plan to use those other foods and eliminate that stop until next time. I don't do housework on the day between 2 shifts. With a long drive and 12 hr shifts, there just isn't time to do much more than sleep, shower, make sure the critters are fed and make my lunch/coffee. What I do is try to cook ahead on my days off and put servings of whatever I cook into deli containers or glass jars, then take those to work for my meals - saves me time getting ready when I can just pull them out and put them in the lunch box. I make my favorite coffee ahead of time, too, and store it in a mason jar in the fridge. A pint jar of coffee is a mug full. I like lots of creamer and hot chocolate mix in my cinnamon coffee, so I carry a little yogurt container with the fixings in it, or I keep it in my locker at work. Now, if you work where you have a kitchen and cooking duties, that might not be necessary for you, but it's still nice to know there is something you can grab on the go when you are having one of those slammed nights.

As far as the housework, I don't exactly have a schedule. There are some things that MUST be done, like dishes, and some things that can wait a day or 3, like laundry, usually. I try to make use of 15 minutes here and there. Have you checked out Flylady yet? I don't follow her daily schedule, for obvious reasons, but I have made use of her ideas for 27 fling boogies, 15 minute cleaning with a timer, 5 minute room rescues, and the weekly focus areas. Like Beccachow, I like to clean a whole room rather than all the whatever...at least I know I have ONE room that is presentable and restful for my eyes. I like the Mt Vernon cleaning method, where you start in one corner of the room and work your way around the room until you end up back at your starting point. I also have a tote that has all my cleaning supplies in it (sometimes I even remember to USE it  ). That helps keep me on track, because I don't waste time looking for something I need. In addition to the cleaning supplies, I also have a pad of paper and a pencil in it. When I think of something while I'm cleaning, like if I need to buy more X, or I should pick up the stuff I need to repair Y, or just a stray thought that flits through, I can write it down before I forget. That really helps.

You might try figuring out how often you need to have a task done in a given amount of time, say a week or a month, and use a calendar or card system to plug it into your schedule where you have time for it. Say you know you have to clean that toilet bowl at least once a week...it doesn't have to be the same day each week, as long as it gets done 4 times a month on a fairly regular basis. Or you know you have to wash uniforms at least every other set of days off in order to give you clean clothes for work every shift. You can plug it into your schedule knowing that.

I wipe out the sink each time I use it (when I'm being good - I have lapses), and so it stays pretty clean and needs less frequent deep cleaning. I take a squeegie to the shower stall after every shower because I know that our iron water builds up on the shower a lot faster if I don't - and then I have to clean it with heavy-duty chemicals more often. Takes another minute or so each time, but saves me an easy 1/2 hour a week. I keep baby wipes on the back of the toilet and use one on the tank, seat and outside of the bowl as needed. Again, keeps the heavy-duty cleaning time to a minimum, because it never really gets that dirty. Lots of little tricks like that can cut down on your cleaning time and make it easier to keep the house looking nice, so you have more time to do things like baking bread or taking a much needed nap after a hard shift.


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## wildwanderer (Mar 2, 2004)

I am a paramedic and I agree that nothing kills you more then having something that has to be done the day I get off. Thanks everyone for your help, I am nearly three years into this schedule and I do enjoy it mainly because you take a day off and have five days to yourself. However it has really thrown off my housekeeping, and having just got married about a year ago now I have two to clean up after instead of one. I really appreciate it, and I am trying to just roll with however I really want to provide that homey lifestyle that we both want until we move to the country. Take care and thanks everyone- Thea


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

Yes, I agree with Barleyclown when he/she says to think outside the box. An odd schedule will require a new and clever solution to time and schedule management. Our family keeps a different schedule too, odd work times, odd times we are together and it took a while for us to accept and embrace that our family just has a different way of doing things. Now, we are OK with it...but it took a while. 

We do the idea someone above said and keep frozen meals, bread and back up food frozen at all times. That way, if we all are suddenly together, there is good food for a Family sit down meal. We use a family calender and are very careful for all five of us to keep it up to date, make changes when needed and most of all , we are careful to respect the Family time which includes meals, meetings, and clean up schedules.

Be creative - embrace what works for you even if it is "different" from what others do.

good luck


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## digApony (Oct 8, 2009)

Good luck with your schedule. My ex husband worked afternoons and/or swing shift for 10 hours a day, with 5 days off every month and a half.

I also homeschooled my two boys. I am not a night person so I cannot doing anything much past 8pm. 

What I did was to make my main meal in the middle of the day, before my ex husband went to work. Cooked and cleaned while the kids did their school work; and available when they needed me.

I would take them on field trips during the day while their daddy slept or even take them to spend the day and do their school work with other homeschooling families.

I kept a regular day time schedule while my ex husband slept in a quiet room. I would pick one room to clean a day. 

All I can tell you is to forget the dust. It will be there when you finish more important things like making bread. Trust me. After 25 years, my dust is still there!


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## wildwanderer (Mar 2, 2004)

Hello everyone, Well I want to thank everyone for your help we are slowly coming out with a system. Just a general weekly list that way if I can get to it then I do or if I have a burst of energy I can knock off most the list. We have started using the dishwasher - something I was reluctant to do but it helps. I have just found out I am pregnant almost 3 months along and it is crazy because my energy is sapped, I can't eat and morning sickness is killing me - I am living on ginger and peppermints along with prenatal vitamins. I am working harder to get our life in a more orderly situation. With the pregnancy I am uncertan how we will cope. For the first time in my life I am considering not working full time, as scary as this is I think I can understand becoming a SAHM somehthing I had not been able to in the past. So if you have any advice please continue to offer it. Thanks everyone and take care with the holiday season. - Thea


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