Working From Home and Managing Distractions

OOOH SHINY! Easily distracted? I am!

Many Cre8tive Housewives work from home, or at least use the computer to socialize. Suddenly 5 minutes turns into "Crap! I gotta start dinner!" :) In corporate world, as a team we'd all get together, discuss the problem for about an hour, then brainstorm best practices to mitigate the adverse effects of the behaviors, and finally go through training to relearn our habits.

How about we skip all that? I'll share a few techniques I use to keep my day from getting derailed, you share yours. And we'll all share a cup of tea or coffee while we daydream... I mean brainstorm. :)

Fun Timers


I'm a grown woman, I'm NOT going to set something to BUZZ or BEEP, BEEP, BEEP at me. Okay, I will if it's a reminder to stir because I'm ereading, but that's different. No, if I'm working on the computer, I like to set play lists that end when I want/need/must stop. When the music stops, and I have physically start the music again, it works as a reminder to get up. Naming the playlist what I need to get done helps too. Laundry, Dishes, and Pickup! are all on heavy rotation.

Eat the Bad Stuff First


As kids we always ate the nasty stuff we don't like first to get it over with so we could eat the good stuff to remove the taste. Or maybe that was just me being logical in a house where you were strongly encouraged to finish your plate, or no snacks later. I try to take on one or two household chores I don't like first thing in the morning. One, it helps me feel good about myself for the rest of the day, and two, the longer I personally wait, the less likely I will follow through because the more I think about it, the less appealing the chore becomes.

I'm On Break

I suck at turning myself OFF. I have ON and TOTAL SHUT DOWN. Once I sit down to read for a bit or play a video game, I usually don't stop until a critical event forces me to (dinner, kids home from school, etc.). I have found some success in "relaxing" in the chairs I find not super comfortable in our house. I'm still getting a break, which studies show leads to better productivity, but I'm not going into "all done" mode.

Keep My To-Do List Doable, Not a Marathon


The more line items I have on my To-Do list the more daunted I feel. This is why I use my notecard system to basically hide HALF of my day at a time. If the mountain looks more like a hill, or better yet, a grassy knoll, I march up it with a grin. But a day where I hate everything running so tightly if one goes into overtime my entire day collapses like a house of cards? I'm more likely to give in to defeat on those days than try to pick up the pieces. I feel less like I WANT to be distracted when there's not as much to be distracted from.

So there's 3 "best practice" what are yours? Share below! And since I'm being very productive today on 2 hours of sleep, I'm having an extra biscuit. :)

Are Leftovers Killing Your Grocery Budget?

Most articles on budgeting when they talk about leftovers refer to unused leftovers. You know, the science experiments we trash every month or so when we clean out the refrigerator (about every 3 months in the West household... what? I'm busy. LOL).

I just realized after three months of busting our very generous monthly grocery budget that leftovers were indeed KILLING me, because they are being EATEN! For lunch.

We're talking about the main entree here since the additional items my son and husband take for lunch are the same no matter what... granny smith apples, cut up cheese, crackers/chips/pretzels, etc. I have to buy those no matter what. A few months ago, I asked the men in our family which they prefer, to make sandwiches/new lunches or eat leftovers. With cavemen-like nods and perfect agreement, the consensus was "Leftovers!" I stupidly felt flattered. "They want to take MY cooking...awwwww!"

Sidenote: I don't care for leftovers most of the time. By the time I've cooked it, eaten it once, cleaned it off plates and pots and pans, I'm done with that particular dish.

Today, I had to grocery shop. Since we are purchasing a new home, every penny must be accounted for this month for the closing cost documentation (with a VA loan, yes you can roll your closing costs into the loan, but you must prove you have the cash on hand to pay for closing costs on the day of closing, too, even though you aren't going to pay them, but roll them into the loan... #dumb #andwewonderwhybanksneededbailouts). I am stressing the food budget.

I was so proud of myself that I only bought 2 things that weren't on the list. When my hunter-gatherer instinct kicks in, look out! I hate to grocery shop, or shop in general, so I end up with a shopping cart that is an architectural masterpiece on wheels, with meat and frozen foods teetering on a carefully constructed base of dry goods, all pushed with one hand while the other holds the jumbo pack of toilet paper on top because it won't fit under the cart. Buying only what's on the list is a feat unto itself.

As I'm about to toss in a $10 pork loin, thinking in my head "Half for dinner, half for lunches" my brain screeches to a halt. Wait a minute. I just put a $2.00 container of lunch meat in the cart, plus a coupon to get $.50 off. (I don't eat leftovers, I make a lunch everyday for me and my daughter). That will do at least 2 lunches for each man! That's less than $.50 per lunch! (Plus the slices of bread). And here I'm going to buy a $10 pork loin, when 4 porkchops are $4.50, so THEY can take $5 worth of meat for lunch?!?!?!?!?!?!

To recap:

I was going to buy a $10 pork loin so there'd be "leftovers" for lunch.
$5 for dinner. $5 for 2 lunches. $2.50 per lunch.

A container of lunch meat on sale with a coupon was $1.50. I can get 4 lunches out of that. That's $0.375 per lunch for the entree, plus 2 slices of bread, about $.20, so $.50-$.60 per lunch for the "entree"

That means I'm spending $2+ per lunch all month long! Over two guys (hubby and son) and the 20 days they take a lunch, that's $80 extra dollars per month! More if the dinner is more expensive (as is the case of buying extra shrimp so there's leftovers or beef)

Hold the phone. So I put the pork loin back, bought the 8 pack of pork chops for $6, divided it into two ziploc bags when I got home (2 meals), and my husband looks over my shoulder. "Aren't you going to cook all of them for leftovers?" I pointed out the math to him and his eyes widened. He never thought about it like that either!

Leftovers are FINE for lunches if the original cost of the meal was very, very cheap. But if you're buying extra food to cook at dinner time so you'll have leftovers for lunches, you're probably grossly inflating your grocery bill. Lunches in the West household are now going to involve something between two slices of bread, and when the two lunch meat packs are gone this week, let me introduce you to Mr. Peanut Butter. :)