Well-planned is half done

Waking up early in the morning, readying a wholesome breakfast, cooking and packing a delicious lunch, then getting ready to office, taking care of sundry household requirements — these are some of the daily chores of an average working woman .

And after all these and a hurried bath, if you rush to office, things are not easy on the work front either. Even the modern workplace comes with its own share of tensions.

The multiple-roles that women find themselves compelled to play these days, often bring about a major dip in energy level. If you are a person who does things in the last minute, then things may not be that easy.
A little bit of planning and time management may help a great deal to get rid of stress at home. The thumb rule is — do not put away things for the next day.

Judicious use of weekends or holidays is important in a working woman’s life. Not only must you plan for the next day, but also plan for the week ahead.

Do the laundry and iron the clothes. If you can decide clothes for each day of the ensuing week and keep the accessories along with it ready, you have half won your battle. Otherwise choosing a dress and finding the accessories will take away a major chunk of your precious time in the mornings.

Similarly, encourage your husband to arrange his wardrobe for a week. If you have school-going children, it is important that you keep not only their uniforms and shoes ready, but also their casual clothes for after-school hours.

Buy vegetables for a week, sort and keep them in the refrigerator. Keeping onions and garlic peeled and chopped will surely save time. Grinding ginger-garlic paste and keeping it in the fridge is also good. Storing boiled potatoes is always helpful. If you are in the habit of using only home made spices or mixes, grinding and keeping them in air-tight containers will save time.

For a south Indian household no breakfast is complete without idli or dosa. Grind the batter in advance and refrigerate. It will come to your rescue, if you are late from office in the evenings or you have some unexpected visitors or guests.

Fixing a varying menu on a daily basis will be interesting for the family members too. But plan it ahead. For example, if you are making idli or pongal, keep sambhar so that you need not have to make another side dish.
Dedicate at least one day in a week for mixed rice varieties. Vegetable rice, biryani, lemon rice, tomato rice, tamarind rice, sambhar rice and curd rice, you have any number of options to try out. So at least for one day you will be saved from cooking a full-meal.

Try to finish off your beauty treatments on holidays. From shampooing hair to doing a pedicure, manicure or facial, doing it on a holiday in a relaxed manner will refresh you. If all is set, then you will be able to handle working days
just like that.