Failing to plan is planning to fail. Organising your time and your working environment effectively means you will feel less stressed, more in control and able to focus on the things you love rather than chores you hate.
Have a diary
If you and your nanny family don’t already have a diary, ideally a page per day, then invest in one. Write down your menu plans, shopping lists, any appointments, groups, playdates or changes to the usual routine. Remind your bosses to fill things in as well and check a couple of weeks ahead or before planning anything on a specific date in case there’s something already there. Don’t be afraid to put your plans in, particularly if they involve you leaving right on time or mean you’re unable to babysit. Don’t like a paper diary? Share a Google calendar with your boss!
Create a nursery duties routine
Some weeks are so jam packed with activities that chores like laundry or hoovering the playroom can slip down the list. By making a routine you can slot the nursery duties into your day, and you know that they’re always done. Having a predictable rhythm for loads of laundry or a day where you use naptime to batch cook can also help when the routine slips a bit!
Prepare the morning before you leave work the night before
When you’re the one responsible for making sure the children have everything ready in the morning train the parents as well as the children to put things in their place. Leave the book bags by the coats and shoes and ask parents that if they do read in the evening to put things back where they belong. If you know you put everything ready the night before you can also easily see what’s missing in the morning, because something always will be!
Bulk prep veg’s
Chopping and bagging veg in bulk saves a lot of time as well as washing up. There are bound to be nights when you have to do a quick tea because you’re caught between Brownies, ballet and boxing but it’s also the day that you leave for school at 8.30 and don’t come back until after pick-up. If you’ve got veg pre-chopped for a speedy stir fry or a stuffed omelette you can get in and get cooking straight away.
Make activity packs
Use spare time to make up a few packets or boxes of activities or crafts that you can just whip out ready to go. Make sure you include any extras like glue, scissors or pencils. It’s looking for the little things that takes the time but planning ahead means you can spend the time productively, and there’s very little putting away afterwards because you’ve already measured out exactly what you need.