Laundry Hacks: Simple Solutions for Busy, Working Moms
Let's talk about laundry. 👕🧺
The dirty laundry that needs to get done because you're running out of clean clothes,
The clean laundry that sits in the basket waiting to be folded and put away,
The soccer socks, dance leotards, and sports jerseys that are never clean when you need them,
and my favorite...
The laundry that sat overnight in the washer because you forgot about it and now needs to be washed again. 🙄
Believe it or not, laundry is a regular topic in coaching sessions.
So, if you struggle to keep up with laundry or implement a system that helps you get laundry done without the fuss, you're not alone!
And while it might seem like a very mundane, "small" topic to bring to coaching, it's actually a great thing to get coached on because... it's not just about the laundry.
Just like it's not just about the to-do list or the inbox or the meal plan.
It's about the mental space that those things take up. 🧠
It's about having something like laundry hanging over your head.
And it's about how that feels and how you show up when you feel that way.
When you take the time to figure out a system or routine for the "smaller things", like laundry, you create space and capacity for the "bigger things". Things like going for a promotion, rekindling your marriage, starting a new hobby or activity, or becoming the parent you want to be.
Those bigger things are so much easier when you're not worried about whether you remembered to wash your child's soccer jersey for their game tonight. Or feeling frustrated that you forgot to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
So, if you want to get your laundry under control. Or really any of those daily, mundane chores, you need to do 2 things:
Make it your choice
Solve for the breakdown
I hate to break it to you, but laundry and all those other mundane chores, will likely always be a part of your life in some way. Even if you outsource them, there's management that has to happen.
Do you want to spend the rest of your life resisting it? Be frustrated by it? Or do you want to just find a way to get it done without the drama? 🤷♀️
It may not always feel like it, but laundry is a choice.
You think it's not, but the truth is, you don't have to do it.
You could buy new clothes instead of washing the ones you have.
You could outsource it completely, soup to nuts.
You could wear dirty clothes!
But if you're shaking your head to those options, or any others I'm not thinking of, then you are choosing to do laundry.
You're choosing clean clothes, to not always buying new, and to using your money on other things that aren't outsourcing laundry.
Just because something is your choice though, doesn't mean it has to be so hard.
So next you need to find the breakdown in your current process and solve for that. 🤔
For me, there are four (4) stages of laundry:
Dirty laundry into the washer
Move clean clothes from washer to dryer (or hang dry)
Fold or sort
Put away (dresser, baskets, closet, armoire, etc.)
Where is your breakdown happening?
For me, when we went from 2 to 3 kids, I could not remember to get the laundry into the washer early enough in the day. By the time I'd remember, it would be late at night and I wasn't going to stay up to transfer it to the dryer. So I waited until the next day and the cycle repeated over and over and the dirty clothes kept piling up in stage 1.
Then I discovered the "delay start" button on my machine and started loading dirty clothes at night before bed. They'd get washed in the early morning, giving me plenty of time to transfer to the dryer throughout the day as I could.
Maybe for you, clothes aren't getting put away in stage 4. Can you carry the clean clothes basket to the room where your closet is and put them away the next time you're getting dressed or while the kids are brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed?
How can you make it easier to overcome the stage that's breaking down?
There are, of course, many other tips and ideas for batching, involving the kids, and doing laundry at times of the day when your energy is lower.
I strongly encourage you to listen to the podcast episode to hear even more about laundry.
But if you start with simply remembering that laundry is a choice and then solve for the breakdown in the process, you'll be on your way to getting out from under a mountain of laundry and putting that everyday chore on autopilot.
Laundry, or any other chore, is not worth your stress, frustration, or really any sizeable real estate in your brain.
Use that space for the things that matter.
Getting tasks on autopilot starts with organizing all that you have to do.
The Working Mom’s Ultimate Guide to Getting It Done will walk you through my step-by-step process for keeping work and life organized so you feel confident that you’re prioritizing the most important things.