Saving Time and Energy. Learn to plan and organize work. Have a monthly, weekly, and daily schedule of work. It will often be necessary to vary this, but a well-planned schedule will nevertheless reduce the time otherwise wasted in unnecessary duplication and without definite purpose. “A stitch in time saves nine.” This applies to sanitation, plumbing, cleaning, gardening, colds, and sore throats, as well as to socks and frocks.
Study how to eliminate useless motions. Make exact studies, using a watch and a record pad. Observe how many trips were made in laying the table, and the length of time required. Discover ways of reducing this by half, through use of a tray, more convenient arrangement of supplies, fewer dishes, simpler service. Make similar studies with other processes, such as cleaning a room, or preparing a meal.
In an ordinary household, preparation of breakfast for a family of five persons should not require more than half an hour; lunch from twenty minutes to an hour; dinner from half an hour to two hours. The daily care of a bedroom should be completed in ten to twenty minutes. Washing of dishes, clearing of dining room and kitchen, should be finished in from twenty to sixty minutes after a meal. The weekly washing for such a family should be completed in four to six hours, and likewise the ironing. Five hours a week is enough to spend in baking, and only two should be necessary if bread is not made.
Make out the menus for a whole week, revising daily as necessary. This will assure better-balanced menus, more variety, economy of time and money in marketing, and will prevent the worry of unpreparedness. In marketing, purchase a two or four months’ supply of such staples as can be bought and stored advantageously. Have a regular day weekly to inspect supplies and order staples. Have two or three regular days a week for purchasing fresh vegetables, fruits, meats.
The general architectural plan of a house, finish of walls and floors, construction of windows, doors, wainscoting, corners, mopboards, can make hours of difference in the week’s labor. Even when the general architecture cannot be altered, the floors may be improved. Carpeted or waxed floors are the most difficult to care for, while those painted or oiled are easiest. Useless bric-a-brac, carved and ornate furniture, all are dust and germ holders, and consume an extravagant amount of time for their care. For every unnecessary and useless piece of furniture, drapery, or utensil, the housekeeper must pay a tax of time and strength in handling. The Japanese have learned the beauty of simplicity in house furnishing.
Rearrange the plan of the kitchen until supplies, utensils, stove, water, sink are so placed that there are fewest steps and motions, and it is as convenient as an apartment house kitchenette. Tables, sinks, and ironing boards adjusted to the height of the worker will economize energy. A low stool to stand upon will reduce the height of work tables; a detached wooden frame or block on top of a low kitchen table or sink will often give the desired height without stooping. A cushioned stool or chair to sit upon while doing stationary work, or a soft rug under feet while standing, all add to comfort.
Electricity is the housekeeper’s man-of-all-work. It can heat, light, cook, supply the energy for the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, wringer, dishwasher. In some communities it is now furnished at a sufficiently low rate for such general use, and other communities can have the same low rates whenever the housekeepers organize and demand it.
Simple cooking is more digestible, nourishing, economical of labor, and, to a natural appetite, more appetizing. The most valuable part of potatoes and apples is next the skin, the removal of which before cooking is wasteful of time and materials. A coal stove is an enormous consumer of time and energy. An alcohol stove furnishes the cleanest method of cooking, quite practicable, with a fireless cooker and steam cooker, for a small family. Next in convenience, and more economical, are the gas or oil vapor stoves. A good fireless cooker vastly reduces the time required in the kitchen, and cuts the fuel bill in half.
In serving meals, labor is saved by using a tray, or better still a wheeled tray with several shelves, which may be drawn up to the table to hold the additional courses and the soiled dishes as removed. A special tray that will fit the cupboard shelf, to hold the constant accessories, will save handling.
Dishwashing is an ever-recurring, three-times-a-day problem. There are several fairly good dishwashing machines now on the market, both electric and hand-power. If dishes must be washed in the old-fashioned way, engineering efficiency can be put into it. After washing, scald the china in a wire basket such as business offices use for holding letters, and leave to dry without wiping, then place directly on trays to take to the table instead of placing on shelves only to take down again. In times of stress or of picnic spirit, papier-mâché or wooden dishes will save time.