The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1926-04-30
TO SECURE TIME
FOR T TASKS
Various Odds and Ends Are
Confronted at Once.

prepared by the United States Department
of Agriculture.)
A period Of spring f~reshening Is
inevitable in every good housekeep-
er's calendar, no matter how careful
and systematic she may be about
cleaning throughout the year. The
furnace fire is dispensed with;
screens go up; portieres and many
window curtains come down or are
exchanged for those of more season
able fabrics; slip overs appear, and
best rugs as well as winter fannels
are put away with moth marbles.
Such changes as these, as well as
miscellaneous tasks of turning O
boxes and cupboards, mending fur
nishings and getting rid of articles
no longer wanted, confront one al
of them are not, strictly speaking,
cleaning processes, doing them fire.
quently reveals corners that have
been overlooked or that need atten-
ton and Encouragement.
In the home that is always kept
reasonably clean the actual washing
of woodwork, windows, floors or fur
niture may be less Of an extra task
In the general spring f~reshening than
attending to these other require
ments. If the housekeeper's time is
already largely consumed by the or
binary duties of her home 1t becomes
a problem to get in such additional
jobs. AS nearly all Of them require
some decision on her part, they can
not be delegated successfully to any
of gaining time for them without neg
lecting the daily needs of the family.
The bureau of home economics of
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture suggests that in such cases
a time schedule or plan of work may
be of real assistance. 1t should be
made several weeks before the period
Of spring change is due, and followed
until the transformation of the house
Is completed. Begin by keeping a
record for one week of the time ac-
tually spent in your successive activi-
ties each day. Include homework,
sleeping, dressing, care Of the chill
dren, talking or telephoning, and any
other ways you spent your time.
Now go over these time records day
by day to see how long you spent on
routine work, and what free times
are available, even in spaces as short
as five minutes, or half-hours. De-
eide, first, whether any of the tasks
recorded could be eliminated alto
gether, at least for the period of
extra spring work, or delegated to
some one else, permanently or tempo
rarily. Could one of the children set
the table, sort the laundry or dust
the living room? Could you send the
washing out for a few weeks, to gain
time for those tasks no one else but
yourself can possibly do? Then see
whether time could be gained by
speeding up any of the regular work.
Your method of dishwashing may be
at fault; you can at least simplify
meals for a while, so as to have fewer
dishes and cooking utensils to wash.
Fifteen minutes gained ON several
little tasks daily will prove worth
while. Think it all out clearly. Look
at the location of the scattered short
periods of free time. Could any of
these be brought together by combin-
ing other duties in a different order?
The longer the space Of time avail
able the more one can accomplish.
Such a slight change as rising a little
earlier (%offset, of course, by going to
bed earlier! y may enable you to pre-
pare part Of dinner early in the day
while getting breakfast and 30 leave
a longer space free later,