Help me organise my life!

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Shoei

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Hi All,

I've been successful in gaining a promotion, which will be a big change for my current lifestyle.

Currently, I have 2 horses at home who live out 24/7, one who is a veteran and a youngster who will be broken next year. I work from home most of the time and very flexibly so can sort the horses and ride around meetings etc.

I also run the house (husband knows how lucky he is with this but we have had words)

The new job will see me traveling about 2.5 hours a day and at least to start I will be in the office a lot more.

As I have until the new financial year to get my life in order does anyone have any tips/tricks! This is what I have so far thought.

  • Dog walker - Puppy will stay with MIL whilst I'm at work but I'd like her to have a good walk
  • Husband has obviously promised to up his game and take over majority of house work as he has less travel
  • He will also help with the horses whilst I'm in the office but I need to make this as easy as possible for him
  • Robot hoover? I have a bit of a thing about our floors, they are all tiled and I whizz around all the time with a broom whilst the kettle is boiling.
  • Meal prep - I think this is something I need to look at for in the week, inc lunch
  • I'd love to pay someone to come in and poo pick for me but we are quite rural and I've struggled before, so maybe a piece of equipment.
  • Youngster is going away to be broken in May and will go to my trainers for a couple of months after that on full livery so I have that support.
Any helpful tips and advice very much appreciated, It will be quite pressured role which I'm really looking forward to but need to make my life easier where I can.
Thanks
 
Congratulations on your promotion!

Would a slow cooker work for meals?

Also depending on your land layout and soil type, you could try a Paddock Blade if you had something suitable to pull it with? We had one where I used to work, it meant we could do all of the fields in under a day rather than over several days! But we had mostly flat land and the horses were in during winter due to wet land and clay soil, I’m not sure if would work as well if your land is very wet?
 
A paddock blade is an option as we have quite a flat paddock which is well draining. They are also tidy boys so go in a couple of areas which I suppose may make life easier. Husband is certainly more inclined to help with mechanical equipment 🤣
 
While I’m out of action we have been trying Hello Fresh and Gusto. Husband is happy to cook the meals as everything is provided and there is a recipe. Would these help at all? It’s not that cheap but makes life a lot easier.
 
asmp said:
While I’m out of action we have been trying Hello Fresh and Gusto. Husband is happy to cook the meals as everything is provided and there is a recipe. Would these help at all? It’s not that cheap but makes life a lot easier.
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We did have a trial which worked. He's not opposed to cooking, it's just.... well, it comes naturally to me, I don't have to look at books and know what I'm doing. It's definitely worth revisiting as it takes the thought process out of it which is where I struggle!
 
Congratulations on the promotion!!

Definitely recommend a slow cooker to save time meal prepping. Organise 'dump bags' at the weekend/once a month then freeze. I just chuck one in of a morning and cover with water or stock. Mine is on a time and comes on about 10am on low and ready to thicken up about 6pm. Obviously it's a bit boring every night of the week, but I usually have one on the go for monday evening (long day in office) and then a thursday when I have lots of running about to do.

I love the idea of a robot hoover - I've been looking at the cheaper ones on amazon.

My horses also live out 24/7 at my own place (not quite home). They have a hay feeder with a round bale in (covered in a net to save wastage) - is this an option? We've put stone down round the hayfeeder to help with mud under foot.

I don't poo pick my whole paddocks any more. I keep the main area's clear (shelter, water, hay feeder) and then chain harrow the rest. We bought a quad bike and a small harrow - OH loves it!

Could the youngster go away sooner for backing?
 
Congratulations!

I highly recommend bulk cooking (stew, chilli, various chicken dishes) and freezing portions for 2. Anything that can go with potatoes or rice works well. We also stock up the freezer with stuff from our local butcher which can be easily defrosted and cooked such as flavoured chicken breasts.

For the horses is it a case of haying them daily or do they need to come in for rug changes etc? If there is a fair amount of work then I'd look into a freelancer otherwise benign neglect over winter usually works fine if hubby can check them over and pop hay out. Do you need to poo pick or have you got enough land to trash a winter field and then move then off it in Spring for a good harrow?

We stopped our cleaner earlier this year because 1) she wasn't very good and 2) she annoyed my OH who worked from home. A good cleaner is worth their weight in gold for a weekly or fortnightly thorough clean and I'm on a mission to find a new one for 2025.

Don't under estimate how exhausting you'll fine the driving so getting organised now and getting help in is a grand plan.
 
Congratulations! That’s fantastic.

I have a high-pressured job where I’m in the office three or four times a week and in London otherwise, so a 1.5-2 hour trip each way. I often have evening work commitments and breakfast meetings which could mean leaving the house at 4.30am and getting in close to midnight, or staying overnight. I also run our household because husband has an equally intense job, and with more travel. I have 2-3 horses (prefer 3 but currently am down to 2) at home, and 2 stepchildren who come and go as they like but live mainly with their mother.

What has worked for me is:

- Brutal prioritisation. I tend to feel overwhelmed when I feel like I’m failing at something, and trying to do all things meant that I was dropping the ball. By just saying “that’s just not something I’m doing” it has meant I can focus on the things I do need to do. I’ve worked out that spending what I consider ‘bad’ time with people is worse than not seeing them. If I don’t have the capacity to pay proper attention to what I’m doing, I don’t do it - I say no or outsource.

- Keeping a visual board of the week plan in the kitchen so everyone can know where I am and I can see what’s happening without relying on my memory or having to text children and husband. All information in the same, universally accessible place is helpful. We tried online diaries and apps etc but actually seeing it does help me.

- Getting a good network of professional support and service providers set up around my horses. I have two freelancers for the horses (one regular, one back up), a fantastic pro rider and coach, an excellent professional yard that I can send them to when I want to rest fields or kick up their schooling a notch. My farrier, vets and physio will all work together to develop multi-disciplinary approaches for any problems without me having to coordinate or chase. It’s taken me time and effort to get this all to work but it has paid off enormously.

- Prioritising health and eating properly. This is the single biggest factor for me in ensuring that I have the energy and mental clarity to deal with the demands of my role. I cannot overemphasize what a difference this makes. The things that have made the biggest difference to me have been the grazing station of nuts, seeds and dried fruit that I have in jars next to my coffee machine on my breakfast bar. A personalised meal and PT service I use for the weeks, where my meals are cooked and delivered to me, my exercise programme is prepped and I have a PT session every week. I love cooking but I have just had to accept that even with meal prep boxes, I just can’t manage it during the week. And - tragically - cutting down caffeine and alcohol. I may have one or two glasses of wine if I’m out or we are having a proper meal at home on the weekend but gone are the days of opening a nice red in the evening just because I’m cooking and it feels cosy.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Congratulations! That’s fantastic.

I have a high-pressured job where I’m in the office three or four times a week and in London otherwise, so a 1.5-2 hour trip each way. I often have evening work commitments and breakfast meetings which could mean leaving the house at 4.30am and getting in close to midnight, or staying overnight. I also run our household because husband has an equally intense job, and with more travel. I have 2-3 horses (prefer 3 but currently am down to 2) at home, and 2 stepchildren who come and go as they like but live mainly with their mother.

What has worked for me is:

- Brutal prioritisation. I tend to feel overwhelmed when I feel like I’m failing at something, and trying to do all things meant that I was dropping the ball. By just saying “that’s just not something I’m doing” it has meant I can focus on the things I do need to do. I’ve worked out that spending what I consider ‘bad’ time with people is worse than not seeing them. If I don’t have the capacity to pay proper attention to what I’m doing, I don’t do it - I say no or outsource.

- Keeping a visual board of the week plan in the kitchen so everyone can know where I am and I can see what’s happening without relying on my memory or having to text children and husband. All information in the same, universally accessible place is helpful. We tried online diaries and apps etc but actually seeing it does help me.

- Getting a good network of professional support and service providers set up around my horses. I have two freelancers for the horses (one regular, one back up), a fantastic pro rider and coach, an excellent professional yard that I can send them to when I want to rest fields or kick up their schooling a notch. My farrier, vets and physio will all work together to develop multi-disciplinary approaches for any problems without me having to coordinate or chase. It’s taken me time and effort to get this all to work but it has paid off enormously.

- Prioritising health and eating properly. This is the single biggest factor for me in ensuring that I have the energy and mental clarity to deal with the demands of my role. I cannot overemphasize what a difference this makes. The things that have made the biggest difference to me have been the grazing station of nuts, seeds and dried fruit that I have in jars next to my coffee machine on my breakfast bar. A personalised meal and PT service I use for the weeks, where my meals are cooked and delivered to me, my exercise programme is prepped and I have a PT session every week. I love cooking but I have just had to accept that even with meal prep boxes, I just can’t manage it during the week. And - tragically - cutting down caffeine and alcohol. I may have one or two glasses of wine if I’m out or we are having a proper meal at home on the weekend but gone are the days of opening a nice red in the evening just because I’m cooking and it feels cosy.
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Wow - I want to be like you!!!
 
Definitely a cleaner, coming home to a clean house is wonderful. My lady retired when covid struck having been with us for over 20 years and we decided to try without. It was hard going as she did all the housework, laundry and ironing. We have given in now and have a new cleaner to do the general cleaning and I send the ironing away, it's made such a difference.
 
Wow thanks so much for all the advice so far! We did have a cleaner for a while and it definitely reduced the arguments :-)
The wall calendar is also a good idea as nearly everything is either in my online calendar or in my head!
Keeping fit and nutrition is also really good to highlight Lady G! It's somewhere I often slip when busy and, having ulcerative colitis, i really suffer from eating poorly.
 
I have had a robotic hoover for many years and rate it for hard floors. Not so good on carpet. Saves lots of time and it takes itself back to the station to recharge. If you don't need all the latest gizmos on it you go for an older model and that would be cheaper. A robotic lawn mower sounds good but you have to clear the dog poo up first! I don't have one yet but thinking about it. I tried a robotic floor mop but it was HOPELESS.
 
I also keep a diary (paper and keep with me. Then I write a week onto a whiteboard in the kitchen. Use colored pens . Everyone knows what’s going on. Shopping list also there.
 
Definitely 100% a cleaner
And someone to keep on top of some of the gardening if that is an issue - I have a guy who comes for about 8 hours a month and just takes the bad look off it and I just cut the grass
Working out a way to keep the horses as labour free as possible -mine live out with a shelter which they only use if the weather is bad- it has wood chip as the base and I skip it out on weekends as thats the only time I'm home in daylight in winter. I don't poo pick but I have 2 old horses on 8 acres so I just get it harrowed in the spring. The sum total of their care in the winter is some hay thrown at them in the dark in the morning and a glance over with a torch to check for injuries until the weekend when they get a better service.
Someone to call for regular and also emergency dog situations - my two dogs are happy with a ball session in the morning before I go to work, they are happy at home for a normal length day but if I am travelling I have someone come in for a walk and a play at lunch time, my fear is a flight delay or cancellation so I have a back up person for that (I live in NI and travel to the mainland regularly)
I think (and it took me years and a salary which allows) that the more travelling you do and the more taxing your job is, you need to remember that you also do need to sit down for an hour or so every now and again. So even if theoretically you have time to do the ironing, that might be the only time you have for a few days and for the sake of your body and your head, if finances allow, sending it out is a luxury worth spending on.
My ridden horse lives at my friends competition yard so if I can't get there to ride its not the end of the world but I do try and do that because otherwise I begin to wonder why I am doing it all!
 
Congrats on the job!

On the horse side of things - in general terms, prioritise a) the things you have to do yourself b) the things you want to do yourself and c) stuff you can delegate or pay for someone else to do. (actually this probably also applies to the rest of life!).
I would definitely give up poo picking in favour of harrowing, which can be done with a car and when it suits you (maybe husband can help here).
Lots of jobs can wait until the weekend.
Make throwing out hay as easy as possible especially when the days are short and cold. I still haven't got a good solution to dragging out two or three heavy bales through the mud, although my new little trolley is easier than a wheelbarrow.

Will your husband be able to help with things like farrier visits if you are always in the office during the week?

Could you find one livery who is willing to help in return for a reduced cost?

You don't say if your veteran is still ridden but if so maybe a sharer would take the pressure off riding him during the week. My old boy of 27 has 5 different people who like to take him for a gentle occasional hack, he probably 'works' 4 times a week with other people, meaning I don't have to do anything with him unless I want to.

Do you have the facilities to ride the youngster in the dark when he is backed and back home, for future winters? This is the area I can see it being quite tricky to manage in the longer term.
 
It's so lovely to see that there are lots of us that successfully juggle busy careers, horses and general life.

Luckily I have access to a fantastic arena at my neighbours I can use when I want and we also have 100% private off road hacking that I can do with the youngster. The older one is tricky (still) and although ridden, there are few people who I would trust to deal with him (or would want to). He's still worked but we stepped down from competing this year and whilst I toyed with doing veterans next year (BD) realistically, I'm not sure if it will be a layer that is not needed. Luckily he is now at the stage where I can leave him a fortnight and get back on without him wanting to kill me!

We make our own hay and husband is happy to feed/ throw them bales, but extending hard standing is definitely a thought. My plan was to get some stables built next year, which I would still like to do as an option but additional hard standing in the field (which has lots of natural shelter) would help for a feeding area.
 
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