Find out why making dinner time easier and using leftovers can save you time AND, more importantly energy.
Unless you’re a young child, when time seems like a limitless resource, most people are always on a quest for finding and making more time.
“I would do X if only I had more time,” is basically the motto of the twenty first century. With limitless options of things to do and be, the only that hasn’t evolved with the times is time itself.
However, I’m gonna come out and be all contradictory and say that I believe we DO have enough time for the things we really want. What’s really missing is less of the time management, but instead our energy management. It was my boss at the coffee shop I work at, who dropped that idea bomb for me. He said “Don’t learn to manage your time, learn to manage your energy.”
How many times have you groaned in frustration about time you’ve wasted on stupid activities you didn’t really want to be doing, even though time is supposed to be a precious resource? Stayed up late watching Netflix, scrolled through Instagram mindlessly, found random things to do around the house to avoid what you actually wanted to be doing? How many times have you come home truly exhausted mentally and physically, unable to capitalize on the 3-5 hours you have each day after work?
I’ve been there, in fact, I’m there multiple times a week. Some days I feel like I can get 1,000 things done and I’m the master of my to-do list. Other days, I struggle to do the bare minimum. It’s not a time problem. It’s an energy problem.
So what can you do about it? Girl, I wish I knew how to always be “on” and have killer energy from sun up to sun down. But alas, I am a mere mortal and just trying to do the best like the rest of us.
However, I have found one area of “energy management” that has come in handy when I’m overwhelmed. It’s cutting out energy sucking decisions.
These choices don’t necessarily take up tons of time, but they do use up your decision making power (something I personally believe is a limited resource each day) for things that shouldn’t need that much energy.
One energy sucking decision that happens when energy is fragile: What’s for dinner.
Unless a specific craving strikes, it’s a rare person that is overflowing with creative ideas for what healthy flavorful meal they want to cook each and every night. Often the time and energy we spend on just choosing what we want, whether we should order in, go out for more ingredients, if we want to just eat cereal takes longer than the actual cooking.
Cue the magic of delicious leftovers and HelloFresh.
HelloFresh is a meal delivery service where each week, ingredients and instructions for 3 healthy meals are delivered to your doorstep. All you have to do is cook! You can get boxes for 2 or 4 people which means plenty of leftovers if you cook for yourself or just one other person. I’ve found in my own experience that even the 4 person box leaves plenty of food for leftovers the next day.
Imagine coming home to a box of fresh ingredients, prepped and measured with easy to follow directions. Or even better, imagine that you’d already cooked everything two nights ago and you still have food left for tonight. No agonizing decisions to make that drain your energy and time.
This week my family and I enjoyed the Basil Pesto Tagliatelle with Tomatoes, Beans and Greens for dinner one night and lunch for all of us the next day. Instead of rushing out the door stressed or spending another $15 on lunch in town I was able to relive the deliciousness of the night before.
One of my favorite things to do with leftovers is add some extra green component. For the pasta I added a bed of arugula to my tupperwear to make them even more fresh and delish.
Now instead of stressing over what to make or bring for lunch I can actually unwind after work or dive into all the projects I have on my list.
YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT HELLOFRESH’S DIFFERENT MEAL OPTIONS HERE.
Get $35 off your first box by using the code “GEORGIE35”
This post was sponsored by HelloFresh. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help this blog continue to grow and thrive <3
Your Turn:
- What would you do with a couple extra hours of time AND energy?
I’m ALL about da leftovers! Pretty sure we’ve had chicken every night this week because we have so much of it! Haha not a bad thing though! If I had a couple hours and time AND energy I’d probably go on a nature walk or do something self-care related…get my nails done, get a massage, etc.
I’m totally fine with leftovers, that’s why when I have time to meal prep Sunday nights I find it hugely helpful for the week!
I love leftovers, especially for lunch. I’m so slow at doing anything in the morning that deciding what to take to work for lunch would take forever if I didn’t just have a tupperware of leftovers in the fridge!
Hands-down I would spend a couple of extra hours of time and energy on blogging. I feel like it’s always the thing that gets pushed to the back burner when life gets busy and I hate that, because it’s one of my favorite things to do.
This is so neat Georgie, and I completely agree that we do have time for what we make time for every day, and I am totally guilty of being the person who makes really energy sucking decisions, and then I wonder why I didn’t get anything done in a day. Leftovers from a meal REALLY help, and we always eat leftovers for lunch. We will eat them for dinner too if I make a huge batch of something. Hello Fresh does look really yummy, and I would love to try it once or twice. 🙂
Ughhh I’m so bad about wasting time watching tv or browsing the internet then get so stressed about not having time. I have really been interested in trying a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh or Blue Apron so thank you for the code 🙂
Really love the personality in your posts! I run a similar lifestyle blog at mariahboisvert.com if you want to check it out. Keep up the great work. ?
What I always hated was working a desk job and being forced to work 8 hours at a time. I’m usually a really efficient worker and would get things done really quickly. Bc I had to be there for a full day, however, I was forced to fill my time w mindless things or slow myself waay down to fill up the time. Oh, and we weren’t allowed on any outside websites like FB or able to look at our phones, so I felt like all my time was wasted while I sat and they paid me for slacking off. Now I love that I make my own schedule and get as much or as little done as I want!
It’s so true! Energy management, over time. I find if I get enough sleep the night before, I will be much more productive of course throughout work the next day, and especially when I get home from work.
I eat leftovers all the time! Meal prepping on Sundays, while it can get a little boring, is a huge time saver (and eliminates decision fatigue).