There is a debate in the organising field whether it is better to do things in bulk or to do little bits, at a time. In regards to decluttering, I believe it is better, to do this as often as possible. In regards to cooking, I opt for working in bulk.

Organise bulk cooking

Lately, I have been experimenting with bulk cooking. There is quite a bit of information about freezer cooking, meal planning or specific ways of cooking (pressure cooking, slow cooking etc.). There is, however, very little information about weekly cooking. And I mean, very comprehensive weekly cooking. My endeavour in weekly cooking is brought about by two things; firstly I don’t like cooking at all, let alone do it every day. Secondly, I am surrounded by two very hungry children. I designed a weekly template for the evening meals. Recently I have also included space, to put down breakfasts, healthy snacks, little lunches, big lunches as well as sweet snacks after school.

The way this weekly cooking works is as follows; on Sunday I cook as much as I can ahead of time. For the dinners this means I cook the potatoes, make the spaghetti sauce, and have all the ingredients at home for the quick stir-fry I’ll make later in the week. For the snacks I buy all the groceries, then cut up carrots, put them in containers with hummus, I cut up apples and cucumbers. On the end of it, my fridge looks like this amazingly organized container storage system. The meal and snack plan for the week is up on the fridge and all I have to do is check which container I need to take out and what 5-minute prep I need to do for the meal that day. It has been really useful, and I have saved close to hundred dollars on my weekly grocery bill.

Organise in small steps

If you find this system a bit too overwhelming to start with, maybe begin with only planning and prepping meals or snacks for the week and work your way up. Bulk meal preparation has been a great time saver for me, try it and let me know how it works for you.

Organise in bulk or in small steps in other areas

We have used cooking as the example above but what about decluttering the messy room, your paperwork or wardrobe. What do you think suits you best organising in bulk or in small steps? It might be that you change your approach depending on what your organising project.