The 'basket trick' and 10 other genius time saving parenting hacks.

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When it comes to parenting, it's okay to take some shortcuts from time to time. 

From multi-tasking in the shower to simple afternoon snacks, there's nothing like a good hack to shave off time from your never ending to-do list. 

Which is exactly why hosts Leigh Campbell and Tegan Natoli decided to share their parenting hacks on this week's episode of This Glorious Mess: Little Kids. 

During the podcast, Leigh shared her clever way of dealing with dreaded daycare washing. And the answer is surprisingly simple: a strucket.

"It's an expensive bucket... with a strainer," Leigh explained. 

"What I do is, throughout the week when [my son] comes home from daycare with dirty clothes, I just always have it soaking with the Vanish and I just add the clothes to it and at the end of the week that soaking load gets thrown in and  cleaned, washed and it comes out brand new."

Watch: Horoscopes as new mums. Post continues below. 

This week's guest, columnist and 'Mumfluencer', Amy Gerard, also shared her genius time-saving tips. 

"When I'm making dinner for the kids at night... I get all the food out for their dinners and at the same time I get their lunchboxes out. So as I'm making dinner, I pop things in their lunchbox. So if I've got cucumber out, I'll chuck cucumber in their lunchbox."

"And sometimes even if we're not doing anything the next day I'll still make them a lunchbox."

But her hacks didn't stop there. 

"When I do the washing, because I have to wash for so many people, I hang their washing in sections according to the family member. So you let it all dry and then when you're bringing the washing in you do each family member so then your washing is already sorted."

After being blown away by eachother's tricks, we decided to ask the Mamamia community to share their best time-saving hacks for busy parents (and a bunch of other tips you need to know about immediately). 

Here's what they said.

The clever clothes hack.

"I often dress my three-year-old in her clothes for the next day after a bath to save us time and arguments in the morning." - Stacey. 

The 'basket trick'.

"My mum taught me the 'basket trick' which is where you pick everything up off the floor, which clears it! Then you put the basket somewhere and empty it when you can! That's been a lifesaver for me." - Brodie.

The easy afternoon snack. 

"Make a smoothie and shove them into Subo bottles for the car drive home from daycare. Watch the guilt melt away when they only have toast for dinner." - Stephanie.

The meal-prep tip. 

"I cook all of their dinners for the working week on a Monday then just have to reheat each day." - Stacey.

The clothes bag hack. 

"Every Sunday night, I would lay out each my kids' clothes for the rest of the week in separate bags and then put them in the corner of the room. That way when I'm rushing in the morning I could just grab the bag and have their clothes ready to go for the day. It was a big time saver!" - Des.

The best ways to take a shower. 

"I have a plastic washing up container which I fill up and stick my eight-month-old in inside the shower box with me. She has a couple of toys and I can stay even 20 minutes without a worry." - Monique.

"I used to bring the high chair into the bathroom with some suction toys and then have a shower and get ready." - Julia. 

DIY travel kits.

"Keep those little bags that pyjamas come in and make go bags or travel kits and fill with small toys, stickers ect." - Maddie. 

Listen to the full episode of This Glorious Mess, where Leigh Campbell, Tegan Natoli and guest Amy Gerard share their best time-saving hacks. Post continues below.

Here are some other genius parenting hacks we gathered that are simply too good not to share:

An easy activity to keep them entertained. 

"A good activity for clean backyard fun is a bucket of water and a paint brush. Toddler can 'paint' the house to his hearts content!" - Kristy.

The pool noodle hack. 

"A pool noodle inserted into a pillow case makes a great little baby bath boat which helps to free up hands to wash bub." - Vanessa.

How to avoid losing their favourite toys.

"I often see posts for lost toys. My hack is: favourite sleep toys stay in the bed, Have a couple of 'friends’ who can stand in when you travel or go to daycare. I had a couple of pram toys in the pusher, but rarely took special toys out of the house." - Joanne.

Do you know any great parenting hacks? Let us know in the comments below.

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Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.

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