The Internet Is Your Friend
The web is full of resources.
Whatever you need to do, someone's made a YouTube video to help or answered a Quora question to give you the helping hand you need.
Turn to Google, Bing or Yahoo and see what you unearth.
Take Your Time
Situations are rarely as urgent as they feel.
Stains in carpet should be dealt with quickly, but taking a few moments to research how to deal with them is better than making them worse than choosing the wrong way to treat them.
Stay Calm
Following on from number two, panic is the enemy. Remaining calm and in control means you make better decisions.
Do your research at a reasonable speed and take care to understand and you've nailed numbers one to three.
Build A Routine
Moving away from sudden emergencies, let's turn to the day to day chores. Routine is key.
Having the same jobs done on a specific day each week is a great way to get organised.
Use The Right Tools
A bad workman might blame their tools, but a great workman swears by them. Having the right tools for any job pays dividends.
If you want to dry washing outdoors you'd use a clothes line.
If you just draped it over the patio furniture, you'd return later to find it had blown around, and probably end up dirtier than it started.
Spending Can Save You Money
On a related note - if you didn't have a washing line, you'd buy one. The same goes indoors.
If you regularly need to clean up after kids tummy bugs, it makes a lot more sense to buy a carpet cleaner than repeatedly renting one.
If In Doubt, Get Help
On the other hand, if you rent a carpet cleaner and struggle to get the hang of it, call in the professionals.
Good carpet cleaning companies are affordable - certainly more affordable than replacing carpets each time you make a stain worse!
When You Learn, Make Notes
On a more positive point, when you learn to do something, make a note of the precise sticking point and how you overcame it.
When you find yourself in the same place in a couple of years time, you may well remember you figured it out - but will you remember how?
A notepad of household chore tips is like gold!
Teach Kids To Help
With more mundane chores, don't be afraid to train children to help out.
That doesn't mean filling their time with chores, but simple things like remembering to flush the loo, put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, or putting their plates by the dishwasher after eating can save you a lot of time.
Time is at a premium for parents, so anything you can do to create more makes a lot of sense!
Hire Help If Needed
Just like we said with the carpet cleaner, sometimes you need to spend a little to improve the quality of life.
If you're the sort of person that's money rich but time poor, this will almost certainly apply to you.
Getting a cleaner in for a few hours a week might sound like a luxury, but many people find it's more essential than they realised.
Those few extra precious hours are much better spent with the kids, hours you won't get back later!