IS YOUR WIFE AS EFFICIENT AS SHE SHOULD BE?

This is condensed from the September 1949 issue of Reader's Digest!

According to an efficiency expert from Rutgers University, women could save up to 30 minutes a day, just by streamlining their day-to-day operations.

_ It is a common misconception that like objects -- such as pots and pans -- should be stored together. Instead store each item where you will use it first (saucepans near the stove, double boilers near the sink -- since you'll be filling those with water).

_ The average housewife walks 170 feet while making the bed. That could be sliced way down if she would make up one side completely, then move onto the other. Yet 90 percent continue to chase back and forth.

_ Most housewives dry their dishes after every meal, even though it is more sanitary (and faster) to scald them and let them drain dry.

_ It's a waste of time to iron pajamas, sheets, underwear, corduroy slacks and bath towels.

_ Most women make cookies the hard way. If they want 100 cookies, they stamp them out with a round cutter, wad up the scraps, re-roll and stamp again. Aren't square cookies just as good? A housewife can cut 100 cookies merely by making 100 swift strokes with a knife.

_ The phone is a menace to efficiency. Some large firms refuse to accept phone calls during certain hours. Housewives should do the same.