How to Make Time When It Seems Like There is None
Ok lots of you asked me how I find extra time to work on a busy mama schedule. Here it goes!
Yes working is important. And you need to do it, but let’s make sure we’re making time for other important things too. Dinner with my husband every night. Focused play time with the kids. Etc. . .
Ok here are the things that I have done in the past and things I do now!
Hire help. Yeah I know a lot of you are going to say you can’t afford help, so there are things below for you. If you can afford help, DO it! Even if it’s just two hours every other day, you’ll feel so much more relaxed and like you can breathe.
Get up earlier. The age old suggestion that no mom ever wants to do. And I think literally no one wants to do 😂😂 BUT let me tell you, it is life changing when you can do it. Start with 3 days a week and get up early!
Ask for help when needed. Do you have family nearby that you can ask for help? I find it’s easier when you set a schedule with them. That’s the only way your time doesn’t get looked over. BONUS TIP: if you have friends that also have kids, take turns watching each others’ kids! That way your littles get a play date and you get some work time.
Work on nap time or bed time. This one is pretty self explanatory. But I usually try to do about an hour of work and then an hour of relaxing when they nap, so I don’t feel like I’m always just working! . . I’ll be honest, sometimes when I have time, all I do is hang out with my husband and relax. That’s not every day though. And I’ve discovered that you can do a lottttt of things. You can even do ALL the things. You just can’t do all the things every single day. And that’s okay. We need to give ourselves a little more grace 💗
Social Media Cutback. This is funny for me to say because my job is social media and I make money by you being on this app and reading my posts. SO if you do this, make sure you come see me here in my little online space sometimes 😜 What’s important to you? Is it important that you scroll through IG for two hours after dinner? Or can you spend that time or even half of that time working? Spend the time you would usually spend scrolling IG on work instead. Easier said than done, I know. It’s actually kind of impossible especially if this is your habit. You’re going to have to change this habit. I catch myself just mindlessly scrolling and looking around on IG a LOT. But I know I do it, so I intentionally set an alarm some time during that window of time where I know I’ll probably be scrolling so I don’t let my time get away from me. This has worked for me! If this sounds like you, try it!
Prep yourself ahead of time! Making your schedule for the week is so important when you’re trying to accomplish a lot of things in a small amount of time. Whether you schedule 30 min of cleaning time every day or you choose to do 2 hours, 3 times a week, you need to be organized. I find that if I don’t write things down or have a schedule set even if it’s just on my phone, I’m easily distracted and then I realize I’ve eaten into my time I was supposed to be doing something else. Now here is where we should talk about grace again. You can do whatever you want, you can get distracted and you can choose to do something else. Just because it’s written on a schedule doesn’t mean you have to follow it to a T, but having that scope of “this is what I want to accomplish and this is as long as I have” is so helpful.
Blocks of time when kids are awake. Let them play and do something quiet or play with each other or worst comes to worst, play a video game or watch an episode of something. My daughter has given up naps now, so that threw a major wrench into my plans of productivity. SO we still keep the routine of “we will watch this show and have a snack and be quiet on the couch together. She knows this is mommys time to get work done, but I’m still there to be with her and snuggle her while she rests.
LET THEM HELP! This has been one of the ways that I’ve not only been able to actually get work done, but it’s allowed me to bond with them in a new way. They peel labels, put stickers on stuff, decorate boxes from shipments, etc. I will say that usually my office is an absolute disaster afterward, but my work is done and my heart is full. I’ll also say that this is an exercise of patience - I mean how many times can you tell a toddler not to pull on a cord? The limit does not exist haha
What are some of your time saving tips? Share with us so we can try them!
LOVE,
Kait
