If you are a busy mother, I’m sure you’ve heard that to manage life successfully, “You’ve got to find a balance.” I’ll tell you, even writing this phrase causes me great stress!J I mean, really, is there a such thing as the perfect family-life-work balance? I get asked this question all the time by other women, and I have to say, I really don’t think there is a such thing; AND more importantly, if it is even remotely possible, “balancing” will look different for each family. I used to try to stick to a strict schedule where I would write down an activity for every hour of the day, but typically what would end up happening is I would stick to it for maybe a week, and then I’d go back to my old habits. Did I mention how much I hate schedules?!? Fortunately, over the years I have managed to find a few things that have helped me become more efficient with my time. Here are my top tips:
1. The Proverbs 31 Woman is one lady who I would say made good use of her time. I took a page from her book, and during the week I get up one hour earlier than my family. This was really hard at first because, Lord knows, I am not a morning person! Initially, I tried to be Superwoman and got up at some obscene hour, like 5am, but I found that just one hour makes a huge difference.
2. This second one, I don’t do as often as I probably should, but when I do, it helps cut back on some disagreements with my daughters in the morning. I choose clothing and lay outfits out for the entire week on Sunday evening. My 9 year old is a real fashionista and loves to wear summer clothing in the winter and clothes that do not match. If we make it a special project to select clothing for the week, it’s great quality time for us, and yields no confusion in the morning.
3. The morning is a great time to exercise both spiritually and physically. Yes, you read correctly: “Spiritual Exercise.” I take time to connect with God early in the morning by reading something inspirational and praying. I have a routine that works great for me! While I am on the treadmill, I listen to the Joyce Meyers podcast and work out to songs that inspire me; I love Katy Perry’s new song, Roar.
4. Now, if your household is anything like mine, sometimes you may wake up to a messy house. I don’t stress myself and try to clean the entire house in the morning, but I do pick up what I can, and I try to throw in the first load of laundry before my family wakes up.
5. I also work to limit my use of social media in the morning. Have you ever said, “I’m just going to check one email,” then looked up to see that a whole hour has passed by? The computer and phone can really take so much time from your day, if you let them. I allow myself just a few minutes to check in online in the morning and that’s it. In my Sweet Brown voice, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”
And those my friends, are my top five ways to help with time management. What are some of your best tips to help manage it all?
