6 Tips to Get It All Done as a Mom
We all wish there were more hours in a day; between work, house upkeep, parenting, trying to have a social life, trying to keep ourselves healthy…. There just seems to never be enough hours in the day! But here’s a little secret - there actually are enough hours in the day, and in this post I am going to share with you the habits I’ve formed or am cultivating to be able to get it all done.
1. Wake Up Early
I love sleep. Like, really really love sleep. I will honestly admit to having days in my not too distant past where I could laze around all day drifting in and out of sleep with SVU on in the background and be perfectly content with life. Sadly, those days are long gone. I have an office job instead of shift work, I have a blog to keep up with, meals to plan and prep, a toddler to care for, and a whole house to look after as opposed to our small apartment, not to mention trying to get in time for myself…. Those laze-away-the-day times are pretty much over. By the time Jack is in bed, I barely have enough energy to watch a tv show after a day full of things to do. My solution for this has become waking up early. I know no one wants to hear “wake up earlier” but I love the morning hours when it’s quiet, I’m the only one awake, and I can get things done with no distractions. It’s great for my work from home days because I can get the most tedious tasks of my day done without a toddler whining for attention. Recently I’ve been urging myself to get back into better shape, so I’ve been going for morning runs and have ⅓ of my goal steps in before I even leave the house for the office in the morning! It’s amazing how accomplished you can feel by 10am just by waking up a few hours earlier. PS - don’t stay up just to watch a TV show, set that stuff to record and watch the next day!
2. Drink More Water
But Maura, you’ll say, I can’t possibly get myself up any earlier in the morning! And that, my friend, is where you are wrong. I have found in my journey to being an early bird that my hydration status really affects my energy level. I can siphon down a gallon of caffeinated beverages in a day and still be exhausted if I’m not well-hydrated, but if I have enough water in my system, I can go without a single drop of coffee. Yes, coffee does have water in it, but it’s also a diuretic, meaning it makes you pee, so you lose water. You need to drink real, actual water; I like mine with lots and lots of ice. For myself, I have found that five 25oz bottles of water (just under a gallon) is the minimum amount of water for my own personal optimal energy levels. I track my water intake in my planner, and there are plenty of apps out there where you can track your water intake as well, so I’d suggest tracking both your water intake and energy levels to see what works best for you.
3. Make Lists
I love lists. I love making them, and I love checking or crossing them off when I’ve completed a task. I have lists for work, lists for things that need to be done around the house, lists for personal goals, lists for blog post ideas, lists of books I want to read…. I could go on and on. I don’t know if I’d ever remember anything at the store if I didn’t write a list. I am constantly adding to and editing lists, and then checking them off. I find it is really helpful to make a list at the end of the day, especially if there is something I’ve forgotten to do, so it is on my radar for the next day just waiting to be crossed off!
4. Multitask
Multitasking can seem difficult, but trust me, if you have lists, you can do it! The key to multitasking is knowing what you are doing and what you need to finish in a set amount of time, so really, making lists and multitasking go hand in hand. On days I work from home, I couldn’t survive without multitasking; I’ll fold laundry while on a team meeting, I feed my toddler lunch while on a call. It’s impossible to separate work and life when I am both caring for a toddler and working, and thankfully culture has shifted to a point where everyone just laughs and understands when I say something cheesy like, “sorry for the peanut gallery in the background, I’m working from home with my toddler!” When I am in the office, I keep a running list of all the things I have to do in a day, but if there is a long task (like data entry, which can be mind-numbing at times), I will switch between that and another task (reading a new protocol, checking on lab kits, answering emails), but I make sure I time myself while switching back and forth so I don’t stay on one task too long and fry my brain. On weekends, I often multitask meal prep, boiling chickpeas for homemade hummus while chopping veggies for dinner that evening. Just don’t try to do too many things at once, you don’t want to miss important things during meetings, or mess up a recipe!
5. Schedule in Self Care
Just as a car can’t run without any fuel, you can’t run if you’re burnt out and haven’t spent time fueling yourself. Whether it’s yoga class once a week, a monthly massage, a hobby, a girls night, whatever, you need time that is just for you to recharge your batteries. And when I say “just for you” that can actually mean with friends. I think of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart; I assume most of you reading this have your physiological and safety needs met, but maybe you only have the family portion of love and belonging met; you need that time with friends, you need that connection. Then there’s the esteem level, where confidence is key, and maybe taking that time for yourself to work out will help give you that confidence. Maybe, like me, you like playing with makeup sometimes, and that gives you confidence, or you’re artistic and like sharing with others, getting respect for your talent. Taking the time to fulfill these things helps you get to the level of self-actualization, or becoming the best version of yourself, and being able to get it all done because your basic needs are met.
6. Know When to Ask For Help
This is probably the hardest of all my tips, and I freely admit that I struggle with this one a lot. I am often too independent for my own good, not wanting to ask for help because I don’t want to seem “weak” or like I can’t do it all, but the fact is everyone needs help sometimes. Whether it’s help around the house with the running list of things to do in my head, help from a friend when I need advice on something, or help from my therapist when I am struggling in general - we all need help from time to time, and knowing when to ask for help is a strength and a way to not get yourself overwhelmed.
Despite all this, I still feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, but I do feel like I get so much more done on a daily basis than many others using these techniques. It definitely takes time and practice; it’s a form of discipline to follow routines and make sure you hit goals and keep your life organized and on track. And that’s not to say my life is perfect, because it certainly is not. I’ve got a toddler who has jumped head first into his terrible twos, and some days I just give up and let him eat a cheese stick an a pouch for dinner, I don’t put the laundry into the dryer and have to wash it again, and I skip out on my evening skin care routine because I just can’t wait to snuggle into bed. For the most part, though, I try to stick to my lists and routines to be as efficient as possible to get done all the things I need to in a day, for my job, my family, and myself.
What are your tricks for getting all the things done?? Are you going to try anything listed here? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
