SAHM Time Management


There is never enough time in a day to complete everything we Stay At Home Moms have to do. The alarm goes off or we are woken by a crying baby or little hands whacking us in the head. At any rate, we wake up in the morning and we have an agenda. We know what that agenda is because we went to bed ruminating about it. We run it through our head while we brush our teeth and wash our face, because who has time to shower in the A.M. The point is we start our day out on a positive, task oriented, empowered note.. We are ready to get things done. We feel accomplished when we bang out our to do list. So accomplished in fact that we brag to our B.F.F and say “I killed it today.” (that's what me and my bff do) It feels good to have someone else recognize your accomplishments.
As the day progresses, life happens and our to-do list falls to the wayside. At this point if we have actually made a healthy dinner and have not succumbed to the pizza guy it was a pretty successful day. However, it never fails when we finally lay down at night and we run over the day in our head, there is the inevitable, Crap moment. I forgot the gift for the birthday party tomorrow or I never took the laundry out of the dryer, or did I run the dishwasher? Sigh, Eye roll. It is every single SAHM struggle. TIME MANAGEMENT. It is damn near impossible to get it all done by the end of the day. Which can be overwhelming and make you feel all types of ways. The tasks feel like they just never end. It’s almost too much to take. If you’re anything like me, you have the best of intentions. You truly wanted to make it to the toy store to buy that birthday gift for your kids best friend because you love them and their Mom is always on point with this stuff. When the stress of time management and overwhelm kick in your good intention becomes a gift card and a bag of candy and an I’m sorry, I literally ran out of time. You walk away feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and defeated - total Mommy fail.
The overwhelm of not having enough time is super stressful and that’s why I’ve created a short list of tips and tools to help you out with some of your time management struggles. Please be advised I am still tackling this problem, but I wanted to share a few things that I have implemented that actually do work and make me feel a lot less overwhelmed.
- Post it Notes - This may sound crazy, but it is actually one of my all time favorite strategies for completing tasks. Write your to do’s on post it notes (sharpies are fun to use too). Then place them in the kitchen either on your countertop or refrigerator. I strategically place them in the kitchen because that is where I spend most of my day. If I’m not cooking, I’m eating, or feeding someone, or preparing snacks and washing fruit for when the kids get home from school or sports. I have found that I am able to check off even my most tedious tasks when I write them in this way. I know a lot of people like to use the Notes on their phone or use their google calendar, but I find after I write it I don’t go back and check it. It just floats around in tech space. For some reason the Post It Notes do it for me. There is also something so satisfying about sticking them on something and then ripping it off, crumpling it up and throwing it away. It makes me feel complete.
- Prioritize - So basically we all have realized the bottom line is while our intentions are good and we set out on a day filled up with getting our bills paid, and our pantry organized 9x out of 10 it's all not going to get done so another savvy trick I’ve learned is to Prioritize my tasks. I may really want to get the pantry organized but the reality is I have to workout, get to the doctor, and still hit up the grocery store, not to mention cook and there's always something to clean, so I prioritize my list of to do’s in 2 sections WANT TO DO & MUST DO. Then I put them on my post it’s and separate them into two lines. Sometimes I can get to it and if I can’t it’s probably not a priority and can wait until the weekend.
- Listen to your favorite Podcast or an audiobook while working around the house. I find I actually get less distracted on my tasks when I’m listening to something that is keeping me engaged. I all of a sudden don’t mind cleaning the toilet bowls because my mind is occupied with things that I actually care about.
- Break your tasks into sections - For example if I need to clean my house instead of waiting until I have enough time to clean the ENTIRE house I break it up in smaller sections. If I am motivated enough I will clean the first floor and save the upstairs for another day or get the kids involved and have them tidy up their spaces. This can help a lot with feeling overwhelmed.
- Finally, DON’T Over Commit! Something that I found myself doing is overcommitting to people. Making plans and saying Yes to everything. This made me feel totally overwhelmed. SAHM tend to be people pleasers and we love to make people happy. Saying no, feels bad so we say Yes, and it eventually backfires. All of our core responsibilities become overwhelming and resentment starts to build. I have made it a rule to say Yes to one outside commitment a week (if it feels good) and honestly sometimes only one a month. It really depends on how I’m feeling. SAHM have a lot on their plate and we have to protect our energy. We have a lot of people depending on us. Stay true to you and do what feels good!
I hope these tips and tools will help you stay sane in the insane world of being a SAHM. We have a lot going on and it’s important to stay healthy physically and mentally. Above all take care of yourself first because without us well you know, nothing would get done! I love my SAHM. I believe we truly rule the world, albeit a small one for now but I know 100% we can run an empire.