My girlfriend once said to me ‘You find out what you want to do and then you plot and scheme around your kids so you can do it’.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the mountain of tasks needing attention and when you throw the kids into the mix it can be a recipe for a very stressed mum.
The trick to getting everything done is to create a plan; a schedule of how you are going to fit everything in.
I am home by myself this weekend with the kids because hubby is off on a boys weekend for 4 days. I looked around my house yesterday and saw about 10 loads of washing to be folded, a filthy floor, toys everywhere, I have Tax BAS statements due for 2 businesses, a very messy office with paperwork everywhere that needed cleaning before I could even start the bookwork, a portfolio to put together for my husband to get a painting licence in QLD, blogs and work to do on my website and a new project that I’d like to get started on. (a new 12wk coaching program for you guys!)
Being aware that next week I won’t get to do much because my son is still home from daycare after his tonsillectomy operation, I started to get a little flustered, thinking ‘how the hell am I going to get all this done’.
However, knowing that getting flustered and putting my attention on what isn’t being done and how much I have to do, is not going to help me at all, I sat down and created a plan of how I was going to tackle all this.
The plan started with a list of everything that I needed to do in order of priority. Then I sorted out what on that list I would be able to do when the kids were awake and what I needed to do when they were asleep. I then set about creating a schedule for the next few days.
This schedule included all the mandatory things I needed to do (including cooking dinner, bathing the kids etc) as well as factoring in some one-on-one time with the kids and doing activities with them. This ensures that they are not lacking in my attention and therefore gives me time to do other things as well because they are happy playing.
Having created my schedule yesterday, I automatically began to feel better and more focussed on what needed to be done. I also felt like my kids’ needs were being met and that I could give them my undivided attention, knowing that I was able to complete my other tasks at the scheduled times.
Yes, it meant I needed to knuckle down and get stuck into the housework until 12am last night, but I did it.
Because of my schedule, here’s what I did yesterday. I cleaned up the house, swept and mopped the whole house, folded all 10 loads of washing and got upto date with the rest of it, cleaned up my office space and sorted the paper work, played snap with the kids, cooked with the kids (masterchef aprons and hats on too, lol), took them to the shops, got some groceries, wrote this blog, and managed to fit in an unplanned chat to my sister for 45 minutes!
The next few days will be tackling the bookwork, starting my husband’s portfolio, spending time with Ryan, keeping the house tidy and sort out the results of a recent survey that will help me to create an awesome coaching program for you all. I have a plan as to how I will be fitting all this in to, so that I can reach these targets.
None of this would have been achieved if I had not scheduled the time to fit all this in. You see, we often feel like we don’t have time to do the things that we need to do, and often that is largely because we have our attention on ‘not having enough time!’.
When we shift our focus from how much we have to and onto how we can prioritise all our tasks, create a plan that includes everything that you need to do, plus the things that you want to do, then you not only feel much better about these tasks themselves, but you also feel better that you are fulfilling the needs and wants of everybody involved, including yourself.
Creating this plan for me, meant that the kids were looked after and given ample attention, the housework was taken care of, and all the other sundry things were taken into consideration too. It changed my entire focus because I knew what I had to do next, rather than stressing about not knowing where to start.
This is why in The Happy Mum Handbook, I have devoted an entire chapter to teaching you how you can prioritise all the tasks you have, give ample attention to your kids, give yourself some time out and basically plot and scheme around your kids to get it all done. I teach you how to create the plan that will reduce your stress and help you to accomplish all those things that you need to do, WITHOUT feeling the stress that you normally do.
Now, I need to scoot. It’s time to cook some pizzas for lunch with the kids and take them to the movies – ‘Dispicable Me’ here we come!!
PS – I just couldn’t resist showing you all this photo of my two gorgeous Master Chefs in the making!
Have a great day!
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