Motherhood (especially with littles) feels like this never ending juggling act with being productive. We are constantly asking our selves, who needs to eat? Who needs to be changed? Who needs ME? do I have time to shower? IS my hair too greasy? When did I last eat? Will there be dinner tonight? DO we have clean clothes? Are the dishes done? IS there any food to eat? All in the span of 30 seconds.
It’s easy to feel like you don’t have any time to sit down and take a breath. It is a lot to manage. So here are a few concpets to think about implementing in your household to help you manage things a bit better and thrive in motherhood.
Productive Tips
- Ask yourself is it a Two Minute Task? IF it would take you less than two minutes to do the task. Take the two minutes and complete it.
- Plan Your Days – List the TOP THREE things that need to get done that day. I like to do this the night before so I can easily reference it the next day.
- Set weekly or daily rhythms (you probably already have them set just didn’t realize it!) Examples from me: I do a nightly tidy, I wash the dishes every other day, and I do a load of laundry every 3 days.
If you feel Overwhelmed…
I see you. I hear you. I’ve been there. I still get there at times. Managing a home, a career, a husband, and your family is a lot. Here are some tips for you.
- Declutter the common areas. The less YOU have, the less YOU have to manage.
- Improve functionality by giving everything a home. If you are tired of keeping a mental inventory on where everything is, label everything in your home so your family members know where to put it. Help them, help YOU by putting things back in the same place every time.
- Eat. Seriously stop right now and go have a snack. You need fuel in order to serve your family well.
Specific Household Tasks
Dishes:
If dishes is something that you struggle with, its something I’ve struggled with too. Here are something that help me. (and I do not have a dishwasher if I did you best believe I’d be loading it throughout the day.)
- Unload the dish rack as soon as the dishes are dry. For whatever reason when it comes to dishes, and the dish rack is full, it makes me not want to do the dishes at all. It feels like the task takes so much longer (it really doesn’t.)
- Reduce the amount of dishes you have in your cupboards. It will reduce the amount of dishes you have to wash, ultimately leaving you with less dishes that get dirty. You might have to get in the habit of doing the dishes more often, but you are less likely to let the dishes pile up and get out of control. (GAME CHANGING FOR ME)
Laundry:
A task the can take a few hours or a few weeks there is no in-between.
- You only get ONE basket. Seriously you don’t need more than one. If you do, I bet they are all full of stuff right now.
- Load of Laundry every single day. I have seen many moms who swear by this. Get in the habit of getting load of laundry done every single day. From washing, drying, and putting away. (I personally do a load every three days as a family of 4. I’m sure I’ll get to that caliber with the more kids we have.)
- Stop folding your kids clothes. It makes it easier on you and they can help put their stuff away. Win WIn.
Encouragement
You are the mother, you have a pulse on your daily life. YOU know when kids are active, when they like down time, when meals are etc. You have the unique perspective your partner most likely won’t have because you are home with your kids more often. YOU have a better understanding of the daily routines and rhythms of your home. It is your sixth sense. Find it and own it.
When it comes to house work invite your kids no matter the age into helping with the task, do it while your kids are awake allow them to see the value in caring for a home.
I cannot stress this enough, reducing and decluttering your inventory, will decrease the mental load that you carry. The less is more mentality is a gold mine when it comes to managing your home as a stay at home mom.
Change your perspective when it comes to chores, housework, and homemaking tasks. It doesn’t do anyone any good if you are complaining about them. This is not an easy thing to do stop doing but it is so so necessary to find contentment in the work that you’re doing.
Instead of saying I have to do the dishes. I have to do the laundry. Start saying, I get to do the dishes. I get to do the laundry. I get to serve my family in a way that helps us function really really well. Lastly, stop begging for your husbands help, stop expecting him to see what needs to be done, take those tasks and put them on your shoulders. Take pride in your home and own that responsibility. The men in our lives do so much for us outside of our homes, the least we can do is stop getting frustrated when they aren’t “helping”. Its not their burden to bear.
That’s all I got on that subject for now! I’d love to hear from you. Please DM me on Instagram and let me know what you think!
