@everyavenuegirl : www.melodylane.com), each one is a large project in itself. All that's just a part of my working day aside from being a mom to Lexi, playing volleyball 12 hours a week, working out every other day when I can, cooking, and doing whatever meager cleaning that I can (mostly just organizational). All the usual duties of a mom plus the work aspect of at least 4 different businesses/projects. With a possibility of two more on the horizon. The answer to the earlier question is barely. However my personality absolutely demands organization. I seriously go crazy and get down when I am not fully and completely organized either in my head or my to do list when it comes to all the things that I need or want to do.This combined with an overwhelming amount of things that I've put on myself has forced me to completely redefine my days and figure out how to make them even more organized, more efficient and more useful to me. At The same time allowing me to enjoy my daughter, pay attention to her, do activities with her and enjoy my time. But over the years I have developed a set of techniques that all together help me be as efficient as I can. They are not magic. And they don't create hours in a day or make my work go away. But they do what they can in keeping me sane, organized and productive. So the point is I know we all feel like the dad works hard during the day and in the evening, he is tired and doesn't want to take the kids... But tough shit, moms need their sanity and if your kids are ok without you ( I am not talking about cases where children are still so attached to mom that she can't leave. That situation just needs to be waited out), take girls' nights, or movie nights, or bath and ice cream nights and then find a passion and make it consistent. The best thing to do, in my personal opinion, is exercise. Whatever form it takes. Get passionate about running, sports, rollerblading, gym, crossfit, whatever you want and do it alone or with friends. Not only will you get in shape, create endorphins in your body, get some kid-free time, but you'll be healthier and an amazing example to your daughter. It's like killing 3 birds with one stone. If you like reading books, download audiobooks and listen while you work out. But after getting back into an amazing shape, I cannot imagine not having an active hobby. Obviously, I have come up with all these tips in my struggle to manage my time as a mom and someone who has responsibilities outside of being a parent. I just started reading a book about getting things done and surprisingly a lot of what they recommend are things I discovered naturally through trial and error. I am sure you have the same discoveries in your routines. If you do, share what works for you!
I often get asked how I manage to do everything that I do. On weekly and daily basis I run Daily Mom, attempt to write in this blog, receive and respond to somewhere on the order of 100-150 emails per day (often behind on them), currently working on two new businesses (I just announced one of them on my personal IG Table of Contents
10 comments
These are great tips, but how do you fit “wife” time in there too? I feel like I have it covered with being a working mom, but my husband always seems to fall to the end of the priority list (and that sucks for the both of us).
I don’t believe in “wife” time. It’s not a hobby and not something I need to FIND time for. Being a wife isn’t an obligation or like being a servant. It’s something that happens natural. There is no wife time. There is couple time.
And it’s something that happens in free time from other things two people chose to do.
Sorry it’s not more helpful but if two people love each other and want to be together, they naturally find time to be together, even if it’s sitting side by side working on computers. It doesn’t need to be forced.
Making a plan the night before makes the world of difference for me! What happened to the Wanderlust links?
I don’t think the above poster implied wife time meant being a servant at all. While I agree that love does not need to be forced, I think it is important to make a conscious effort to make time to be together. My husband and I are guilty of not making enough husband-wife time, instead of Daddy-Mommy time. We have two kids, and both work full time jobs, though, so we have a few more obstacles.
That sort of comes naturally. But with young kids I think that time is reduced to being together as a family time focusing on each other while being with kids. There are only 24 hours in a day, damn it. Lol
I hope you do write that post about helpful apps! I’d be interested in seeing what’s out there.
I like this post – it is always interesting to read about other moms’ time management! you do have A LOT of lists – lol. You ARE busy, girl! I think that I would go nuts with so many balls in the air, but if you thrive on it, then you do you, as they say 🙂 One thing that got me alarmed, though – be careful of doing anything on your phone in the traffic (point 5, about using technology) – it is dangerous regardless of the speed at which you are going. Traffic may be boring, but it is not the time to use any apps on your phone,please? Other than that, awesome 🙂
Oh Hun of course not in moving traffic. In stopped traffic like at red lights. 😉
Here in the UK the laws are a lot stricter – it’s against the law to use a hand held phone in your vehicle at all, unless you’re safely parked (except for dialling 999). The point is that even if your vehicle is stationary, you still need to be aware of drivers around you.
i find this post helpful, busy moms have to handle with this thing is not easy