Last week at about this time, I was sitting on my couch crying over a mistake I had made, surrounded by unfolded laundry and kids that were long overdue for a bath. And while I am totally embarrassed to be telling you all of this, I think it's important that you know. I don't have it all together. I don't always reach my goals and I'm not always sane.
Sometimes I feel this pressure as a blogger to present myself as a homeschool superstar so people will take me seriously. But I'm not. And I don't want to be anything but real here.
So while I'm going to talk about my methods for keeping sane while reaching my goals, keep in mind that they don't always work. And that sometimes I have trouble applying them. And sometimes I just don't want to do anything but eat chocolate and watch an entire season of Downton Abbey in one sitting.
Now that that's out of the way...
We all know that I'm a big fan of having a
rhythm to your day. It`s kind of like muscle memory.. when your days follow a predictable pattern you don`t have to think about when you`ll have time to get things done. You`ll just do them. When I`ve got a good rhythm happening, I find it so much easier to achieve my goals.
So just like I like to keep a good routine going in our homeschool days, I like to do the same for myself. There are three main things that I try to focus on in order to keep things running smoothly: household tasks,work and self-care.
Household Tasks
Household tasks are the things I need to do to keep our household running smoothly; things like cleaning, running errands, yard work or cooking. These are also my least favourite things to do.
I set aside about 20 minutes each day to get these tasks finished. Each day of the week has its own task: Monday- bedrooms and hallways, Tuesday- bathrooms, Wednesday- kitchen and dining room, Thursday- living room and entryway, Friday- errands and weekly food prep, Saturday- yardwork and van, Sunday- rest. I do this early on in the day so its done and over with. I use
this to keep track of when I need to do what.
Work
Work, for this stay at home mama, includes lesson planning and school preparation, and bog stuff. This happens for a couple of hours in the evenings, after the kids are in bed. I take the weekends off to spend some quality time with my husband.
Self- Care
I think this is the most important of the three categories. It's also the one that is most often neglected. But it's important to remember that we can't care well for others if we haven't taken care of ourselves. Self- care includes things like time for your own hobbies, time spent with friends, date nights with your spouse, etc.
It may seem silly to have to be intentional about including these things in your day but if you're anything like me, they often get missed if you aren't paying attention.
For me this means that Friday night is date night at home for Ryan and I. It means that nap time is also time for me to read or knit while the kids play quietly. It means that on Sunday evenings, the kids hang with daddy while I take a nice, long bath.
Now that these things are a regular part of my day, I do them without thinking about it. Which means I don't have to stress about it. And so, for the mostpart, I'm able to reach my goals without losing my cool.
Unless the new season of Call the Midwife is out...
For more sanity saving tips, click the image below and check out how other bloggers meet their goals.
