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Have you ever felt like everything was getting on top of you?! The dishes, the laundry, the clean for 5 minutes living room… or the fact that it’s already nap time and no one has had lunch yet? Not to mention the new routine you have to shift into depending on the time of year or season of life you’re in! Same, girl. Same. I found myself stressing about not accomplishing what I wanted in the 24 hours I was given for the longest time. If you’ve been here, you’re in the right place!
One day I realized that I was letting other things distract me throughout the day, making me less productive. These could be good or unnecessary distractions. A carefully disguised one for me is cleaning things that I didn’t plan to clean that day. It all needs to get clean, right?! So why not just do it when it pops into my mind randomly? The answer is because it will throw the rest of my day off. As much as a messy house or unfinished tasks get under my skin, I have to stay focused on today to have a successful day. This decreases stress for me and helps me to clear some mental space 1 day at a time.
As a mom of 3, I know what it’s like to have a busy life! Without being organized, we can become distracted by the many things life and our kids throw at us! This could be physical organization of your home, your calendar, or both. Today we will talk about calendar management as a family of 5 and how I am able to make things simple in my current ever-changing season of life. We will save the home organization for another time! I hope some of these tips help you create some mental clarity in your own life to keep you on track to attack and win the day!
Ways to Help You Accomplish an Organized Life
- Buy a planner
- Where are all my digital planner people at?! I know you’re out there because I am one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to physically write things down however, there are times when I simply cannot. Being able to stay on top of everything life throws at me from anywhere is exactly what I needed so I created a digital planner of my own! The Ultimate Busy Mom Digital Planner comes with undated monthly, weekly, and daily planner pages for days when you forget to update your planner and need a blank page to fill in. This minimalistic planner was created to make planning life simple and easy. Visit my Etsy shop for more details and to get access to this elegant planner: Ultimate Busy Mom Digital Planner
2. Use a kitchen/wall calendar
- I use this calendar for all things that will affect time with my family or that are a part of things that involve my family. Appointments, work and business events, birthday parties, and days off of work are all things I include.
- It even comes with a notes and “to-do” list section which is nice for the many things that need to be done on my list or my husbands where we can see it and offer help.
- Meals are also displayed here for everyone to see!
3. Set aside time every week to plan 1 week out
- Our kitchen calendar is used for a monthly view of important dates. My physical planner is used for my weekly/daily plans. I use this time to write in my planner for 30 minutes to an hour what is needed to succeed that week. I will put a sample of this schedule below!
- There are a few steps to accomplish this without stressing yourself out:
- Write down your priorities and goals for that week/day
- Write what those priorities will require from you
- Plan for those action items that will help you get closer to the goals you have for the week and fill them into your planner
4. Find a system that works for you and stick with it
- The one thing I wish I would have done sooner is stick with my routine of calendar planning. One Sunday would be busy and I would just forget the whole thing instead of looking at it Monday morning.
- If digital calendars work best for you, by all means, use them! But stick with it so you can be more productive with the time you could be spending with the ones you love!
My Current Schedule for a day:
Priority –> Grow in my spiritual walk + keep with the new routine
I’ve also color coordinated my schedule to know the purpose behind them. Green is for my personal tasks and are usually book ended at the start and end of my days. Purple are things for my kids, the biggest chunk of my day. Red is for my job, splashed throughout the day. Blue is for cleaning and household needs. I need it this way for my own brain but do what works for you!
6am: Time with God + Reading + Coffee
7am: Clock in for work + Dishes + Inspiring Podcast
8am: Breakfast with kids + Get some work done
9am: Nap #1 for my boys + Work team meeting
10am: Homeschool Material for my tot + Play time with my boys
11am: Fun activity with my tot or running errands (AKA Target run)
12:30pm: Nap #2 for my boys + Lunch w/ a show
1pm: Nap for my tot + Finish up work for the day
3pm: Wake + snack for my tot
4-6pm: Unplanned time to just hang out before dinner
7pm: Dinner
7:45pm: Bath + Bedtime Routine
9pm: Set coffee maker for 6am + Blog prep + Alone time with hubby
This is my schedule. It’s not perfect, nor does it look the exact same every single day. The thing to understand is that you can be organized and still be fluid in your schedule. Things will throw you off. Heck, my daughter was up at 5:45am today and didn’t take a nap! Prayers welcome… Your schedule does not have to look like this. My time blocks are split up because my time is divided among 3 children, a job, husband, and a household, with some personal and spiritual growth sprinkled in. So give yourself grace and time to get used to being organized. It may be weird at first if this is a foreign concept to you but it will help you in the long run! I can’t wait to hear how you’ve been able to get and stay organized and what ways you found that work best for you and your family! As always, share your thoughts and tips below!
Together, we rise!
