Before I had my daughter if you looked up procrastination, you would find a big picture of me. Seriously, if there were an Olympic event for tardiness, I would gold medal in it for real. This all changed, however, when my little was born. I learned a few tricks on how to better manage my time.
Being a FTM (first time mom) I was not prepared for the amount of work and time that went into raising a child. Children are INCREDIBLY time consuming, and I had to learn to develop better time management skills to function as a somewhat sane mama. It has been a rough (but rewarding) transition thus far. And through trial and error (many, many errors), I have found 5 tips that have worked for me that I want to share with all you hardworking mamas. Hope this helps!
Make Lists
I’m a visual person. I’ve come to learn that if I start my day off with an organized list, it flows a whole lot smoother. A list helps to take the pressure off of having to remember things throughout the day and worrying about forgetting anything. Plus, there is a certain satisfaction in physically crossing items off my lists and seeing it all done at the end of the day. It makes me feel as if I really accomplished something and made good use of my time.
Learn to Say NO!
First of all, I can be a huge pushover, and I hate having to tell someone no. Sometimes, especially as a mom, you have to. As much as we would like to, we can’t be everything to everybody and everywhere doing everything. You have to learn to prioritize what’s most important and learn you can’t attend every event and be on every committee. Let someone take on a task or two. This frees up some of your time for other things. Like a glass of wine maybe?
Delegate
This one is probably my favorite tip (maybe because I’m slightly bossy anyway). First of all, know that you are NOT superwoman and that sometimes you will need help. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to pick up that cake from the bakery to save you 30 minutes or tell your husband to grab some groceries on his way home. Now you don’t have to take a screaming and tired kid into the store after school or complete any number of mundane tasks that would normally drag down your day. You have a village so use it. Did I mention this could free up time for wine?
Prepare Before
It is so tempting to want to go to sleep after a super busy day and say I will just prepare for tomorrow in the morning when I wake up. Fight that urge! It is easier to force yourself to take an extra few minutes before bed to pick out school clothes or pack that diaper bag and make bottles for daycare the night before than it is to get up early in the morning and do it. Plus mornings are super unpredictable. Any and everything can and probably will go wrong and now you’re rushing to prepare and making a mad dash out of the house to be on time, which puts you in a funk for the rest of the day. Certainly do yourself a solid and prep the night before so that your morning can be smooth sailing…maybe.
Breathe
This is probably the most important thing I had to learn. As a FTM I was constantly on edge as to whether or not I was doing everything right. Is she happy? Is she healthy? Did I do that wrong? Am I a good parent? My mind would spiral at night to the point of insomnia. Then one day I just took a deep breath and decided to carpe diem the heck out of parenting, and it’s been working for me ever since. Do I get everything right? Heck no! Am I a perfect parent? Nope and never will be. But what I can do is make sure that every day I give my baby girl my all with my whole heart, and everything will work itself out in the end. So breathe. You’ve got this.
Lastly, remember this…make time for a little wine.
