As many of you know, my husband works second shift, so that leaves me with running the kids to activities, monitoring homework, cooking dinner, attempting to run a business, and sometimes just surviving throughout the week. Because of this, I have to know exactly what’s going on every minute of my day. How do I do this? I track everything in my calendar, including my to-do list.
This can be done digitally, on paper, or on a dry-erase board, but you need to find what works for you. I personally use multiple methods because I like to have our calendar in multiple places so everyone knows what’s happening. Color coding, pretty pens, and fun paper make this task easier for me. You can check out one of my daily planners here. It’s an editable Google Sheet that you can edit live and keep digital or print it and write on it. With Google sharing, you can add anyone in your family with an email address.
I had an epiphany the other day that our days should be broken into three equal 8-hour parts: work, family/self, sleep. However, I personally know I’m not getting 8 hours of sleep, and I definitely spend more than 8 hours on work. Why is this fair to my family/self category? It’s not.
To fix this, we must prioritize by setting goals and ignoring societal expectations that work should consume us or other people should come before us. In order to run a business while working a full-time job and being a mom, I work my top three to-dos into my days. These include at work and home. If I can do more than that, that’s wonderful, but if I only do my three top items, then that was a successful day and the rest waits for tomorrow.
What do I prioritize as my top three tasks? It can be anything from finishing laundry to calling customer service about a problem with my printer. By scheduling these when I know I have breaks with my kids’ activities, I’m able to get them done. (I’m actually typing this in between games at my daughter’s softball tournament. I knew we’d have this break, so I intentionally planned to work at this moment.) I also schedule when I have orders. Right now, my customers have been so gracious in waiting patiently for custom orders because they understand that I’m running around some days without being able to complete anything with the business. I used to be super hard on myself, but then I realized I am my own boss, so I am in control of what I do when. This has taught me to give myself grace, but this has also taught me to choose how and when I accept and create orders. We must be intentional with all of the time in our day.
There are some nights I leave time for myself to watch one of my favorite shows because I also think it’s important to give yourself some mindless time. I wake up at 4:15 AM on the weekdays to meet my mom at the track, so I try to go to bed by 10:00. If we are done with activities earlier than usual, and I had an easy dinner on the schedule that’s cleaned up for the night, I know I can have a mindless half hour before bed. Again, all intentionally scheduled.
It takes time to truly get a system that works for you, your family, and its lifestyle. If something doesn’t work, try to keep what does and tweak what didn’t. Once you find what is successful, your daily routines will flow much easier, and you’ll find yourself with just a little less stress. 😉
