The Balance – I’m currently sitting here, watching my husband run after the kids at the local play barn at Apley. I have a missive cup of coffee in my hand and it feels good. We have this particular situation down for the first time ever. Aaron (my husband) will go first, take both boys in, then we swap. While he gets a coffee for us both, then we swap again, for this it works.
But for the other 98% of our time it is completely different, juggling everything we have to do/what we want to do in a day or week.
How do we do it? Well we don’t, there is no secret formula, before we had children we would still complain we had no time, our social calendar was full and our 8-5 jobs kept us busy during the days. We were always busy with stuff. Not like now, we have two children aged 5 and 2, I work from home while Aaron (my husband) still goes out to work Monday to Friday. As well as Running my business, I run a volunteer toddler group every Monday, Chair the school PTA, all while doing the house stuff, kids stuff and having my two year old run round me feet. I am now officially busy.
My husband often laughs at me as I’m forever making lists for everything I need to do/get done, it’s hard. I can get overwhelmed so quickly my head feels like it is in overload. I get grumpy, procrastinate (love that word) then end up not getting anything done, or doing lots of bits of everything and still not completely finishing anything. Then I get frustrated and feel like I have not accomplished anything.
I hate this feeling, and it creeps up more than I would like to admit. and it's taken me a while to learn to accept these feelings and realise what they are. It’s my deep rooted feelings getting in the way. My need to please everyone, help everyone and feel accomplished. This is something I have to work on everyday.
So every time I start to get those feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. I stop what I'm doing. I take a few minutes or however long I can get with the kids around me. And I start writing, just getting it out of my head (brain dump), even simple tasks like washing, dishwasher, cleaning, then work stuff, kids stuff, PTA..it all gets written down and taken out of my head.
and It’s doing this simple but very effective act, I can see what’s actually got to be done, instead of all the things I think that need to be, like stuff that is for next week, of even a month away. I my head it gets built up into this overwhelming amount of stuff, where you can see no end. but when You look at what you have written, you start to see it for what it is, just a list of stuff. most of which no one will notice if it doesn't get done.
This then allows you to prioritize what you can get down in the time you have.
Tip: If you start with one of the samm things you have written down, then do a few more small things, you will feel a sense of achievement. and may even give you the encouragement to do a bigger thing later on if you have the time.
But getting a good balance in you life is one of the hardest things you do, with work, kids, social events, and house stuff if can be all consuming, and before you know it you have stuff done but it’s time for bed, then the week has passed and you have found likke time for yourself.
Looking after yourself is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. It took me so long to be able to see this, I was consumed with doing things for others. never taking time for myself.
It’s the simplest form of planning, but is so effective, I have a little video you can watch if you need some help.
The best way to describe this way of planning is time blocking. You block out sections of time you know you will be doing stuff. e.g work schedules, evening out, parties etc. this allows you to see what free time you have. and from then you can create time for a little self care. make it non negotiable, tell who you live with that on Tuesday night after the kids have gone to bed that you're going to read for an hour, take a bath, go for a walk. and make sure you stick to it.
I can give you all the tools to create the time you need to be you, but you hold the power to see them through.
Remember the length of time is not the focus, it is the feeling of love you have for yourself.
So start small, by doing a brain dump and feeling your mind, see how this goes and let me know how you got on. then if you want to feel a little more prepared for the week ahead go and do a weekly schedule. put down everything you need to do.
Give yourself the time and space and everyone will see the benefits.
If you are overwhelmed by what you have to do, then write it down. I've created a little freebie for you, download it and see if it helps. The link is below.