It’s 6:00AM on a Thursday and my house is quiet, except for my doodle who is obnoxiously eating her breakfast. This is my favorite time of day and worth getting up early for! We live in a world where we are expected to “mother like you don’t have a job, and work like you don’t have kids” Not to mention meal planning, exercise, beauty regimes, and basically fitting a weeks worth of activities into one day.
How can we, as women, manage our expectations and still find 'me time'? It’s funny to me because I read a lot about work-life balance…and I think to myself, is that even a thing? It sounds great in theory, but is it realistic?
In the rest of the post, I talk about the little secrets my best friend and co-owner of MG has learned to love.
Find the humor:
This is so important. When I asked Traci how she knows that her life is out of balance she told me: “well my daughter plays office instead of something normal like teacher, nurse, etc.” The best part is, when I play pretend office with her daughter she actually talked just like her mom at work! LOL.Laughing is important, when you screw up, plans change, life isn’t what you thought it would be. Look for the humor in it, there is always something to laugh or smile about. “Laughter is the best medicine”
Put the phone away….This seems like a no-brainer, but it needs to be intentional. We are so connected to work emails, personal emails, social media, and all the things that keep us “connected” to everything that isn’t important. Set a timer (not on your phone) for just one hour, a day to not look at your phone, email, TV, etc. You will be surprised at how liberating this feels, and also…pay attention where your mind brings you. Who knows what you will learn when you spend time with yourself.
Quality over Quantity: OK. This one kind of goes with the last one, but I had to learn this. Being a good mom, wife, daughter doesn’t mean being at their beck and call. I dedicate uninterrupted time with my family everyday. This is when we learn, play, laugh and everything is about them. Now, don’t mistake this as I forget about them the rest of the time, because I don’t. I need to cook, clean, do laundry etc. and having dedicated family time lessens the “mom guilt” when other responsibilities call.
I read a book called The Power of One More by Ed Mylett. One of the questions the author asks is: “What is one more way you could show your spouse you love them?” WOW. For some reason that hit home with me. How can I make sure my husband knows I love him? For me, my hubby’s love language is touch so I decided every day I am going to give him one more hug. He doesn’t need me at his side 24/7, in fact he probably would prefer I wasn't ha!. “How was your day” and surprise hugs go a long way for us. So I challenge each of you to make the moments count.
Get up 15 minutes earlier: I know it sucks when the alarm goes off, but those quiet minutes, alone, sipping coffee, planning your day and setting your intentions are 100% worth it! This is when I connect with my religion and do a daily devotion. Most recently I have been reading a daily affirmations book about confidence and God. I love it and my days go so much better. During this time I also plan out the day and envision how I will respond to some of the daily tasks that are at hand. Doing this sets the “tone” for the day and I promise you won’t regret it.
PLAN PLAN PLAN: Did I mention plan? This planner is my best friend (yes, it’s a paper planner, Apps don’t work for me). Every Sunday morning I make a draft of the week. This keeps me in check and on track. I review the appointments I have, write when I am going to workout for the day, and MY GOAL for the week. I know this seems silly, but writing it down and then being disciplined is key my friends. You’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment and GAIN CONFIDENCE when you do a review at the end of the week and see you CRUSHED it. You do have time to do all the things, you do! It’s just about planning and being OK if plans change. Life isn’t perfect, even if our planners are 🙂
That’s all for today! I hope these secrets help you as much as they have helped me.
It’s the little things that add up.
Be Bold. Be You.
Anna