Hello, hello! It’s been awhile :) But I’m back and here to share one of my most FAVORITE topics when it comes to motherhood- how to effectively and successfully manage your time and create routines at home with littles. For those who are new here, I have 3 littles all under the age of 4- Ronan is almostttt 4, Everleigh is 2.5 and Killian just turned 1! Needless to say, things can (and do!) get quite busy and chaotic at home, but I like to think I’ve developed a pretty good system for keeping our days running smoothly and having more of a “controlled chaos” situation ;) Below are my top tips and advice for making that happen, along with a template that is FREE for you to print and use if you’d like! I hope you find this helpful!
1. Plan ahead
This is probably my number one tip for being able to effectively manage your time, especially with littles. Planning ahead is setting yourself up for success, so I do this in as many areas as I can. I’ll touch on utilizing pockets of time later in #3, and those are when I’ll add in planning ahead. Some examples include: laying out clothes and packing bags/lunches the night before, prepping coffee on a timer for the morning, using naptime to set up pajamas/diffusers/etc for bedtime later, prepping dinner during independent play time earlier in the day so it can be popped into the oven without much fuss later on, running the dishwasher at night to be emptied first thing in the morning (I’ve also heard of some people who prefer to run it right after dinner and unload it before bed if they aren’t a morning person!), etc… Now I KNOW it’s not always possible to plan ahead for every little thing every single time, but if you can get in the habit of doing so WHEN YOU CAN, I promise it will be a game changer for you! You can also include your littles in on this and help “train” them to help with tasks like these- you’d be surprised at how innate the want to “help” is in toddlers!
2. Don’t over-plan or set too high expectations
If you pile on TOO much, you’ll feel burnt out before you’re even actually burnt out. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Start small, and if you find more time to get additional tasks done or schedule in extra things, then great! It’s like a little bonus to your day, that you DON’T need to stress over!
3. Utilize little pockets of time (set a timer!)
One of my favorite ways to motivate myself throughout the day is to find little pockets of time here and there where I can get a quick task done. I’m a competitive person by nature, so I’ll challenge myself to do A, B, or C in the next 5 minutes while the kids are playing independently. Setting a timer makes it more fun and encourages me to get it done. Examples include: throwing in a quick load of laundry while my coffee is brewing, unloading the dishwasher while the kids are eating breakfast, or always doing meal clean up RIGHT after the meal while the kids are still in their seats (I’ll either let them entertain each other or give them some independent activities to keep them busy for 5-10 minutes).
4. Self assess what the best time of day is for YOU (morning? night?)
Do you prefer to go to bed late or wake up early (if given the choice- we know our littles don’t always make this easy ha). Whether you are a night owl or a morning person, use that time of day to your advantage! Personally, for me, waking up before the kids and getting myself ready, having a cup of coffee while doing my morning devotional in silence truly sets the tone for my whole day. When I skip this, our day is way more likely to start off and continue in chaos!
5. Don’t overschedule.
What are your priorities? IT IS OKAY TO SAY NO. Do what is best for YOU and YOUR family (not what you see others doing or what others try to tell you you should be doing). SIMPLIFY. Less is more- making yourself feel overwhelmed and anxious will not only make the day harder on yourself, your kids will sense that energy, too.
6. Identify your distractions.
What do you catch yourself doing mindlessly TOO often? Is it scrolling social media? Binging on Netflix? Of COURSE these things are okay to be doing- heck, we all know we need a break from the reality of our days here and there. But at what point does it take away from you being productive, or spending time with your kids, or feeling too distracted to parent without frustration? Keep these things in mind, and be honest with yourself about how they affect your day.
7. Let’s create a schedule!
Ok, let’s try this! We aren’t going to get complicated. And remember, we aren’t going to overschedule ourselves. I’ve created a template to help get us started- it has the non-negotiables (sleeping and eating, my favorite things to do if I’m being honest hahah). Having a template like this makes it easier to visually lay out the day- you can make it as structured (by adding in the actual time for each event) or as flexible (just using those as markers throughout the day) as what works for you and your family. I personally work best with specific times for meals and bedtime, so I’ll be adding that to my personal schedule. I know not everyone is as type A as I am, so remember, do what works best for YOU! It’s also important to note that obviously having kids means you have no choice but to be flexible- even though I consider myself a pretty structured person, I also have to be aware of and realize that thing’s most definitely do not always go to plan, so I don’t lose my mind too much if I miss something we planned or it gets pushed back a bit :)
with love,
kellie ♥
