Hello there! Today I am so excited to write a post that was requested by one of my good friends, as this was a challenging subject to approach.
We are women, mothers, wives, and life is hectic nowadays. It is expected from us to do all sort of things and to be as perfect as possible, but there is no such thing. We are only humans, and we do what we can to survive, like the rest of the world, but I do think that finding time for ourselves usually comes last in our list. But there are certain things we can do to prevent that happening, and I will share the most useful to me with you.
Clean in the evening – my daughter goes to bed around 8pm each night, but before that, I encourage my husband to spent some time playing with her while I do the cleaning downstairs. I put everything away and can mop knowing that no one else will make footprints on the pavement. This saves me time in morning, when I can enjoy a cup of cappuccino instead of having to clean up, plus it is a boost to my mood as there’s nothing to make me angry before starting my day.
Wake up earlier – I love waking up early in the morning when everyone is still asleep, as I can think clearer of my plans for the day, I can check my planner, make a to do list and plan the activities for Arianna. If I am in the mood I’ll put some make up on as well if I have plans going out, to avoid putting mascara only to one eye because we are rushing (like it happened before). All I need to do before going out of the house is to apply some lipstick and I’m ready to go.
Make a meal plan for the week – this will prevent having you waste so much time thinking of what to cook, going often to the shop as you can make a grocery list when you write down your next week’s meal plan and shop everything one day before your week starts (usually during the weekend for us as hubby is the driver and he is off only in weekends). By doing this you can even prepare in the evening the lunches for next day to save your time in the morning when you can lie in bed extra 10 minutes.
Ask your family and friends to help you out – there is no shame to ask for help. You can’t do everything yourself and you need to share the responsibilities with your partner or housemates, even close friends that can give you a hand. Use the spare time to take a hot bath and relax for a minute! You deserve it!
Just say NO! – a lot of us do things that are unnecessary or that don’t give us any pleasure. Learn to say NO to events that don’t mean anything to you and instead spend that time on a hobby that makes your heart smile. You don’t have to comply with society’s expectations if you are already a busy person and have to feed your soul as well.
Disconnect yourself – the internet sucks a lot of time from our lives and is not always in our interest. Social media, especially, take robe you hours, but does not give you much in exchange. I dare you to a week without your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest or any other social media platform! Let me know what you managed to do in that time instead! If you want, you can take it even further and forget about technology, but sometimes that’s impossible for a busy, working mother, so I don’t blame you.
I think the secret of making more time for yourself is just to prioritise your tasks and organise your time in an efficient way. I admit though that I don’t do it often and end up low in mood, my mind sunk in negative thoughts, my energy runs low as well and I don’t have great results in my activities when I don’t value myself.
This post was a wake up call for myself as I never realized why I am bipolar at times, until I had to write it down and make everything so much clearer. Thank you, Cintia, for your idea!
Hope you enjoyed the post and if you have any other suggestions, I would love for you to leave a comment down bellow and share them with me.
That is all for today, but I will return with a new post on Wednesday, so stay tuned!
Stay safe,
Flo
Great tips!! I have been wanting to wake up earlier and get things done then, rather than stay up late watching Netflix! Haha.
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Sometimes it's hard to chose between the two 😅I know the struggle😉
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I find it hard to wake up early, but when I do, I feel so much more productive and good about myself. Lately though, I been practicing just saying 'no'
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These are all so helpful. Cleaning at night is definitely the best with the kids out the way. I am working on getting up early, I know that will give me a lot more time.
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Sometimes, it's healthy just to say \”no\” and look after our mental health first.
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I find it easy to clean after everyone's in bed as it seems to be worth it as well, because as soon as my daughter is up all the hard work is destroyed in seconds.. lol.
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💚
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