Working mums have their work cut out for them. Between their careers, their families and their domestic chores, there’s not much room for error.
Even one flaw in your plan can send the entire day into chaos. If you find that you’re rushing through your tasks and falling behind instead of breezing through them like these TV housewives, it’s time to recalibrate.
Here are 8 ways to keep your routine on track as a busy parent.
8 Tips for Keeping Your Routine on Track as a Working Mum
Get a Wall Calendar
A notebook or a smartphone is all well and good. They’re convenient, small and portable.
But before you type out your entire schedule on your little electronic friend, jot them down somewhere physical first. I suggest a wall calendar, and not for the reasons you might suspect.
Humans have this incredible talent for being forgetful. Writing your schedule down too early on your phone can be dangerous. Out of sight, out of mind right?
Seeing your activities plastered on the wall when you walk past it every day can subconsciously remind you of what you need to do on a given day.
As you cumulatively download your schedule for the week via involuntary glances, there is less chance of you forgetting you schedule.
That’s a little psychology hack for you.
Phone Reminders
Another foolproof way to keep you on track are phone reminders. Making lists may quell your anxiety, but you also need to make sure you remember them.
The wall calendar trick only works best if a task is schedule for the distant future, giving your brain time to gradually commit it to memory over a period of time.
It may not work that well for urgent or last minute tasks. The following tip is the next best thing. Once you pen in all of your weekly activities on your little hand-dandy smartphone, it all comes down to setting up alarms.
These reminders will alert you via ringtone of any impending tasks. The trick with these is to always set the time they go off at least an hour or half an hour early.
This gives you plenty of legroom to get your other affairs in order.
Prepare a Timetable
It’s best to plan out your month in advance, and map out a general timetable for all of your tasks.
There should not be much change from week to week, except maybe the weekends. There is free rein to plan out spontaneous activities if you’re not pressed for time.
So unless you lead a carefree life with not many responsibilities, it’s probably not necessary to pen everything down to the tee.
But if you spend most of your day at a nine-to-five, you may need more guidance to squeeze in a few more extra tasks.
So try to keep your routine consistent throughout the entire month. Grocery shop only on Fridays after work, exercise at 5am every day before work, dinner no later than 8pm. Things like that.
Plan for Wiggle Room
Life throws us curveballs, and that can sometimes throw a wrench in an otherwise perfectly organized day.
So plan for some wiggle room in between your activities. This ensures that any unforeseen events won’t derail your entire schedule, if something does actually go wrong.
Things like traffic jams, surprise errands, emergency stops and even, yes, unexpected bathroom breaks, can quickly add up.
So add an extra half an hour or fifteen minutes to the time it takes for you to complete an activity, just in case. This is especially important if that activity involves driving around in your car.
The road can be a mad and scary place.
Pay Attention to Detail
It is a general rule of thumb to write down the gist of what you’ll be doing on a to-do list. But people neglect the finer details.
Unless it’s something simple like taking out the trash, then you don’t need to write an essay for it.
But if it’s grocery shopping, exercising or cooking, it’s best to plan out each minute of your activity.
If you’re cooking, take note of prep time. For exercising, itemize your workouts by rep, set and rest time. When it comes to grocery shopping, a list is a no-brainer.
But if you’re familiar with the store layout, align your list with the order of the aisles. For example, if ‘Baked Goods’ is the first section of your local grocery store, then put ‘Bread’ as the first time on your list.
This ensures that you don’t zigzag across the store looking for various items out of order.
Prepare the Necessities
If you know you’re going to be busy the next day, plan your day in advance. Get your wallet, purse, keys, phone, etc. out in one place ready for you in the morning.
Press and hang your outfit for the day the previous night. For breakfast, make some overnight oats or some other breakfast food that can be enjoyed cold.
Ditch those early morning Starbucks coffees. You have no idea what kind of traffic those drive-throughs experience on any given day.
Make your Life Easier
Anything that can absolutely be done with outside or non-human help, then by all means, invest in it.
Whether it’s a Roomba to cut your cleaning chores by half, a dishwasher to keep the sink clean, or a maid to deal with housekeeping. Of course, this isn’t feasible if you’re on a budget.
If you can get some helping hand from a relative or friend, time to cash in some favours.
Set Aside One day
Following a routine 24/7 isn’t ideal for your mental or physical health. For anyone, parent or otherwise.
Being organized and perfect all the time reduces setbacks, but controlling everything all the time can be pretty stressful.
So allow yourself one day, or several hours at the end of the day, for complete and absolute anarchy. Within reason, of course.
Maybe opt for some take-out instead of cooking a home-cooked meal.
Practice makes perfect
Once you get into the groove of a routine, you’ll find that it becomes easier.
Unless your schedule is always subject to change, there is not much that can be done about helping you acclimate.
Be that as it may, there are still many wonderful benefits you can get from planning your life. You’ll be more organized, confident and less stressed. Especially if things go exactly as you intended.
But be sure to not take it too hard on yourself. Sometimes even busy mums need to let their hair down.
A little bit of chaos once in a while is a much-needed change from a strict and predictable life.
So don’t forget to take it easy on yourself, you’ve done enough to deserve a day off.
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