10 Hacks I Do To Make My Life Easier As A Mom
I have been having some anxiety lately (more than normal) and its been weighing on my mind a lot. Not because it’s anxiety and it’s annoying, but because I’m really trying to figure out where it’s coming from. Sometimes I wonder if I am overcomplicating my life with all of the overthinking that goes on in my head..and if so, how I can make my life easier as a busy mom of two kids…starting a business at home all while being a stay at home mom. Yikes…not an easy task to figure out.
So, in an effort to figure this out, I looked back at something I learned in a Mastermind I took with Sara Dean (check out her Podcast). She had us make a list of things we want more of and less of. My “less of” list included less cooking, anxiety, guilt, cleaning, fatigue, and many other crappy emotions I tend to feel. At first, not super helpful because duh! Who doesn’t want less of all that?? But when I thought about it more; I was able to get to a good starting point of how to shake some of these negative feelings, and boost up the positives while implementing some new things to make my life easier.
Since I love sharing these tools with you, here is a super doable list of things you can do too! Here’s how…
10 Ways to Simplify Your Life as a Mom
1. Prioritize Your Health
Improving your health will result in a domino effect. This is how…
When you eat better and exercise you sleep better. When You eat better, exercise more, and sleep better, you will have more energy and be in a better mood. When you have more energy and are in a better mood you will get more done. And so on.
So what does this mean for you? Drink more water, add in more veggies, get in 8 hours of sleep, stop eating processed crap.
If you start with a strong foundation (your health) you will be in a better mindset to utilize these tools to make life easier.
2. Stop Wasting Time Shopping (Use Subscription Services)
This is a must if you want to save time! I never have to worry about household items like toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, toothpaste, body wash, handwash, dish soap, diapers, etc…! I even do a subscription service for our dog food through Chewy! I never worry about it, therefore it does not take up space in my mind!
Items we need just show up to my door and that’s it. Most companies will send you a reminder email before your shipment so it’s easy to make changes or cancel.
The less we have on our minds the more simplified our thoughts will become!
3. Create a Command Center and Shared Calendar with Family Members
LIFE CHANGING….when you remember to use it! 😉
My husband made us a very simple command center on our door where I can write out things that need to go to daycare/preschool if he is doing drop-off that day, put grocery items we need, what our schedule is for the week, and (my favorite), a honey-do list.
We also share a calendar on our phone calendar for important events like when he will be at a hockey game, or if I am going out with a friend.
This ensures we are more likely to be on the same page and not have arguments over forgetting things!
4. Stop Cleaning so Often (And Set a Time When You Clean)!
This is really hard for me, and something I am still figuring out how to handle because I like my house to be clean all the time (which is impossible with two kids, a dog, and a husband).
I actually enjoy cleaning and organizing (in peace) and find that I do this as an avoidance to work on things I don’t want to do. This has its pros and cons in life, ha!
One thing that helps a lot is setting a timer for 15min every night. I power clean, and once the timer goes off I’m done! Whatever doesn’t get done can wait.
It’s actually amazing how much cleaning a mom can do in 15 minutes! Check out the Busy Mom’s Guide to a Clean House for more hacks on getting a clean home fast!
Another cleaning task I push off is my kid’s rooms. They are responsible for cleaning them, and I force myself not to go in and reclean and organize (because admittedly I hate the way they put their things away).
When you are a busy mom and don’t have all the time in the world, it is so important to prioritize what is important to you and what things you can let go of. Right now, having a clean(ish) house is important to me, but having my kid’s rooms cleaned and organized exactly like I like it is not a priority.
You can’t control everything and some things need to be let go.
5. Focus on Priorities and Goals
This is something you should revisit often.
About once a month I like to check in with myself and see how things are going. Am I happy? What is stressing me out? How is my energy? I have to constantly remind myself cleaning and perfection are NOT priorities of mine. My health, marriage, and kids are my 3 main priorities. Everything else will get done when it gets done.
Try doing a brain dump to get it all out and evaluate what is going on. What is bring you joy and what are some habits you want to get rid of?
6. Wake Up Earlier
Nothing is worse than waking up to screaming kids. It instantly puts me in a bad mood. I am in a lucky phase of my life where my kids will stay in their rooms and play quietly (if you consider ramming trucks into the wall quiet…) until 7:30/8 am. When I wake up at 5 am, I have at least 1.5 hours of uninterrupted time for me!
It is seriously the best. I can get in a quick meditation, a 5 min morning yoga flow, work on my blog, and having coffee in peace while watching the news.
The tricky part with this is basically being a mom ninja and not letting them know I am awake…
7. Create a Routine
Routines bring me so much peace. I love time blocking important activities, having a workout plan, and a general plan of what we are doing for the day.
When I create a plan the night before, I always have less anxiety before bed.
Every morning I do a brain dump and then write out my day’s to-do list.
8. Be Flexible
I guess this can contradict the “have a routine” listed above, but as a parent you have to be flexible and open to change. Things happen. Kids get sick, you get sick, dinner falls on the floor, you leave groceries out to spoil on the counter…the list goes on and on. Roll with the punches. It will be okay.
9. Have More Fun!
I am not spontaneous. Based on this list you can see I love plans, order, and predictability. This doesn’t mean I’m not fun though! I love wine tasting, going out to dinner, hanging out with friends….I just prefer it to be planned 😉
10. Grace Not Perfection
THE MOST DIFFICULT OF ALL! This is my life mantra.
Get rid of the guilt, perfection, and lack of confidence that can overtake a lot of dreams.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Done is better than perfect.
More Posts Related To Making Mom Life Easier!
- Organize Your Hectic Schedule With a Brain Dump
- Subscription Services That Save You Time and Money
- The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Clean House (When You Are Short on Time)
10 Small Changes to Make Life Easier
Join The Busy Moms Getting Stuff Done Community Group!
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Such great advice! I’m on board with all of these. The only one I struggle with is waking up before my son in the morning.
It can be so hard!!
I try to wake up before my kiddos, but they can sense when I’m up most days, it could be 4am and they know and get up. I love your idea of the daily 15min cleaning session!! I am totally going to do that!! We as moms are so hard on ourselves, so being kind to ourselves is important.
I totally get that! I have to tip toe around and they still sense it! It is amazing what you can get done when you set a timer. Its seriously life changing. I hope it works out for you!!
It’s great to have a routine and anything that makes life easier for us Mama’s I’m on board! Great post.
Thank you!
Fantastic advice. I struggle with cleaning so often. I wish I could hire a maid lol
Seriously! We are fortunate enough to have someone come every 3 weeks for a deeper clean, but I still find I am cleaning all the time!
Such great advice! I have heard so often to wake up before the kids. My little one is still little and her schedule is unpredictable. But as soon as she has a consistent wake up time that will be one of the first things I do.
Great plan!
Great suggestions. I will have to give some of them a try!!
Thank you!
OMG I live by my calendar! My family would not operate without it! 🙌🏻 Thanks so much for sharing your blog!
Seriously! A family calendar is a must!
These are great, I really need to work on being open to change. Thanks for the tips!
Hope they help!
I always attempt to wake up before my kiddo but I just can never get out of bed ! Lol. The few times I actually got up early I felt so calm and peaceful as the house was completely silent and I was able to enjoy a HOT cup of coffee ! ✔️
It can be so hard!! Sometimes my alarm will wake them if it keeps going off so thats usually incentive to get up and turn it off instead of snooze haha.
These are really great tips. I do some of them, but I can’t wake up before them. We go to bed way after them, so we try to get as much sleep as we can!
Yes, enough sleep trumps everything else!
I totally agree with you on the cleaning less. I have a hard time convincing myself that it is ok for things to be a little messy. Before my son came along I spent everyday since becoming a sahm cleaning and organizing the whole house while my daughter was at school.
Exercise and letting go of ‘busy’ is something I definitely need to work on. I barely even have the will to go to the gym which is not good!
It can be hard to fit everything in!
Thank you for sharing! Your blog will definitely help myself and others. I love the “more of and less of” advice!! Definitely going to do this. Thank you!
So happy to hear this! Thank you for your sweet words.
It works really well for me
Such a great list you’ve put together! We all need life tips are some point in our lives. I will apply these! Thanks for sharing doll!
Thank you so much!