Working Moms: How I get Everything Done
Guess what?! You can get everything done too!
Being a mom is a lot of work. It can be downright overwhelming trying to juggle work, being a mom, and all the other things life throws at us. I want to share how a typical week goes in our household to give you a few tips that might help, and if nothing else to let you know that you are not alone in the chaos.
Here is a little of my background:
I am a mom of 3 kids. My oldest is 7 years old.
I work about 25-28 hours a week at my "day job" in addition to blogging and volunteering at my kids' school regularly.
I do many things to help me stay organized and ensure I have time to take care of everything I need to. Here is what an average week looks like in my house and what I do to help stay organized: 1. Weekends-
The weekends are variable depending on what we have going on.
There are a few things that I try to do at some point every weekend (I sneak these in whenever I get the opportunity, even if I only have 5-10 minutes). These are things that either I HAVE to do or that help me to prepare for the week ahead.
Laundry- I do at least 2 loads a day. If I don't stay on top of this, it gets out of control!
Paperwork for my day job, which totals about 3-5 hours on the weekends. I typically try to get up between 5 and 5:30 am to work on this for a few hours before everyone gets up.
Meal prep for the week ahead. I like to have a couple of meals in the fridge for the week that we can just warm up on busy evenings.
I try to work on blogging for a few hours each weekend.
I like to take a look at the next week or two to see if there is anything I need to prepare or plan for.
At the beginning of each month, I make sure I have a babysitter for all the days that I need.
I meal plan for the week ahead and put in an online grocery order (I do this every other week). I typically do this when I am laying in bed relaxing after the kids have fallen asleep.
I try to get in an exercise session at least once during the weekend. 2. Mondays-
I leave for work at 6 am and usually return about 4:45 pm by the time I pick up the kids.
After that, my husband and I get supper ready, which is usually leftovers that I have prepared on the weekend.
Mondays we need a quick supper.
Our boys have wrestling practice from 6-7:30 pm on Mondays.
My husband usually brings the boys to wrestling while I help our daughter with homework.
After homework, I usually do laundry, clean up the mess from supper, do general cleaning, spend some one-on-one time with my daughter, and/or run any errands that I need to (since I only have 1 kid it's much faster). I use this time to get as much done as I can.
Once the boys get home, it's baths and bedtime.
By this time it's usually 8:30. I usually start getting myself ready for bed shortly after this. 3. Tuesdays-
I get up around 4:30/4:45 am to do paperwork for my "day job" from about 5 am-7:30 am.
While I am working, my husband gets the kids breakfast and gets them ready for the day.
I then get my daughter off to school and get myself ready for the day.
For the next hour, the boys have free play time (give or take a bit depending on how well the boys are playing) while I do laundry, clean the kitchen from breakfast, tidy up the house, etc.
After that, I take about an hour or so to spend time with the boys playing, coloring, reading, etc.
Then on a good day, I can sneak in a little time to start on some deep cleaning. Check out this post for a great deep cleaning schedule. I try to stick to this schedule and squeeze in a little deep cleaning when I can.
Around 10:45 I start making lunch. It's usually a quick, easy lunch. That way I don't have a ton of prep or cleaning to do. While they finish eating, I clean the kitchen.
At 11:45 we get ready to leave as I have to bring my middle son to preschool. School goes from 12 pm-3 pm for him. I drop him off at school and head back home.
Once we are home, I put my youngest down for a nap.
While he is napping, I typically clean, exercise, and/or work on blogging
At 2:30 pm I wake up my youngest and we leave to get the big kids from school.
It's usually about 3:15 by the time we are home from school.
Then we have snack time and homework time.
Around 4:30, I usually start getting supper prepped. While I am preparing supper, the kids have to put their clean clothes away and make sure their rooms are cleaned. Once it's clean, they can play until supper.
We eat supper as a family.
While the kids finish eating, my husband and I clean the kitchen.
After supper, we usually do something as a family, or my husband and I rotate spending one on one time with each of our kids.
Around 7:30 pm, we start getting the kids ready for bed and I try to have them in bed by 8/8:15.
Once they are in bed, I clean for a bit and then relax with my husband. I try to be in bed by 9 pm myself.
4. Wednesdays-
Wednesdays are very similar to Tuesdays. There are only 2 differences:
a. My daughter has piano lessons right after school. After I pick them up from school, I drop her off at piano lessons. Her lessons are about 45 minutes. So, the boys and I usually run errands during this time. They eat their snacks on the go. I fit in homework either before or after supper. b. In the evening, I try to get out by myself to exercise for an hour or so. Depending on when my husband gets home from work, I usually do this either before or after supper. Getting a little time to myself helps me to decrease stress. Other than those two things, the rest of the day is very similar to Tuesday. 5. Thursdays-
I still get up at the same time and I either finish up my day job paperwork or I work on my blog.
Thursday mornings (after my daughter is off to school) are typically a bit different. My mom has off on Thursday mornings. So, I try to schedule any appointments that the kids or I have on Thursday mornings. My mom can then watch the kids while I go to an appointment.
On the Thursday mornings that we don't have appointments, I either volunteer at school or I run errands.
I still try to be home by 11 am to feed the boys lunch and get my middle son off to school.
Once my youngest is napping, I use this time to finish up any work, cleaning, or meal prep that I need to do. If I have any extra time, I spend that time blogging.
The rest of the afternoon and evening from the time I get the big kids off to school to bedtime is the same as Tuesday.
Once the kids are in bed, I usually make my lunch for work the next day and get the kid's stuff ready for the next day as well. I typically do a little cleaning around the house and then head to bed myself. I work on Fridays, and I try to get my house tidy and stuff ready for the next day. 6. Fridays-
Fridays are my long work day. I usually leave the house around 6 am and don't return until 7 pm. By the time I get home, I eat supper quickly (by myself as my husband has already fed the kids) and then I help get the kids ready for bed.
Once the kids are in bed, my husband and I usually watch a movie or spend a little time together. Whew! That's my normal week in a nutshell! At times things come up and the schedule changes, but that is the schedule I like to keep on a normal week. I know being a mom is time-consuming and downright exhausting at times, but having a good consistent schedule can certainly help decrease stress.
Tips: 1. Stay organized 2. Plan ahead 3. Stay on top of the cleaning and household tasks 4. Use any little chunk of time to get stuff done By using these tips you can help to decrease your stress , as well as keep your house cleaner. I try to use little pockets of time to get stuff done, such as starting the kitchen cleaning while my kids are still eating or cleaning the bathroom while my kids are taking a bath, etc. It also seems that sitting down for a few minutes each week to look at the schedule and come up with a plan can help the week to flow more smoothly. I use a planner and a large wall calendar to help me to stay organized. It's easy for cleaning, meals, work, etc. to get behind if we don't use our time wisely throughout the day. Good luck and I hope this helped you to get a few ideas to help your week become a little less stressful!
Nikki is a mom blogger who focuses on helping moms along their parenting journey by offering great tips for all moms --both new and experienced-- that help moms be the best that they can be. Check out her blog at wanderingparenthood.com