Since I posted about cleaning and organizing my life, I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I do to try and keep my life as stress free and enjoyable as possible.
Let me make it clear, a year ago I was not in this place. I swear I don’t know what I did all day when Liv was a little non-moving baby…because I know what I wasn’t doing…and that was cleaning. For some reason I felt like when she was awake, I shouldn’t be doing anything else but talking to her. I did manage to get the basics done and get dinner on the table, but that’s probably it. We saved all our cleaning (beyond straightening up and basic kitchen cleaning) for the weekend.
10 Things I Do to Make Life Easier/Happier/Less Stressful
1. Most important (for me) is to wake up at 5:30-5:45 daily. I NEED this to be happy for the day. I have quiet time for 20 minutes and then get in a workout. This is ME time.
2. Make a big batch of chia pudding, muffins and other snacks for the week on Saturday or Sunday. This gives us breakfast and snacks without even thinking during the week. I’ll also make a big batch of a grain so Danny will have that as a base for his lunch for the week.
3. Two or three days a morning AND night we clean. Monday I did two loads of laundry and Tuesday, I swept, steam cleaned and swiffered the floors. Those are things I can do while Liv is up and she can help out. (Although I swiffer when she’s sleeping because she always slips on that.) At night Danny and I will dust and clean bathrooms. I talked more about what we’re doing here. It saves time on the weekend.
4. Prep dinner during Sesame Street. We’ve been putting on one episode of Sesame Street at 4. I get together dinner for 15 minutes and then I can sit with Liv and watch the rest of the show.
5. Put phone & iPad COMPLETELY away when I’m playing with Liv. There are times where she is allowed to play with the iPad, so obviously that is the exception. The iPad is away basically the entire day when she’s awake. It’s just too much to deal with if she sees it.
6. Writing at night. During nap time I work, but I can’t seem to fit in writing my blog. I’ve been sneaking away at 6:45-7:15pm and writing then. It lets me relax at the end of the day too.
7. Washing my hair at night. This is by default because I have no other choice right now. My allergies are still OOC and I can’t find a shampoo that doesn’t bother my skin. (I owe you an update on this.) I’m washing my hair in the sink at night so the water doesn’t get on my face because it causes me to break out. This saves me lots of time in the morning, which I like (but is super annoying to do at night…)
8. Live close to my family. This may not count because it’s not something I do daily or weekly, but living close to my mom/family makes my life a lot easier…especially when I run out of things like olive oil or eggs.
9. I cook, Danny cleans and so on. We split everything up. Everything. Danny loves (literally) cleaning the kitchen, I love cooking. I like vacuuming and don’t mind doing laundry, he doesn’t mind dusting. It makes life so much easier when you have help. We’re also good at telling each other what we need, which takes the guess work out of life. I don’t expect him to read my mind and visa versa.
10. Going to bed early, which goes back to number 1. Early is I’m usually sleeping by 9 on the couch and 10 in bed.
Because I’m no where near perfect….I bring you…
(just a few because the list is too long to write everything…)
Things I Need to Be Better At:
1. I’m working on having my phone away, away, when I’m interacting with Liv. I’ve been keeping it on the counter and checking it periodically.
2. Eating in high chair. She always, always starts out in the highchair, but for breakfast she made the connection that she can ask to get down and then when I’m cleaning up/emptying dishwasher, she’ll grab the food off her tray and bring it in the living room and eat at coffee table. It’s gotten to be basically a habit. It’s basically just a breakfast thing, but still.
3. Laundry. We’re REAL good at letting it pile up. In the past 3 weeks I’ve taken responsibility in doing it and keeping up with it. I’m working on it.
4. Not spending $200+ at the food store. Last week I did it! Now my goal is to spend $150 a week in the week of March. It’s my own personal challenge.
This list is a constant work in progress. In 2013 I really worked on decluttering my house. I got rid of A LOT of stuff. I’m STILL working on it…especially with clothes. In a way I feel like life STOPPED when Liv was born. I know that’s how it’s supposed to be, but I can’t believe how much more clarity I have now. (that’s a post on it’s own..) I CAN be a good mom AND get things done while she’s awake.
I would LOVE to hear what you do to make life less stressful AND happier and what you need to work on!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Getting up early definitely makes life easier and helps me start off the day with a clear mind.
Things I need to work on: laundry (always!)
Love this list and it makes me realize how similar we are. I also need to wake up early. I love being the first one awake while Keith and Trey sleep. I can work out, drink coffee and just zone out for an hour or so. I also do bulk cooking on the weekends because it is so much easier during the week when things are already prepared. I also agree that having a supportive husband is a lifesaver! Keith and I also split everything up. It makes it so nice to know that we are a team in being parents.
I need to work on putting my phone away too. I always remind myself to be more present when I am with Trey. I’ve also started just leaving it in another room so I am not tempted to grab it and start checking social media.
The other thing I want to be better about it playing with Bella. I love that dog more than anything but her life has definitely changed since Trey came into my world. I try to still make her feel special but I could be better. Especially when Keith has Trey or when he’s asleep I want to be better about taking a few extra minutes to just be present with Bella and let her know I still love her more than anything even if our time together isn’t what it used to be.
I would love to get up super early for some me time, but Molly’s been getting up at 6:45 lately, so that’s something I need to work on. Good for you for staying on top of so much stuff! We just have one room to take card of, and my bathroom is constantly dirty! I am pretty good at staying on top of the laundry though!
Getting up at 5:30am is key for me as well. If I don’t squeeze in a workout and some quiet time then, it just isn’t going to happen. Also, I too need to be better at putting the iPhone away when I’m with my toddler son.
Such a great post AND the being present with Liv – love that!!!!
I LOVE this list!!! I swear I was nodding with the whole cleaning thing – why wasn’t I doing it when Nia was younger?!? (I felt the same way – like I was suppose to just be entertaining her instead of doing chores!). I need to get a more definitive plan with Tyler for cleaning now. He’s really good with folding the laundry because that’s one thing I’m really bad at. Now, if Danny can pass on his words of wisdom on cleaning the kitchen, I would appreciate that ahah!
I was my hair at night right after Nia goes to bed. I think I need to get in the habit of waking up early too. Although I wish I had a treadmill because it would make it much easier to do that to get a workout in!