As a busy mom, finding ways to simplify your day is a game changer. At least, it was for me. There was once a time when I spent the entire day feeling rushed from one task to the next and still looked up at the end of the day and felt like I hadn’t accomplished a thing. I dreaded that “witching hour” where the toddler was begging for dinner and the baby was refusing to be put down while I made said dinner. I felt completely overwhelmed.
To simplify your day, you must think about the part of your day that causes the most stress and implement intentional changes to make it less stressful. Like most mamas, mornings and evenings were my pain points, with 4:30pm-6:30pm taking the cake. These 5 hacks helped me go from feeling rushed to feeling ready and made my days run smoother as a result.
Mom Hacks: How to Simplify Your Day
Simplify Your Day by Eliminating Hurry
After taking a long, hard look at my day to day and how I was operating, I recognized that the first issue was that I spent much of my day in a hurry. I was rushing to get out of the door to drop my daughter off at preschool. I was rushing back from drop off to get my son down for a nap. I was rushing to clean the house, do the laundry, and do things for my business during school hours. Then, after school, I was rushing to make dinner so that everyone could eat before bedtime. The chorus of my day was “hurry, hurry, rush, rush” on a constant loop and it was driving me crazy and increasing my anxiety.
If your day sounds anything like mine did, the first thing you should do to simplify your day is to slow down. For me, slowing down meant first literally giving myself more time to avoid the anxiety that accompanies feeling rushed. Waking up earlier, leaving the house earlier, and starting tasks sooner than I thought I needed to have been easy changes that have gone a long way in terms of having smoother, less stressful days. As crazy as it sounds, the key to having more free time is to slow down instead of speeding up.
Simplify Your Day by Preparing the Night Before
This may be the oldest trick in the book, but it’s for a good reason. Preparing as much as you can the night before is the easiest way to simplify your day, especially when it comes to your morning routine. Whether it be meal prepping breakfast, laying out outfits, making snacks and/or lunches, or starting the dishwasher, you will feel less stressed in the morning if there is less to do.
I found that trying to make breakfast for my family and make my daughter’s lunch and snack for school simultaneously was too much for me, so I opted to make her lunch the night before so that breakfast could be my only food related morning responsibility. This little change went a long way. Another way that you can simplify your day the night before is by getting enough sleep. As cliché as it sounds, the more rested you are, the better you will be able to tackle whatever the day throws at you.
Simplify You Day by NOT Overpacking Your Schedule
I love to keep my kids busy because, honestly, it’s often easier for me to have things scheduled for them to do out of the house than it is to entertain them at home. However, it’s important not overpack your schedule. Overpacking your schedule with too many activities leads to that rushed feeling that I was describing earlier, which is something I try to avoid since it leads to stress and anxiety.
To keep your day simple and stress free, make sure you have ample time between activities, events, and playdates so that you don’t find yourself hurrying from one thing to the next without any downtime in between. I’ve found that my day runs smoother if I, for example, schedule a playdate in the morning, allow the kids to have lunch, rest, and reset at home for 2-3 hours, then attend the next event or activity later in the afternoon before dinner and bedtime.
Simplify Your Day by Cooking Dinner Earlier
I love to cook but cooking when there’s a toddler melting down and a baby trying to climb out of his play pen to get in on the action is not my idea of a good time. As I examined my day, I quickly noticed that this was most stressful time of the day for me. Not because of the cooking itself, but because of everything else that was going on in the house while I was trying to cook. Cooking dinner earlier, instead of during the “witching hour” is a way that you can simplify your day that I personally swear by. If I had to pick just one hack, it would be this one.
Utilizing yummy slow cooker recipes is a great way to get dinner out of the way so that when it’s time to sit down at the table, all you must do is plate it and eat. Another option is to cook dinner at a time when your house is quiet and calm, if your schedule allows, and reheat it later. I often cook our entire meal during my son’s second nap, before I pick my daughter up from school. Some days, I’ll even go as far as preparing our plates and covering them with plastic wrap so that all I have to do at dinnertime is microwave and serve. This allows me to spend extra time with Harper after school as well instead of having to stop to spend an hour preparing dinner.
Simplify Your Day by Consolidating Bedtime Routines
There’s nothing like that plop on the couch after everyone has been bathed and tucked into bed. I’m not ashamed to admit that on some days, it’s the part of the day that I look forward to most. Simplify your day by consolidating bedtime routines so that you can get to your evening tasks sooner, have some chill time, and get some sleep yourself. I’ve shared before about how I handle bedtime with my baby and my toddler when my husband is out of town. Bathing them and getting them ready for bed together (and thus go down at the same time) is one of my go-to tricks when I need some extra time to myself in the evenings.
Another way that I will often consolidate bedtime routines is by showering with my daughter. With both of our showers out of the way, once she’s in bed, there’s one less thing that I have to do, which is always a win. Consolidating bedtime routines simplifies my day by giving me more time to prepare for the morning or tackle anything left on my to-do list.
As you look for ways to simplify your day, remember, Mama, that you set the temperature for your household. You are the thermostat. If you can tackle your responsibilities with less stress and a better attitude, that attitude will set the tone for your entire family. Anxiety is contagious, but, thankfully, joy is contagious too.
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