How to Be Productive—Keeping Yourself Sane

I am somewhat of a Type A person. I like routines, schedules, and everything planned.
At the same time I also hate being so rigid about things because I just want to live my life!

But I've realized as being a wife, a mom, working, and trying to keep up with the house and meals that there is a need for schedules and such. 

I believe in flexibility and room to breathe. Trust me. There are days when I do not follow my carefully planned out schedule. Those days are needed, as chaotic as they are. 

Well, I am going to share with you how I am able to keep myself sane throughout all the craziness that goes on in life, as I'm sure you are all aware of.

These things help me feel better about my family, myself, my mental health, and just actually makes me all around happier.

Schedules

This is my command center! My calendar, and my to-do lists-- daily and monthly. I have schedules for the kids, meal plan, and shopping list. 

I edit this daily, change out the menu for the day, and add what things I need to do for the day. It helps me to not only remember what comes next, but also for anyone that comes over to watch the kids when I work (I mostly take them to family's house).

My daily schedule is not on there because I just didn't have the room, but my schedule usually goes like this (except when I sleep in or need a mental health day):

My Schedule

8:00-wake up, devotional

8:30-get ready for day

9:00-wake kids up and get them ready

9:30-breakfast

10:00-clean up breakfast

10:15-get all kids lunches ready if working, or start more cleaning

10:30-out the door (if working), or activity for Rafael (coloring, painting, manipulative) while I clean

11:30-snack

12:00-outside time

1:00-get lunch ready

1:30-lunch

2:00-clean up after lunch

2:30-nap for the kids, more cleaning!

4:00-snack

4:30-outside

5:00-start dinner

6:00-dinner

6:30-clean up dinner

7:00-relax (as much as I can!)

8:15-start tidy up 

8:30-kids bath

9:30-kids in bed

10:00-self-care

12:00-my bedtime

This looks super rigid, because it is! If I were to workout it would be in the morning, but I struggle with that so much. I also don't go to sleep at midnight all the time. Usually it's way later. 

I also make myself a cleaning schedule for the week:

Monday: kitchen, mop, laundry

Tuesday: office day, bathrooms, put clothes away

Wednesday: catch up day

Thursday: dust and vacuum downstairs

Froday: dust and vacuum upstairs

Saturday: change bed sheets, laundry, catch up

My days off are Monday and Saturday, so those are my laundry days. I try not to do anything on Sunday since we go to church and work so it's too chaotic. I work until 4 Tuesday-Thursday, Friday nights, and Sundays, so my schedule is not very consistent. 

The reason I do things once a week is because there is no way to keep up more than that. I'll try to get some other organizing projects done if I have time on one of my days off, but it is very hard (I know you know what I'm talking about!).

The main thing for me is even if I don’t get certain cleaning stuff done for that week, I will get to it eventually. I can’t put so many expectations on myself because it’s just not realistic. 

Routines

The difference between a schedule and a routine is the time that you do it. Schedules are at a specific time of day, whereas routine is just what you do for that task.

We have a lot of routines at home. My kids’ favorite one is the one where they always drop toys all over the carpet as soon as we get home!

If we are having an off day with our schedule we always have our constants:

•same time for dinner (6:00)
•I always load the dishwasher and tidy up downstairs before we go upstairs to start our bedtime routine.
•bedtime routine

Our bedtime routine is probably the same as anyone’s.
We take a bath, put on jammies, brush teeth, read books, then we pray, and we recite a poem (“Now I lay me down to sleep”), then we say “Good night” to everyone.

Also, since we co-sleep, everyone has to be in the bed to go to sleep. There is no way Josh or I can be out of the room for the kids to fall asleep.

It’s all about that consistency!

Priorities

This was something that I worked up a couple months ago when I was at my lowest point. My anxiety was at an all time high (but I was at an all time low). I had so much going on—my parents were getting divorced, I was almost due with Kiara, I had loads of work to do at the restaurant, especially before my maternity leave, and I just couldn’t keep up. I was also very upset about the weight I’d gained and that caused me to eat even more (I tend to stress-eat). I ran myself into the ground and it just was not okay for me, and especially for my kids.

All this to say, my priorities were not in the right order. I was obsessed with cleaning the house because that was the only control I had at that time. But that exhausted me and stressed me out even more. So I wrote a list of where my priorities were TRULY at. I was seriously shocked to see how out of whack they were:

Summer/Fall 2019
1. Kids
2. Work
3. House
4. Josh
5. Me
6. God

God all the way at the bottom was bad enough. But I also put work way up there, and my house above Josh and me. That was a huge eye opener for me. My life can’t function when my priorities are askew.

So I decided I had to change them. I made a list of how they should be And came up with 2 ways to prioritize those things.

December 2019
1. God—read bible every day, pray continually
2. Kids—feed them, love them, plan fun activities
3. Josh—appreciate him, by actions and words, spend quality time together
4. Me—make daily self-care time, try to work out, do a beauty treatment at least once a week
5. House—do weekly chore list, dishwasher and sweep every night
6. Work—boundaries!!! No working when I’m off unless it’s an emergency (have set business hours for calls)

Once I implemented this I was able to actually breathe again. Obviously some days one thing on the list goes higher up but for the majority this is what I know needs to be the ranking of my priorities. Also, Josh and I began weekly date nights and that has significantly improved our marriage. We fight way less and are individually happier.

Lists

I’m seriously obsessed with lists. I make lists for the grocery store, cleaning, to-do, planning any event, and just anything in general. Apparently it’s a coping mechanism that many people with ADD or ADHD have, and I am a self-proclaimed ADD-er (I think I’m going to patent that).
But besides that fact, lists are a great way to be more organized.

Making that priorities list, making your daily or monthly to-do list—it makes you feel so accomplished once you can cross if off your list!

I keep telling Josh that he needs to write lists for himself (he has ADHD) but he forgets to write the list.... and we’ve come full circle.

Meal Plan

I seriously cannot stress this enough. It is so nice to know what you’re going to eat for the week. That way when you’re going to the store you know what you’re getting, you’re spending less money, and you can go once and not many times throughout the week.

Now you don’t have to be crazy like me, where I plan out all three meals plus snacks, but at least planning dinner is making it so much easier. See how I have my shopping list there? I love this meal planner. I got it at Staples but they seem to have discontinued it! 

God First

Making time for Jesus daily is also a key part of keeping yourself sane. In fact, probably the most important part. 
I can’t tell you how many times I have not read my Bible for weeks because I was so busy, but then I read it and I just feel so at peace. And of course, God always has a verse very specific to what I’m going through. 
He will get you through anything, even the hardest things. I know it doesn’t seem like it or feel like it when your experiencing it, but it’s way worse without him—and once you’re out of it you’ll be so happy you had Him by your side.

Taking a Break

As a mom, breaks are mandatory. If you can get a family member or even your husband to watch the kids for a couple of hours when you need it, it makes all the difference. Everyone needs a break, but especially parents. 
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Well, these are my tips for being a productive mom/person all while trying to keep yourself sane!
Seriously though these are the things that have literally saved me as a mom and an individual. I think sometimes we moms forget that we are individuals... Audri is still in here somewhere underneath mom, wife and manager. And you are underneath it all too. Let’s find ourselves again, together.

Until next time!

-Audriana