As a twin mom and mom of four the most frequently asked question I get is: How do you do it all? The truth is I DON’T. BUT as for the things that I do-do, those are organized and prioritized.
It’s easy with social media to see a glimpse into someone’s life and think “Wow they have it all together”. It is also not an accurate representation of someone’s life AT ALL. I am a person who is always willing to share the struggles and real moments.
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We have 4 kids, including our twins, a dog, a business, and co-parenting in our lives. It’s a whole lot of constantly moving parts we try to take control over. So when you ask me “How do you do it all?” My response is going to be a clear “I don’t do it all. It’s impossible”. BUT….
My Mindset Shift
I don’t love the term “Supermom”. The issue is we use it not as a compliment. It is a term you give as a way to give someone a compliment without offering real help. It is a term to almost excuse the huge loads on the shoulders of mothers and praise them for the burnout they feel.
My mindset shit really has an impact on how I see that word as well as the way I have re-shaped it for myself. EVERYTHING still gets done, it’s just with some help. We need to be more self-aware and learn our own limits better.
I am self-aware to know that I cannot do everything without sacrificing my mental health AND time doing the things I enjoy. You have to move your time around in order to make time for the stuff that fills your cup. My therapist always says “You can do anything, you just need to set yourself up right”. My life’s motto. So how do you do that?
How Do You Set Yourself Up?
Outsourcing
You can start by taking inventory of your time and figuring out what can be outsourced. This means to anyone- family, friends, a hired service, etc. For me that looks like family watching the kids a few days of the week and budgeting for someone to deep clean our house twice a month.
Both of those things allows me the time to focus on my work which is something that makes me so happy!
Other household chores and responsibilities are split between my husband and I and some chores for the kids. Having someone else deep clean means I just need to maintain the rest of the time.
The Tools
Set Up A Family Calendar
For my digital people- Google calendar or iCal is perfect for you. However, we have a dry erase calendar right where we walk in where all important dates pertaining to our family get stored. That calendar is color-coded!
I find that the more I put PHYSICALLY for our family the more things flow. A calendar everyone can see, a dry erase meal plan & chore chart are great for the kids to see. AND there is less “What’s for dinner?”
My Planner
My planner is like the HQ of the whole operation. ALL-OF-IT! The house! The family! The business! ALL OF IT! All the moving parts feel a bit less shaky in my planner.
In the beginning of the year I switched to digital planning. It makes more sense to have less to carry around with me and love that via Goodnotes I can access my planner on my phone, computer, and iPad.
BUT I quickly learned, like all planners, not all digital planners will have what I need. And some- in order to have what I needed took A LOT of extra work on my behalf. Work and time, time which is VERY limited. BUT just as I was ready to give up my friend Corinne from Slay At Home Mom launched her digital planners and my life is forever changed.
Organized Mom Planner
The Organized Mom Planner is an absolute DREAM! The undated version has been my go to the last few weeks and now am so excited to see the new one! A July 2022-July 2023 version! Yes, I have a sneak peak! There are so many new tabs embedded into the planner that I am able to keep and organize all those moving pieces in one place.
***Code: MOM20 saves you 20% from launch- June 17th !!!!
You can find everything from family related page such as party planning, school events, and medication lists to content planning sections in the business plan. LITERALLY EVERYTHING I NEED! And now it comes in academic year format, which as a mother- it ALL revolves around the times the kids are in school.
I am so incredibly proud of my friend for launching an amazing product that I stand behind 10000%! The July 2022-July 2023 Organized Mom Planner launches this Friday June 10, 2022!
Amazing post. Thanks for sharing with us.
Anytime!