Here I am 28 days into 2019, and back at the work like it ain’t no thing. Except it is a thing. A really, really hard thing. There aren’t enough hours in the day, everyone is demanding, and I often forget or don’t have time to go to the restroom. But I wouldn’t trade being a working mom of these kiddos for anything.. except maybe being really, really ridiculously rich AND happy with the same fulfillment that my career gives me. Here are some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way that is helping me find some extra time in the day:
It’s okay to pay a premium for convenience. Instacart is one of my best friends. So far I’ve placed Instacart orders that have saved me upwards of 80 hours ( that’s like two work weeks, two weeks of vacation!) and the grocery fairy delivers to my doorstep. And best of all, I order while pumping so I’m also multi-tasking while order. Win-win.
A cleaning service is a MUST. I don’t need to spend precious family time being angry about the house not being clean or worse yet, actually cleaning. While I still clean some thing like the fridge, countertops, and the floors ( why, oh why are my floors always so dirty) as my mother in law says- “Paying to get your house cleaned is cheaper than therapy.”
House Rules When in town, work dinners are reserved for top tier meetings only. I may show face a bit for a drink, but I always am home to say good night and typically well before that if I adhere to my in-town dinner criteria.
Workout at work We have a small gym at work and free yoga classes are offered every single day. If I can sneak in a workout during the day either during lunch or end of day, even if for only 30 minutes without an additional commute, that’s another win. I still get home at a reasonable hour with slightly more calories burned and endorphins released.
Mobile Meetings My teams knows that the best time to catch me is in the car on either my commute into the office or home. If I can touch base with people in the time that I am driving (about an hour a day), it saves me an hour during “normal hours”. Safely and hands free of course.
One day, I’ll get wake up an hour earlier than everyone else at home to fully exploit the “magic hour”, but while the baby is challenging me in the sleep department currently, we’ll just have to call that one potential upside. What are your tips and tricks to get the most out of your day?
Positive Thought of the Day: The husband took the girls to gymnastics, leaving me home with a very sleepy baby and I got a minute to catch up on chores and work and actually eat a non-rushed dinner at home. The extra hour was nice (I really do enjoy cleaning and eating without distraction) and appreciated!