On this show, we talk about designing a daily routine that can make you feel like a SuperMom who CAN do it all! Maybe you already have a routine that you enjoy, or maybe you have a routine that currently is not working well for you or your family. Perhaps your “routine” consists mostly of reacting to your day instead of being in control of your day. In this podcast, we are going to highlight ways for you examine how you can stop reacting and start feeling in complete control of your day.
On this show, we talk about designing a daily routine that can make you feel like a SuperMom who CAN do it all! Maybe you already have a routine that you enjoy, or maybe you have a routine that currently is not working well for you or your family. Perhaps your “routine” consists mostly of reacting to your day instead of being in control of your day. In this podcast, we are going to highlight ways for you examine how you can stop reacting and start feeling in complete control of your day.
Our 2-Minute Tear Apart is available exclusively to our subscribers so be sure to pick your favorite podcast player and subscribe! In this VIP segment, we closely examine something we have come across in our lives to determine if it fits our goal of living a healthy life. At the end of the 2 Minutes, you should know the ins and outs of the practice or product we tear apart. This week we tore apart the MuTu system for pelvic floor health. Make sure you tune into the podcast to hear that segment and find out what we discovered!
Designing the perfect daily routine
Your first step in designing the perfect daily routine is to closely examine what you are doing now and discover where your time is well-used and where it is wasted. Routine doesn’t necessarily mean a rigidly scheduled series of events. It means something a little more loose like--a rhythm. You might already have a bit of a rhythm where one action follows another naturally. This is the best kind of routine when children and families are involved. Many studies show children (and most adults) thrive in orderly environments that have a predictable routine. This doesn’t have to mean following a schedule around the clock. If you don’t currently have any sort of routine or rhythm but you have a growing to-do list, I think it is safe to say that you need to get some sort of action plan in place!!
The “Must”, “Should”, and “Could” Dos
Step 1: write down your must, should, and could dos under each day of the week. This step might take you awhile as you will continue to add new tasks as they come up. Some ideas to include are laundry, showering, dishes, workout time, work tasks, meals, chores, commuting, and family time.
Step 2: use a timer and follow your task list to see the amount of time it takes to complete each task. At the end of this exercise, you might have to make the difficult decision to let go of tasks that just simply do not fit in your life right now. As hard as it is to say “no”, it will reduce stress in your life and ultimately improve your health, both mentally and physically.
Step 3: look back at your list and ask yourself if you are being realistic. As moms, we have long to-do lists, and often overestimate what we can actually get done.
These unrealistic expectations can lead to feelings of defeat. Is your plan making you exhausted before you even start your week? Does it just look impossible to get accomplished? It may be time to say “no” especially if you feel like your health is suffering from being overtaxed. Does saying “no” bring anxiety. It does for us!
But the alternative is not pretty either. Saying “no” can involve something as difficult as telling a friend or family member that you cannot do a task or meet an expectation.
Or, it can be as simple as purging your own tasks off of your list of expectations that you set for your week. Look at your time diary, are you noticing that your day is broken up by so many little things?
As moms with little kids, we know that running a simple errand can completely derail your day and mean that nothing on your to-do list gets done! It is important to make sure that you are not fragmenting your day with little tasks and especially little-unplanned tasks. Saying “no” can also be to yourself. Do you need to say no to all the time you are spending dealing with emails?
How about a “no” to time on the phone, social media, or running meetings, groups, etc. Maybe you don’t need to eliminate it completely out of your life, but maybe you need to scale back your responsibilities.
After week one of your timer exercises and most definitely by the end of week two, you will have a few thorns that stick out at you. One might be a habit or responsibility that you have taken on that is derailing your productivity. That habit could be something like checking email more than twice per day.
There may be some responsibility you’ve taken on that is simply not in the plan for you in this season of your life because you already have a full plate. Whatever the case may be, the timer exercises will give you concrete evidence of where your time is going and how much of it you have left to spend.
A few ideas for your routine
Now we want to share with you some of our favorite ideas that will help you build out a routine that really works….a routine that will mean you are not constantly reacting to life and instead are proactively managing every aspect of your day.
- Get up before the craziness of the day starts. It is amazing how this can make you feel so much more in control and will also significantly reduce anxiety.
- Create a moment that you look forward to every day so getting up early isn’t as painful.
- Decide what really matters for the day and ignore the rest. So much of our day can be completely consumed by reacting instead of addressing our true priorities. At the end of the day, we are completely frustrated by the fact that we did not get anything done on our “to do” list even though we worked all day.
- Attempt to determine the hours in your day when you can be most productive and maximize that time.
- Make your morning routine such a habit that you don’t even have to think about it.
- Use the snooze function on Facebook
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We hope that this podcast has provided you with the realization that you can design a routine that will help you feel like a SuperMom that can get stuff done. We would love to hear more about your experience with designing your perfect daily routine. We would also love to answer any questions you might have. Just for being a subscriber to the show, we want to give you a 30-day full access pass to the Super Mom solution. Use the coupon code SUPERMOMSHOW.
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