When you have control of your home, your finances, and your time, it’s pretty hard not to feel in control of your life. Before I studied life coaching, I dabbled in personal organizing but maintaining a clean house has never been my strength. I love it when a client hires me to help them organize their home and their schedule because it inspires me to do the same.
Why is it so much harder to stay organized while raising kids?
- You are constantly in transition! Whether it’s kids moving from crib to bed, outgrowing princesses, toys, and clothes faster than you can say yard sale, or moving away to college and back again, parenting and transitions go hand in hand. This makes it especially hard to create a system that lasts over the long haul. Learning to make peace with chaos is your best ally, along with getting rid of lots and lots and lots of stuff. As you switch from basketball season to track season to dance recitals, the practice dates are constantly changing making it hard to arrange carpools or find predictability. And we’re not even talking about the three weeks of sports season overlap! This can challenge the most organized of parents and make us feel like a ping pong ball driving a minivan.
- Little people keep undermining your organizing attempts! Teaching your kids to HELP instead of HINDER your attempts and cleaning and organizing will last beyond 20 years. Keep your systems simple, repetitive and motivating for your kids. Beware of these dangerous thoughts that will turn peaceful-happy-Mommy into crazed-nagging-Mommy. “He should know this by now!” “Why do I always have to do everything?” “She should keep her room clean.” Kids shouldn’t keep their room clean, they should forget all sorts of things and disrupt our lives constantly :). You could move to an ashram or join a convent to find peace, for me, I choose raising a teenager as my path to spiritual enlightenment.
- SuperMom is getting TIRED – Moms today expect themselves to do WAY TOO MUCH. To think that you can and should do it all is SO last century. Cut yourself some slack, say NO twice as much, get rid of clutter and choose the activities that give you energy instead of drain your energy. Sometimes, we have to carve out time to tackle a big energy drain (like cleaning out a closet). Try focusing on how you are going to feel once it’s all clean and organized, this feeling will fuel you to get it done.
- Technology may be working against you. Every time you adopt new technology, there is a learning curve that requires more time and energy from you. Constantly updating TV’s, phones, computers can end up costing you more time but there are some great technology innovations that can save a ton of time. Some of my favorites have been online bill pay, Google calendar (that syncs with my online appt. scheduler), Shutterfly for photos, Pinterest “teacher gifts” & “Halloween costumes”, doodle poll, signup genius, and I love the “hold” and “renew online” features of my local library. You can save so much time online, that you end up spending all day online! Don’t get so focused on getting things done that you wake up wondering what happened to your life. Try www.idonethis.com to help you focus on accomplishments, rather than to-do’s. They send you an email everyday where you write down what you actually completed, a nice way to help busy moms celebrate our achievements.
Are you running faster and faster and getting further behind?
Time to stop, put on your crown, and declare dominion over your time and priorities.
Schedule your free coaching call today at LifeCoachingforParents.com/work-with-me
10 Powerful Questions
5 Questions every morning to give you clarity and intention.
5 Questions every evening to give you satisfaction and gratitude.
This is the best way to get you in the driver’s seat of your life.