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Structure in motherhood is important, but we also need flexibility; keep reading to explore how to create better daily routines for moms.
In our society – where being busy is a badge of honor – trying to create the perfect schedules for moms and daily routines for kids can actually add an unnecessary layer of stress and overwhelm.
And if you’re a working mom or a mompreneur running your own business, then the idea of actually sticking to a schedule can feel nearly impossible. But what if we approached daily routines for moms differently? That’s where daily rhythms come in.
Even just calling the consistent acts in your life a “rhythm” feels liberating, doesn’t it? It’s soothing to feel like everything is working together and working for your benefit, as opposed to trying to cram this beautiful life into calendar appointments and daily routine checklists.
I think most of us want to accomplish the necessary tasks, but also be present and enjoy sweet moments with our kids. When you’re trying to balance family life, household tasks and the work of growing and running a business, it can feel like there is simply not enough time in the day.
But when we try to solve this problem by having strict schedules for moms and rigid routines for kids, we end up being more focused on how many tasks we can accomplish, rather than whether or not they’re worth doing in the first place.
Before we explore the idea of creating daily rhythms, let’s look a little more closely at why the traditional approach to daily routines don’t usually work.
1. Schedules for moms are too strict
Daily routines for moms tend to be plans for what needs to happen at a specific TIME. Unfortunately, children don’t run like clockwork, even if you try to implement the best daily routines for kids. Gross understatement of the century, amah right?! 😛
I think we’ve all had the delightful experience of trying to rush out the door with a toddler who insists on putting her shoes on, but becomes intensely frustrated in the process and dissolves into an inconsolable tantrum. Any efforts to resolve the issue are met with rage. You begin to reflect those feelings yourself, in addition to the frustration you already felt with being late and trying to get out the door!
The situation digresses quickly, and you both are late, frustrated, and quite possibly angry, too. What if you had fewer things scheduled so this recipe for disaster occurs less frequently?
The fact is, when we try to schedule our days too tightly, daily routines for moms can lead to MORE frustration instead of alleviating it.
It can make all the tasks for the day feel like a chore. We may feel anxiety anticipating something that we want to happen at a specific time, only for it not to be possible. Children easily throw off a schedule. And when you try to create schedules for working moms, it gets even more complicated. Not sticking to your schedule can make you feel like a failure, and like you wasted time and energy planning to do something that either doesn’t happen on time or maybe doesn’t happen at all.
Of course, there’s a time and a place for scheduling events at specific times, but whenever possible, ensure flexibility!
2. Traditional routines are too rigid
Routines are something pretty much every new mom hears a lot about. From almost the moment your kids are born, you’ll be encouraged to start a bedtime routine and find the best daily routine for babies. If you’re a working mom or mompreneur, you may quickly become obsessed with pumping routines and schedules to balance your family life and work life.
But since routines are a specific sequence of actions that are regularly followed, they can feel too rigid.
In life with littles, the challenge of consistency can feel overwhelming. We don’t have the luxury of whipping through daily routines uninterrupted as mamas. It can be irritating when our kiddos mess with our routines. “Of course, you’re starving now; I was finally going to hop in the shower!”
When daily routines for moms are deeply ingrained in us, we feel compelled to do them. It’s a good thing when they are healthy routines. But when they feel urgent, it can add frustration to the daily routine of mom life and can make us feel defeated if we’re interrupted.
For example, if your mom friends are all miraculously available on Wednesday night for a mom’s night out, it will throw off the whole process. Why? Because that’s when you usually begin “batch processing” your laundry!
This is why when I talk about creating better daily routines for moms, I like to focus on rhythms, not routines. A rhythm doesn’t have to start on a specific day, giving you more flexibility. Have fun with your friends! You can collect and sort your dirty laundry tomorrow 😉
By the way, if you need daily cleaning schedules be sure to check out this post about “How to Clean Your House Fast” and make your everyday life a piece of cake!
FREE evening routine guide to set you up for success tomorrow!
3. Rhythms are just right as daily routines for moms!
What if you don’t have to choose? What if you could have the BENEFITS of schedules and routines without the downsides? What if your business life and family life could feel in balance and you could feel present in both of your roles as a mom and a mompreneur?
May I present RHYTHMS!
Instead of scheduling activities for a specific time, plan them for a general window of time. For example, in our house we meet at Stroller Strong Moms to workout, which is at 9:30 am, a designated time. But after that, we may go to the Children’s Museum or Trampoline Park – the follow-up activities aren’t planned at a specific time.
We load up after working out, maybe mama needs to swing by a coffee shop for an extra coffee, or perhaps it’s a beautiful day, and we stop for a picnic snack. The flexibility is freeing compared to many of the usual daily routines for moms! Striving to arrive at our next destination at a specific time, for the sake of it, is silly.
Other daily routines for moms have a more flexible makeover with rhythms, too. Instead of a specific series of events happening in order, they occur as it makes sense to do them. One of my favorite ways to make sure I didn’t forget anything is to create an acronym since I can’t rely on the order of events to know I’ve completed everything. For example, in the evening, I have a PEACE routine.
After our daughter goes to bed at 7:00 pm, I Pack everything for the next day, Empty the sink and counters, Assemble my outfit for the following day, do a Calendar and task review, and plan Enough sleep. These things rarely happen in this order, but that’s ok! They are all accomplished without frustration!
Rhythms are a fantastic way to incorporate habits, too!
Habits are our tendency to engage in an activity or not to participate in it. We can structure our rhythms to include positive habits that move our lives in the direction we want to go in.
Some examples of some rhythms I incorporate into my day: when I wake I do my favorite morning routine for moms (so that I have a few minutes to myself before the kiddos wake). This has such a huge impact on my approach to the day!
When the kiddos eat breakfast, I unload the dishwasher so that clean dishes are put away and dirty dishes can go directly into the dishwasher. Every time I eat, I wipe down the counter and do a quick vacuum with the stick Dyson. And every time I leave the house I start the Roomba.
I have rhythms that allow me to run my business more smoothly as a mompreneur, too. I have set days and times when I work on coaching calls. I review my must-dos the night before so I can hit the ground running on work tasks after my morning routine and get some tasks completed before my kids wake up.
There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to replacing daily routines for moms with daily rhythms, do whatever makes the most sense for you!
With rhythms, many tasks are accomplished but without the heaviness of thinking about it all the dang time. This way, my effort goes into DOING the tasks instead of THINKING about doing the tasks!
It’s easy to become addicted to the habit of feeling busy and obsessed with finding the best daily routines for moms and schedules for kids
Even if we don’t like feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, it’s the devil we know, and change – even positive change – is scary. But try shifting your focus from daily routines for moms and embrace rhythms instead – you just might find the change makes a big impact on your ability to get things done!
This evening routine makes mom life SO much easier! Best of all, it’s FREE 🙂
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