Rhythms & Routines
If you read the Time Blocking post you know that I use a specific plan to schedule our days (and if you haven’t read it- feel free to go check it out first). As mentioned, I’m a busy mom of four kiddos, two of them are two and under. Yikes! I work full time as a teacher, I homeschool the two oldest, I’m a happy wife, and I’m the CEO of our home. It’s easy to become overwhelmed. When I speak to fellow moms we always end up chatting about the mental loads we as moms carry. We share about all of the decisions we have to make. How we are expected to do…
All. The. Things.
I for one, cannot feel more blessed for these responsibilities. I’ve worked very hard on my mindset to recognize the jewels that are hidden in the ordinary. My children are gifts that God has entrusted me with. Don’t get me wrong, it can be overwhelming sometimes- like when I’m trying to care for a newborn while running on an hour of sleep while also sleep training a one year old- but although it is easy to wallow in overwhelm, I flip my mindset and focus on gratitude. I’m so lucky to have these babies. This season is fleeting!
It is with that attitude, that I sprung into action trying to learn all that I could about simplifying my life and turning the most mundane tasks into joy. I discovered “time blocking.” I discovered “rhythms and routines.” I’ve shared my time blocking secret, and now I will dish the details about rhythms and routines.
Although rhythms and routines sound similar, they are actually quite different. Routines are things that you do during the day or during the week. They’re scheduled in your planner. They’re rigid. I often think of my childhood and chore days. These were literally days set aside to clean my room, to deep clean the bathroom, or mop the kitchen floors. With strict parents and as the oldest, I took my chores seriously. Little did I know that this rigid schedule made “chore days” the worst. Those were the days I dreaded. Instead of being out enjoying the weekend, I had to clean. Blah!
Cue rhythms. Instead, during my days of overwhelm as a busy momma, I discovered a new method of taking care of our everyday tasks, but in a way that I didn’t need to think about them. Besides the daily responsibilities that I had, like work or meals, there were millions of other little decisions that were needed to be made throughout the day. In order to create helpful rhythms, these tasks were sprinkled throughout my day and completed in manageable chunks. It relieved my mental load since I wasn’t required to make so many huge, dreadful decisions. These rhythms eventually became habits and these habits helped create days of ease.
Some rhythms I sprinkled throughout my days include:
We do a little bit of laundry each day. No more laundry days.
We pick up the house before transitioning into other events, like picking up toys before lunch, that way the play area is clean and ready to go for after lunch play.
We wipe down countertops during convenient times- while I brush my teeth, while waiting for food to cook, while I put the baby down for a nap in the baby wrap. Cleaning becomes maintenance and not an all day affair.
We make our beds right when we wake up. This sounds silly, but we got rid of the full sheet since we don’t like it. One less sheet to wash and clean up.
We homeschool after breakfast while the kids are seated at the table.
We try to wash dishes after every meal so they don’t add up and become a huge task at the end of the day. We do our best to NEVER leave dishes overnight.
With these habits in place and tasks completed in bite size chunks, our days run more smoothly. Cleaning and running our home isn’t overwhelming. We enjoy our home more!
Another huge rhythm we instated is delegating tasks that we felt comfortable sharing. This freed up time- one of the most valuable things we can buy back. We hired the most amazing nanny who comes to help with the littles while I work. We hired a housekeeper who helps deep clean twice a month, so that the family and I can focus on maintaining a clean house.
I also made sure to teach my children to help maintain our home and take responsibility for their studies. We speak often about how we are a team. We must all work together. Mom isn't responsible for doing all of the cleaning. My husband helps tremendously, and has helped instill these responsibilities in our children. They learned to help with these rhythms. They understand that if we clean up a little throughout the day, we avoid having huge messes at the end of the day. Don’t get me wrong, some days we are better at keeping up our rhythms than others, but it is on those days that we all notice what a huge difference it makes!
With having this structure in place, yet plenty of flexibility, my children have learned the importance of their homeschool rhythm. We don’t stress a strict homeschool schedule. We use time blocking to set some time aside to homeschool and utilize a checklist to provide a visual for the kids. However, they don’t stress if we can’t get to all the lessons each and every day. They understand that in order to enjoy our days to the fullest, we need flexibility. This doesn’t mean ignoring our studies, but if we don’t get to all of it one day, we can easily fit it in at another time, or the following day. We weave rhythms into that time block, such as meals, snacks, baby’s nap time if needed, time to answer my work emails, etc. These are automatically intertwined in small manageable chunks. We don’t have to make any huge decisions. My mental load is lessened and my energy can be spent enjoying my babies. Our days can flow.
You too can create rhythms throughout your day! Write a list of the tasks that stress you out, or the things that take up too much time. Simplify them as much as you can. Minimize stress by breaking those tasks down into manageable steps. Sprinkle them throughout your days at convenient times. Once you have them written down and a tentative plan in place- TRY IT! It may take a while to automate these processes, but it will be well worth it. Eventually you will no longer need to think about it, and it will become a way of life for you and your family.
Not sure how to apply this to your life? Message me. Share more about the tasks that stress you out! I’ll offer some suggestions. Let’s be intentional about our time. Let’s simplify your life, relieve some stress, and make your days flow with ease. Can you imagine that? Because you totally can! I’m here to help. Reach out and let’s do this!
