The laundry pile the just kept growing and growing.
Do you slip into bed exhausted from the day, only to lay down and have a whirlwind of thoughts and to-dos keeping you up at night? Ya, me neither…
Not long ago, I described myself to my sister as a hamster on the wheel because I felt like I was running around in circles trying to catch up to life after coming out of the baby fog. Once Andrew went back to work, it was like WHAM, back to the non – stop movement and mess. If your life is similar to mine, it happens often. Keeping up with household tasks with six busy (and often sticky) hands touching and rummaging through my home leads to what feels like constant chaos. Chaos I’m grateful for, but chaos no less; Ive been working on not letting it not rob me of the joy of a new baby and my overall sanity.
Now, If you are looking for a post telling you all the ways your home can be kept perfectly clean and your life completely organized – this is not it. But it may help ease some anxieties when you feel life’s responsibilities pilling up. Most likely, the pile did not grow overnight and is not going away in a snap of a finger, so be patient with yourself; the following tips may take a day or two or several weeks. I hope this post gives you the motivation and encouragement to help piece some order and contentment back together in your home.
Detach your self-worth from the state of your home.
This is your reminder that your worth is not measured by how clean your house is or how organized you are. I’m still a good mom and wife, despite the dishes in the sink and the toy room that will never stay clean. In a society where productivity equates to worth, it can be difficult to get away from the idea of keeping a perfectly tidy life all the time.
Start with time-sensitive matters.
As much as we would like to hit the pause button on life, we must attend to all the fun adult stuff. Tackle the time-sensitive items first:
- Attend to any bills
- Check or schedule necessary appointments.
- Any other timely issues (school slips, library books, school slips, and so on)
Focus on the basics of daily life.
Is there food to feed the family? Does everyone have clean clothes to put on? Focus on food and clothes.
- Check your fridge, clean out old food, take inventory of what you have, meal plan for the week, and figure out when you will go grocery shopping.
- Work on your laundry pile (wash, fold, put away) until you have enough clean clothes for the week, and you have only a few light loads to keep up. This may take a few days if you end up having a MASSIVE pile like mine.
Create morning and nighttime routines
If youve followed along for a while, you know how much I love routines and why I find them essential, especially with little kids. Read all about it here. In short…
- Make a list of essential tasks for your mornings and nights to run smoothly.
- Establish your basic routines before adding in additional tasks.
- Keep in mind it takes a week or two for your routines to become habits, so dont become discouraged. Over time the little order will give you more freedom and peace.
Pick one or two special “to-dos” each day.
Do a big brain dump and make a random master list of all the things that have been circling around in your head. If they are time-sensitive items, highlight and put a deadline for that item to be done by (or set a reminder in your phone.) Hang them up in a spot where tasks won’t be forgotten and where you can reference and add to easily. Pick one item from each list to do every day.
Create a housecleaning checklist.
I loosely follow a house cleaning checklist for housework to help keep up with daily, weekly, and monthly chores. Download a copy of my Cleaning Checklist below. I find this helpful in not agonizing over chores and little tasks as they are never-ending. I know if it doesn’t get done, it will eventually.
Let go.
Oof, this is a daily challenge for me. You have to pick and choose what gets done and let go of the rest. There simply is just not enough time or energy in the day to do everything. Dont kill yourself trying to do every little thing – you will quickly burn out! Some days, I choose to watch Daniel Tiger with Owen and save breakfast cleanup later; let the girls have a little extra screen time to get some bills paid or skip an early workout because I need the extra sleep. Choose what’s important each day, and let go of the rest.
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