How To Maximise Your Time During The Day

 

 

Taking care of the home is an important part of your responsibilities, and this work can truly sanctify your soul. But how do we find time for it all? Sometimes you only get a few minutes in between settling babies, preparing meals for your hunger toddlers and checking Facebook (just kidding)! Here are a few tips on how you can maxmise your time during the day:

Learn To Multitask:

This is a great skill which I’m guessing most mothers already have, probably more than they realise. Eg – a friend may call during the day asking “Is this is bad/ busy time?” I have found that you are never really free! Sometimes you just have to take the call and do the best you can with children around you. I usually put the phone on hands free, (using ear phones) and get small jobs done around the house.

Being Busy And Still Engaging With Your Children:

It can be hard to set asides blocks of time to play with your children, “There is always something to do”. Remember they need your acknowledgement and they learn what love is, by your example. At times you will need to attend to the needs of the home and other children, but if you can just take that 5 minutes. Say yes to reading that story, or stop what you are doing, and make eye contact when listening and speaking with them. 

Here are some examples of ways you can acknowledge them amidst the chaos:

– Read stories to children while feeding the baby

– Chase the children with the vacuum and pretend to suck them up! They LOVE this! Cleaning can then be turned into a little game.

– If you are cooking and the children run into the kitchen to show or tell you something. Stop for that 10 seconds (that’s usually all of your time they need). Get down to their eye level and give them your 100% attention. It is important they know mum still has time for them amongst the business of life.

Try To Include Your Children In Chores:

Trying to tidy the house with young children playing at your feet can be frustrating at times as they usually create more of a mess! When children are very little and want to ‘help’ it is a great opportunity to encourage this virtue within them. I have learn’t that if you give them 1-2 easy tasks, like dusting low tables, or wiping the dinning room table, it keeps them occupied but also gives them a chance to contribute. Although they may not do a perfect job, they are learning to help and at least they are not tipping out the blocks in the next room! Praise your child for their good effort when they are done.   

Example: Recently I gave my 3 year old, those “magic eraser” white sponges, and they happily ran around the house, cleaning all the pencil off the walls and scuff marks. It was a job that I had been meaning to get to for a while, and what a help that was!

Do It Sooner Rather Than Later:

This is a REALLY good habit! When you have a moment, prepare something that needs to be done, EG: make the children’s sandwiches and store it in a container ready for lunch. Even if you think ‘I have the time to do it later’. This can avoid a lot of rushing around and stress, because later may come and you could be dealing with an unexpected phone call, a screaming baby or a combination of the two!

Sometimes I like to play a little game, eg – if I am heating something in the microwave for 2 minutes, I think, could I get the kitchen cleaned up in this short time? Often we move at a slower pace either because we are a little lazy to get motivated, tired, or have a vision of how much we have to do, which alone tires us out!

My motto is “DON’T THINK, JUST DO!” – its very effective.  

Work With Purpose And Meaning:

As mothers we usually have so many jobs, big and small! It can be overwhelming at times to look at the day and know how much we have to do…

I find that attaching an intention to each job can be very meaningful. Eg – preparing breakfast and getting through the morning routine can be done for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Every nappy change can be done for the Holy Father and his intentions. It has to be really practical ideas or we will tend to forget. And remember, the more difficult a task seems to us, the more merit and graces we receive if we do it our of love! When you begin attaching intentions to everything, it becomes a habit and then second nature to offer it up.

Alternatively you could offer up every hour of your day for a specific intention. You may need to set and alarm clock that rings each hour otherwise you will tend to forget! It always amazes me how quickly an hour goes by when you are busy. This is also a good way to stop and be recollected again to live that presence of God.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Theresa

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Originally posted 2015-04-15 12:00:52.