How are you doing mama? Life can be so overwhelming, especially the past couple of years. Everything has been turned upside down and we’ve been in survival mode for too long! Am I right? 

This is for all you business and work at home mamas.

I wanted to share today a couple of things that you can do to simplify in your business and motherhood in order to kick the overwhelm and really thrive.  As I talk about pretty regularly, both are entwined and it’s vital that you accept that and try to keep both as balanced as possible. 

1. Review your calendar and take out anything that does not serve you. A lot of times we make commitments when we shouldn’t OR we make them and then keep on doing them. It’s time to take a look at your calendar and really ask yourself- is this serving me? Is this something I am already committed to? Is this something that myself or my family needs to do? Is there a better use of my time here? I have a really great post here about protecting your calendar and your time and what to do when it gets too crazy. 
2. Declutter your house- go on, toss it or give it away! If you haven’t taken the time to do this, please do. This is something that instantly reduces stress, helps calm your home and just overall makes a huge difference. Wondering where to start? Drop a comment below and I’d love to help. I can tell you that I spent years and years constantly overwhelmed always, searching for a change. It wasn’t until someone introduced me to this concept of decluttering (pure gold!) that I became aware of my main problem- too much clutter. Our house was overran by all the things for my kiddos and just crap everywhere. I started to realize how my mood changed and my anxiety would soar the moment I walked into a room. It was all the stuff, the clutter. I didn’t even know this was an issue. Once I took the time to declutter my house I felt so much better. Not only did this really change our home atmosphere it really helped in so many other areas of my life. 
3. Rethink your answers- it’s okay to say no! Why do we always feel the need to say yes? Stop doing this for the love of god. You don’t need to yes to everything. You don’t need to run around like a crazy person trying to do all the things and make all the people happy when it doesn’t even make you happy. This is sucking the joy out of everything and it isn’t worth it. I am telling you. Just try it, it’s freeing. 
4. Simplify meal planning- grocery delivery/pick up, meal prep on the weekend. Meal prep has always been hard for me as I really like to eat based on what I’m in the mood for, but meal planning is always something that is helpful. It always is a great activity to do with the family- have everyone pick their favorite meal. Plus: Grocery delivery or pick up is the best invention ever. Are you doing this? 
5. Accept help (And ask for it!) Let’s face it, we mom’s do not like to ask for help most of the time but we need it! Make a list of all the things that someone else could be doing or that you can outsource, then do it. That simple! 
6. Get a planner. You need it. Staying organized as a mama is a must! How would we ever keep it all straight? I love paper planners with all my heart but they aren’t functional for me. Sad face. I tried so hard to keep using them but it doesn’t fit in with my lifestyle I guess. Digital planners are great or just get really used to using the apps on your phone to replace an actual planner. If it serves it’s purpose and it’s helpful- go for it! Think calendar (I use OneCalendar), reminders for to do lists or the Things app. Amazing! 
7. Set goals! Honestly how does anyone live without goals? I love setting goals and it really is good for you. You can create goals within your business and life monthly, yearly or whatever works for you. 
8. Talk to your family and get on the same page. Okay, so this is a pretty simple one. Duh, everyone on the same page makes life run smoother BUT you would be surprised at the amount of people who don’t think of this. And that’s okay, it’s why I’m sharing all the things that help me. Talk to your spouse and let them know what’s going on in your life and business, share your goals and hopes. Talk to them about work boundaries.. literally all the things. It’s also great to have family meetings to check in with everyone. 
9. Come up with a morning routine and follow it. Oh, routines are the best. It’s all part of being organized and intentional, right? We are so busy, I get it. It’s hard to follow anything really. But routines don’t have to be this wild, intricate task list. It can be as simple as saying- each morning I will get up at this time and I will take ten minutes to mediate, fifteen minutes to write in my journal and drink my coffee and then I’ll do a quick twenty minute exercise. Having a “routine” so that it’s consistently the same just makes everything better overall. 
10. Which leads me into my next thing- get up before your kiddos and aim to be ready for the day before as well. Okay, so I can tell you one hundred percent when I am up and ready for the day by the time my kids get up I feel so good about my day and they get that time with me. If I get up late and they are up, I am rushing to get showered and dressed all the while they are needing me for all the things and I’m running late to work. My mornings usually look like this- get up well before the kids, have coffee and do a quick check in of my calendar for the day and 20 minutes of work just to review what’s going on. I then get showered and dressed for the day just in time for them to get up. Then they are up and I have time to sit with them before I jump into work, I have time to watch cartoons and help with breakfast and not be stressed out the whole time. It’s great for me and it’s great for them! 
11. Get ready for the week Sundays Highly, highly recommend. This means reviewing your calendar for the week so that you are aware of what’s going on. It means moving anything off your calendar that may be needed, prepping for school and work the next day. It means catching up on household chores and laundry so that you are going into the work week feeling good. It means spending time with your family so that everyones hearts are full before the week.  
12. Get ready for the morning the night before– pack lunches set outfits out, set bags by the door- anything you can to make your morning easier. Weekday mornings (not summer) are straight crazy in my house. I have to get ready for the night before or I will lose my mind. 
13. Prioritize- create a list of your priorities in life. Focus your energy on those. Don’t worry about anything else that’s not on that list. 
14. Create free time in your life. What does this even mean? Free time- I see you laughing. But seriously don’t overbook yourself. This goes back to protecting your calendar. It’s okay to not have anything to do. And you should really try to create time where you have nothing on your schedule and just live and love it! 
15. Close your email. Have dedicated times to check your email. Let’s say you’ll check your email when you first get into work, right when you get back from lunch and thirty minutes before your workday ends. I’m totally making that up for you, but that’s what I do. You can do whatever works for you. But I can tell you email is even worse than social media in terms of sucking you in and losing track of time. Add to your list to look into email labels and simplifying in your email in general. And remember emails don’t need to be handled right when they come in! Let it wait.  
16. Streamline your onboarding and all the things! So you may not be anywhere near hiring help and that’s okay but as you are creating processes and all the things map that all out now as you do and save it. Have a place where you save passwords, where you save contacts etc. Anything that you can streamline in your business should be done. 
17. Hire a cleaner if you can. Okay, so I have someone who comes once a month who I adore and honestly I’d give anything to have them come once a week. #dreaming. This is something that I look forward to and is incredibly helpful for our family. It takes care of all the deep cleaning things that never get done. It’s not as expensive as you would think either! 
18. Come up with a chore chart and rewards for your kids. They should be helping out and this will make your life so much simpler. Seriously. Give your kids chores so they can contribute to the household and they earn money so why wouldn’t they want to help. We use Greenlight, honestly the best ever. (<< Including referral link and I may get a referral bonus if you choose to go with them. I believe you do too!) 
19. Give yourself 20 minutes, sit down and write down everything that stresses you out, all of your “pain points” and anything else you can think of. Review this and map out how you can fix these. More on that here. I am telling you, it works!
20. Grab an Amazon Echo. We have echos in each room of the house and then the Echo Show in our kitchen and let me tell you, so helpful! We use it to announce when dinner is done, to come help and all the things. We also ask Alexa all the questions too! Makes life a lot easier. Remember to turn on do not disturb when you are on a work call. Been there- done that! 
21. Review your current meeting schedule. Oh lord, meetings. My week can sometimes be flooded with meetings and they really can throw your whole day off, so when you have multiple meeting days it’s tough. Sit down and really review your meeting schedule. Can you combine to one day? 
22. Set boundaries with your work hours. Boundaries, what are those? But in all seriousness it’s important to set clear boundaries that you communicate to not only your family but your clients as well. And yourself. That means no checking email outside of work hours (if this is what you’ve committed to). It means communicating your work hours, your expectations and so forth. 
23. Get clear on when is your most productive time. Yes, you have a time that you are more productive than other times. Mine is the morning up until 1 p.m. and then I feel so exhausted, no matter what I am doing. No matter the day. I know this and I plan for the majority of my work to be done before the afternoon and then I’m still working but on lighter, non-priority items. 
24. Keep a clean desk and an office. This goes back to the clutter thing. You’ll work better if you aren’t overwhelmed by all the crap everywhere. Believe me. 
25. Once a month clear out the clutter, seriously. Yep! 
26. Stop trying to control all the things. I am a control freak, I’m really trying to just be free and calm. I’ll let you know how that goes. Hahaha. But one thing I’ve had to learn is not only that I can’t control all the things but I don’t want to. So much wasted time and energy here. Let it go! 
27. Understand you can’t make everything perfect and be okay with that! This really goes along with control. I am someone who used to spend thirty minutes creating a graphic that honestly could have worked ten minutes in. I like things to be perfect and look perfect. But the amount of time that I wasted in order to create all the perfect things is outrageous and silly. Things don’t need to be perfect. Your product doesn’t. Your launch doesn’t. Just do your best and when it’s done, it’s done. 

So there you have it! Hopefully these are helpful to you. Jot down the things you want to start with and get going! 

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