Hands Down Best Advice to Simplify Mom Life

Being able to simplify mom life is no easy task.  I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years and none of them have been as hard or as overwhelming as being a working mother.

Without a question, motherhood is also the most rewarding of any job.  However, that doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stressful and overwhelming at times.

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Believe me, I know full well what it’s like to be sitting in traffic in near tears because you’re running late for pickup.  There have been countless trips to the grocery store at 10:00 p.m. because there was no other time to go, or I just desperately need alone time and this was the only way to get it.

I’ve sat at work worrying about how I’ll accomplish everything I need to do at home. Arriving home and worrying about all that needs to be done at work.  There have been many times I have felt overwhelmed at the number of tasks that need to be done and wondered how I would have time to do them all.

When you are a mom and hold down a job, you’re constantly busy, constantly going, constantly in survival mode, until suddenly you feel like it’s all just too much for one person to handle.

This was my life for years. Until I set out to learn from those that seemed to be making it work much better than I was. Here are some of the hands-down best advice I received to simplify mom life and how I implemented it.

1. Write Everything Down

More often than not, the reason for that feeling of overwhelm is all the stuff swirling around in our heads. There was no way I was going to be able to take action until I got it all out on paper.

When I take the time to write down my to-do list, action items, or a brain dump of all those random thoughts, I can think more clearly. This helps me to focus on what I need to actually get accomplished.  It also helps to see where it is I’m struggling or falling short, as well as what it is I’m doing well.

So before you get started with the rest of these strategies, take some time to get everything in that pretty little head out on paper. This really is the first step to learning to simplify mom life!

2. Prioritize to Simplify Mom Life

With everything written down on paper, you should have a feel for what is creating some of that overwhelm you are feeling.

Now, look at everything you’ve written down and start prioritizing it. You want to take those things that are creating the greatest overwhelm and make them your #1 priority.

Chances are these are also going to be the hardest things to deal with. But that is why they are causing so much frustration, either they are hard or you’ve been procrastinating on them.  And if you really want to simplify mom life, you need to start dealing with them.

Here’s the thing, some of the best advice I got came from this wildly popular book “Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” by Brian Tracy.  The premise of the book is based on a famous Mark Twain quote:

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.”

Basically, you want to do that thing that’s akin to having to eat a live frog the very first thing in the morning. If you do this nothing else in your day will be as hard, whoo hoo!

Once you have your frog in place it’s time to rank, in order of importance, the rest of the items from your brain dump. If it’s not essential, ignore it and do what you can with the rest of the items.

3. Simplify Mom Life By Planning Ahead

At this point, you might be staring at a pretty long list of things that need to be done.  But here’s the good news, accomplishing the must-do items from your list, is going to be easier than you think because you’re going to make a plan.

By far, learning to plan was the biggest recurring advice I received. The reason is that going into your day without a plan is what leaves us feeling super overwhelmed.

No plan means forgetting important things and feeling unproductive. On the other hand, when you have a plan you know exactly which tasks to focus on. This will help you keep the overwhelmed feeling at bay.

Being prepared is the key to everything. It doesn’t happen by accident, though. Being prepared requires thinking ahead and anticipating obstacles.

To simplify mom life, plan as much as you can for the next day before you go to bed.  That includes putting out your clothes and your kids’ clothes. Put work and school bags near the door. Check your to-do list and, if possible, prepare the things you need for breakfast and lunch the night before. Even if you feel tired, the mornings will feel so much simpler.

You May Need To Experiment With Planning Systems

Many people have great success with time blocking their day. This essential has you planning your day hour by hour. I tried time blocking and it didn’t work for me personally, it just made me feel more overwhelmed if I got behind on something I scheduled.

What worked better for me was batching my do-to list. I do all my planning, including meals, for the entire week on Sunday evenings. This way I don’t have to think about it for the rest of the week.

I often do batch cooking and make several extra meals that I place in the freezer. When I come home from the grocery store, I will prepare all the fresh fruits and veggies so they are ready to go.

These OXO containers are great for keeping things fresh the entire week. I’ve also heard great things about Stasher Bags. I plan on trying these out but they are pretty pricey.  However, I think they may be worth it as you can prepare lunch size portions all at once.

There are a lot of different systems out there for planning out your days.  I can tell you the absolute best system is the one that will work for you! Experiment with different systems until you find one you think you can stick with.

Remember you can’t control unforeseen events that may occur, of course. However, having a plan in place will help simplify mom life and get through those unexpected surprises.

4 Use a Great Planner

I’ve tried several paper and electronic planners throughout the years. A good planner has been essential to staying on top of things.  In fact, I will say it has been the number one thing to simplify mom life.

I know that it can be really hard to fork over $60 for a good planner. However, from personal experience, it is an investment you’ll be glad you made. The reality is there’s simply no way as a busy mom you can stay organized without a planner of some type.

My personal favorite planner is the Living Well Spending Less Planner. This planner not only lets me keep track of my schedule, but my two favorite features are the goal-setting pages and the budgeting pages. I’m able to keep track of everything all in one place.

As of the time of this writing, there is a special pre-order sale going on and even if the presale is over, the normal price of the planner is under $50.  Check out the Living Well shop for more info on the planner.

If that is not within your budget, you can find a plethora of planners at various price points on Amazon.

Also, for years the only thing I used was a planner that I created. The planner has places for your meal plans, schedules for you and your kids, as well as a few other features. I offer this free for my email subscribers. You can sign-up for my email list by clicking below or find out more about the planner here.

Finally, Trello is a great digital planning tool that is also free. I still use Trello every day and honestly it helps keep my entire life organized. You can read more about Trello here.

5. Plan Out Your Meals

One of my greatest stress relievers is having a plan in place for our meals. Meal planning will save you time, stress, and money. Every Sunday evening, as part of my regular planning, I plan out our meals for that week, it takes me about 10 minutes max. I write them in my planner and note any ingredients I’ll need to pick up at the store.

It may take you a little longer in the beginning, but there are a lot of ways to simplify the process. You may want to read this post for a look at the things I’ve done to simplify my meal planning.

Another huge stress reliever when it comes to meal planning is batch cooking or freezer cooking.
Keep a few prepared meals in your freezer. Sometimes I will batch cook several meals, but if I don’t have time for that, I will double up a recipe as part of my normal cooking and place the double portion in the freezer so it’s there when I want to use it.

I can assure you that meal planning will do a lot to simplify mom life.

6. Declutter

Everything you own takes some amount of your time to maintain, clean, and care for. The more stuff you have the more of your time you’ll have to devote to that stuff.

There are many studies that have been conducted showing the effects clutter has on your life and the increased stress and overwhelm it places on your life.

Decluttering your home may literally be the most beneficial thing you can do to simplify mom life.  Decluttering your home will help you gain control of your life, end the overwhelm and have space for those things that matter most to you.

While clutter is easy to create it’s not nearly as easy to get rid of. It’s going to require you to be intentional in scheduling times to declutter and developing habits to stop the clutter from coming back in.

I have many posts on how to declutter your home, no matter what your issues are. You might want to start with the Ultimate Guide to a Clutter-Free Home.

In the meantime take some time each day to put things away and throw out the junk. Deal with the mail immediately instead of letting it pile up on the counter. Toss or give away anything you haven’t used for a year or more.

7. Simplify Housework

For years I spent every Saturday doing all of the housework and laundry. As the kids got older, this became nearly impossible. They wanted (and deserved my attention).  Often while I was cleaning one end of the house they were making a mess in the other end.

Simplifying and decluttering my home certainly helped, but so did creating a cleaning routine that broke down the major chores into small sections.

I clean the bathroom one day, the bedrooms on another. Each room in my home is assigned a specific day to focus on. Aside from cleaning that one room, I do one load of laundry and a couple of 15-minute tidy-ups. The house stays reasonably clean with this system.

8. Get Up a Little Earlier

This little act will do so much to help you simplify mom life. Getting up earlier can help you get a head start on your day.

This does not mean you have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. However, if you learn to get up before the kids do, you’ll have a few moments of alone time, which is essential for most of us. Spending a few moments in the quiet sipping coffee while spending time in God’s word makes all the difference in the rest of my day.

By getting up earlier, you can start your day feeling both energized and organized.

9. Make Your Bed

Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, a Naval commander gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas. He said:

“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.”

This is always great advice to live by every day. There is also an added benefit that at least one room will feel clean.

10. Take Care of You

I know this is so easy to let go because I did for years. When you have 3 million things to do and virtually no time to get it done, self-care is the first thing to go. I mean we have people counting on us right?

So often as moms our focus is on serving others and that’s a good thing. But, when we do it at the expense of caring for ourselves it’s honestly the reason everything else falls apart.

The reality is that if you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of your people. Failing to take any time for yourself causes your motivation to suffer. You’ll be less patient with my kids. Eventually, you’ll shut down altogether.

We all need time to relax and refresh.

Look, this doesn’t have to be extravagant day spa visits (although that would be nice). All I’m talking about is regularly taking time to do something for you!

It doesn’t matter if it’s reading each day, taking a bath, planning a monthly girls’ night out, or just watching your favorite TV show. What does matter, is that you schedule the time into your planner or you’ll never do it.

11. Set Reasonable Expectations

Even though this is the last strategy on this little list, it is perhaps the most important of them all.  No one can do it all! You have to stop thinking you are magically equipped with untold superpowers.  You are not, you have limitations.

No more feeling guilty for being overwhelmed. There will always be times when things won’t get done that you were supposed to do. You will forget a due date, miss an appointment, forget to send that email. This is life, you are not able to do everything, all the time.

Don’t accept the myth that some people have it all together, the truth is, no one is able to do everything. Some people are just really good at hiding their failures.

Do your best and know that whatever doesn’t get done, it’s okay. The kids are still alive and the world will keep turning.

Take a step back, follow the advice of others who have gone before you and survived. Simplify mom life with some regular planning. Put some systems in place to make your life less about being buried in stress and overwhelm and more about clearing space for what matters most.