8 commandments of time management for a young mother

There is an opinion that a young mother is a life-driven, always out of breath woman with a tortured look, without makeup and manicure, and always with tousled hair. She always does not have time, constantly wants to sleep and never takes care of herself. And if this unfortunate woman has not one child, but two or (oh, horror!) Three, then she completely resembles a large monkey from the popular Soviet cartoon.

In fact, not everything is so scary. There are a huge number of mothers, among whom there are large familieswho manage to not only deal with children, but also find time to take care of themselves, prepare three-course dinners and surprise guests with cleanliness in the apartment. Some even work part-time at home, do needlework, or go to the gym. And neither the nanny, nor the mother-in-law or mother helps them, but the most ordinary time management. It is his laws that make it possible to devote enough time to everyday affairs, and rest with entertainment.

1. Clear planning

The golden rule of time management is a clear and structured planning of all daily activities. Get a daily planner or a family calendar, use bright stickers for reminders, download a planning application on your smartphone, create a special audit log - choose what is convenient and familiar for you. Carry a to-do list with you or hang it in a conspicuous place. It is very motivating to mark completed tasks with a tick.

Plan as large as possible: break down the general cleaning into several rooms and distribute by the days of the week, leave the purchase of products on Saturday or another day convenient for you. Plan your weekend, vacation, holidays, visits to the doctor.

Tip: spend the day in advance, carefully recording how many minutes you spend on any business. Do not miss anything, count not only the time that you spent on making breakfast or a walk with the baby, but also how long you spent on the Internet, having looked at the social networks “for a minute”, how much you chatted with a neighbor on the landing. Already at this stage the “sinks” of time will be revealed, and you will begin to fight them.

2. Prioritization

How many do not try, but to do absolutely everything will fail. In order not to lament at the end of the day that I had time to watch my favorite film, but didn’t wash the floors, tomorrow my mother-in-law will come, and I’ll be ashamed - set priorities wisely. You can mark them in the planning list with special icons or colors, number them in order of importance, or underline those that require speedy execution. Conditionally divide priorities into three groups:

1. For yourself.
2. For husband, children, other family members.
3. For strangers (work and other areas of life).

And do not be surprised that the head of the pyramid is not family and children, but you. Psychologists have long proved that only a happy, healthy and slept mother can make her loved ones happy. Love yourself at last. Nobody needs your self-sacrifice and looks simply pointless. Who, if not mom, should charge household members with positive emotions and tune into a wave of relaxation and enjoyment of home comfort after a hard working day? And how much positive will the family wait for you if you barely stand on your feet from fatigue?

3. Gadgets to help

Useful inventions such as a washing machine, multicooker, microwave, nipple and bottle sterilizer, a bottle warmer, a blender, a double boiler and many others not only allow you to keep up to date, but also significantly save time. Of course, it’s nice to realize that I’m a good mom, I wash clothes with pens, but believe me, your meaningless work will not be appreciated. Buy a good hypoallergenic powder and wash it manually in the washing machine. Saved time can be spent on games or developmental activities with the child.

Do not be afraid to experiment and acquire new useful things: from a potato peeler to a swing chair. At first, the electric kettle seemed useless to someone, but now it’s hard to imagine the most modestly equipped kitchen.

We also read: 7 devices that will free my mother’s hands

4. Electronic assistant

Another gadget that I want to highlight separately is a radio or video nanny. It is useful if you have a large apartment or a private house. You can turn on the device and quietly do household chores by putting the parent unit in your pocket. Many nannies have a lot of useful additional functions - breathing and movement sensors, a nightlight, a thermometer, lullabies, control from the parent unit, night shooting mode. It is difficult not to trust the child with such a perfect mechanism.

• TOP 6 models of the best baby monitors: description, pros, cons, prices
• Rating of the 6 best nannies (description, pros, cons, average price)

5. Online shopping

Online shopping is another incredibly useful thing for a modern housewife. While the children are sleeping, you can leisurely make a choice by comparing prices and choosing the stocks that interest you, and the courier will bring the products literally to the threshold of your home. You can order everything from diapers to interior items. Just imagine how much time and effort you will save by abandoning the fussy crush in the market or in the supermarket, the traffic jams back and forth. Devote your free time to yourself, beloved - lie in the foam bath, read your favorite novel, just lie down for 15 minutes with your eyes closed.

Heading: best kids online stores

6. Walking - do not sleep!

Do not walk with your child in the afternoon or other times when he is sleeping. On the one hand, it's nice to walk with a stroller in which the baby sniffs sweetly, but at home, the awake baby will insistently demand your attention. At this time, if the baby were asleep, you would have successfully completed several household chores. And it’s more useful for a child’s health to be actively outdoors.

7. Multitasking

Writing everyday things into the daily planner, analyze the notes every evening and plan to combine tasks. If you think about it, many tasks can be performed simultaneously:

• On the way to the clinic there is an excellent store of household chemicals, go to it when you go to the doctor’s office and get the things you need. Separately, you no longer have to go to the store.
• If you have any trip in the morning, plan the day before cooking more dinner and prepare a double volume. Then after the trip you don’t have to rush to cook dinner. It remains only to warm it up.
• Chatting on the phone, pick up a damp cloth and wipe the dust.
• While cooking dinner, you can, for example, iron your clothes. And the baby at this time will be next to my mother in a deck chair, on an electric swing, etc.

We also read: How can a young mother deal with her child and household chores?

8. Ask for help

Time management is a really great way out of an addictive swamp of life. But there are situations in every woman’s life where even the time management forces are completely gone. Ask for help - mom, husband, mother-in-law, girlfriend or sister. Leave your child for at least a couple of hours with a nanny and head to the beauty salon or enjoy your pleasant shopping. If there are no relatives nearby and there is no possibility to hire a nanny, find in your city the same mothers of little children as you, make friends with them and help each other out on difficult days.

We also read:

• How to keep up with the decree, or 10 rules of a young mother
• 7 good habits that will save time and effort for a young mother
• Where can mom find time: 6 tips
• Who will help a working mom?
• 7 household appliances needed by any mom

Motherhood is the finest job in the world. No matter how intense and tiring the first months after the birth of a baby, they will fly by unnoticed and will remain only sweet and touching memories.

How to do everything with a small child