Making Time for Yourself as a Mom (11 Genius Ways)

Making Time for Yourself as a Mom (11 Genius Ways)

One of the things moms come to quickly realize is that there’s hardly the time to fit in all you need to do and still have enough time to rest or catch up on the things that interest you.

The funny thing is that it doesn’t get any easier unless you become intentional about making it so.

When I first became a mom, I had friends and family offer me help here and there and this helped a ton. Six weeks down the line though, life returned to normal and I was doing most things on my own and yes, things became overwhelming pretty quickly.

I struggled to fit into my role as a new mom while still juggling other aspects of my life and trying to stay sane.

As time went on, I felt things would get easier as I got the hang of being a mom, but the reality is that as you progress, you would need to pick up a new set of tasks (added to those you already had).

The truth is, It doesn’t exactly get easier, you just get smarter and better at fitting all the different aspects of your life together to make things work.

Making time for yourself as a mom is one of the things you’ll find you quickly have to become deliberate about or the days would fly by fast with you getting a little more mentally and physically worn out.

Here are tips that work for me and hopefully will for you if you are wondering to create some quality time for yourself:

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Making Time for Yourself as a Mom (11 Ways)

1) Get the Kids to Chip in During Chores

Chores take the most of our time, especially if you have kids. You are hardly done putting one part of the house together when the kids have another room upside down.

Initially, I would scream when this happened, huff and puff a little before finally going on to arrange that room.

As expected, I was always tired from doing so many chores and would be fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

It was when I found myself wishing the kids would fall asleep quicker (since that was the only time everything stayed as it was), that I knew I had to look for an alternative to this.

So here’s what I did:

I got the kids to help out, not as a form of punishment nor as a part of their chores, but as fun playtime for us all.

My kids loved the fact we would all sing and dance as we worked, while my nephews loved the idea of getting praised or sometimes receiving little rewards for helping out around the house.

I knew I’d gotten it right in this aspect when they would remind me it was cleanup time and would rush to get whatever cleaning item they would be needing.

Related: How to Simplify Your Life as a Mom

A Day in the Life of a Working Mom (How Hectic Life Can Get)

2) Have Dad Help Out

So…my partner is hardly around as his job takes him around, however, on those days he is, he helps out too.

I wouldn’t know if helping out comes easy to him because he’s kind of domesticated, but the fact is it’s a lot more fun, not to mention less stressful when the whole family comes together to get things done.

It also makes it easier to bond as a family, something we try not to miss out on.

3) Cook Meals in Batches

Making time for yourself as a mom is also possible when you cook your meals in batches

I make meals for the week on Sundays to be stored in small airtight containers until they are needed. It would then be a matter of heating whatever portion is needed at any time.

While this method saves you a lot of time, here are three things you should know about it:

• Cooking that much food takes a lot of time unless you’d be cooking a lot more of a particular meal that’s a staple and can be paired with a lot of other meals.
• Meals tend to go bland pretty fast when refrigerated or frozen, so you don’t want to have too many meals prepared at a go. I recommend cooking 3 to 5 days’ worth of meals and at the very most, one week’s worth.
• If you love your food fresher, then you might want to cook a smaller quantity so you can whoop up a meal here and there during the week.

4) Swap Babysitting Time with Other Moms

My friend and I have an arrangement where her kids come over to mine on a particular day of the week and mine go to hers on another day.

They are away only a few hours, however, this time is usually enough for me to catch up on pressing tasks or catch some much-needed sleep if that’s what I need at the time

5) Teach Your Kids to be More Independent

You could also encourage your kids to be a lot more independent, so they don’t need you to keep them entertained all the time.

So…this might not happen immediately but encourage your kids to play alone with their toys and with themselves, even with you in the same space and once they get used to this, you’ll find them happily doing this often.

Related: 40 Baby Hacks That Will Help You Tons as a Mom

6) Organize Play Dates with Friends Who Have Kids

Similar to swapping babysitting duties, a playdate will also work fine to give you some time to do things you love.

In this case, it would be a relaxing visit with friends and catching up on the latest happenings in each other’s lives.

The kids have fun playing around while you visit with your friend (s) and do just about anything that interests you ladies.

It’s a win-win for everyone.

7) Babysitters Work Too

Babysitters are not just for when you have a date night with your partner, need to make a quick dash to the supermarket, or have an urgent errand to see to.

You can have a babysitter tend to your kids even while you are home.

If your budget can cover this luxury, then you should go for it and take advantage of these few hours to pursue a hobby or get a task done (I do this once a week or every other week and spend this time updating my blogs or writing a book to be published on Amazon KDP).

8) Don’t Go Overboard Trying to Keep a Clean Home

Yeah, we’ve all been there, that burning desire to keep the home spick, no item out of place until the kids started arriving and we discovered It would be nearly impossible to keep the home Beverly-style clean all the time.

One method I’ll recommend is to try to get a few hours of cleaning done in the mornings once the kids leave for school, again a few hours after they return and the house gets turned upside down, and possibly yet again at night (if you can).

If at any time you find you can’t keep up with the cleaning schedule you have set for yourself, you want to let things be, especially since you are known for always having a tidy one.

No one ever died from having a home mushed up by kids, but you could pass out trying to clean every smudge of dirt that suddenly appears.

9) Find Yourself During Your Kids’ Play Time

My kids get some time to play in the playroom every day, supervised at intervals and this allows me to catch up on other things.

I could decide to work in my little garden in front or take a light nap and even though my door stays open through it so I can hear if the play starts to get too rough, I always manage to feel rested afterward.

10) Multitask Whenever You Can

Good thing we can multitask as women and do it well. This skill will come in handy as a mom, so you want to use it often.

You should try to get two or more complementary tasks going at the same time so you can finish all you have to do in record time.

11) Find Your Mom Time When the Kids Are Away

I also recommend getting your personal things done when the kids are away from the hours, even if it’s for an hour. You’d be amazed how much you can achieve those seven to eight hours they are away at school!

Final Notes

Making time for yourself as a mom isn’t just encouraged so you can get things done, it’s also important for your mental health.

It’s so easy to believe we can get away with working round the clock without taking an hour every so often for that much-needed break. We might feel like supermoms (and truly we are. Anyone who can do the much we do daily without breaking a sweat must have some superpowers), but even superheroes need breaks sometimes.

I find I’m a much better mom when I’m well-rested and feel refreshed.

Tags: making time for yourself as a mom, self care for moms, making time for yourself as a mom even when it’s hard