Being a full-time parent while running a full-time house and working a full-time job is a lot to take on in life. Here are some efficient tips for lightening that load.
Family life is real life, regardless of what career you choose. The time spent with your loved ones, building your home is the time you will cherish most in this life. However, when that time is stressful and exhausting, it becomes less of a haven and more of a place you would like to avoid. Usually, the stress you feel in these situations isn’t because you don’t enjoy time spent with your family, it’s because you are taking on too much.
Lightening the Load at Home
Whether you are a parent, pet parent, full time worker, or stay at home parent of two toddlers, these tips can help simplify your life and thus ease the load.
Hire Some Help
There is a common misconception that hiring staff to help you in your home is a joy known only to the rich. Realistically, for a very moderate price you can hire a professional cleaning company for an hour or two per week. A professional cleaner can do more cleaning in those two hours than you can all week in a busy household. That extra help comes in handy when you have a special occasion to clean up for. It doesn’t have to be a pro cleaner, either. Another immense help in the home is a nanny. Imagine one afternoon as a parent free per week you had time to yourself. Home helpers are the best types of lifesavers.
Practice Setting Boundaries
If you find your time is full from morning till night and you don’t spend a second of that time on yourself, it is possible that you have boundary issues. Do you find it difficult to say no to people? You know the proverb that no good deed goes unpunished? Every time you agree to do something for someone else, you are taking that time away from yourself. If you don’t want to do it, say no. If you need an excuse, tell them it’s your first time off in a week and you simply don’t have the energy. The people who care about you will understand. The people that try to force you after you already said no are the ones you need to be firmer with your boundaries with. They are the ones that see their time as more valuable than yours.
Meal Prep for the Week
If you can find an hour on a Sunday to prepare meals for the week, you can free yourself between 20 minutes and an hour each evening. Think what you could do with all that time. Prepping your meals in advance has other benefits too. For example, you can accurately budget how much each meal costs. If you have the freezer space, this is a top timesaver.
Lighten the Load Through Delegation
The chances are that you don’t live alone. Stop trying to do everything for everyone and start delegating up those tasks. It’s about time you got some help from your partner, children, and the other adults in your life. Make your needs clear because things have got to change for you before you burn yourself out.
