Calling all moms! I'd love to encourage an open dialogue where we share best practices, tips and suggestions on balancing the busy Mommy Schedule.
This is my busiest year yet - both in terms of my own personal schedule and my three girls' schedules. Here's what we've got going on these days...
Daughter #1 ~ 1st grade, soccer 2 nights per week and on Saturday
Daughter #2 ~ preschool 3 days per week, gymnastics one day, soccer on Saturday
Daughter #3 ~ preschool 2 days per week, dance one day
This is my busiest year yet - both in terms of my own personal schedule and my three girls' schedules. Here's what we've got going on these days...
Daughter #1 ~ 1st grade, soccer 2 nights per week and on Saturday
Daughter #2 ~ preschool 3 days per week, gymnastics one day, soccer on Saturday
Daughter #3 ~ preschool 2 days per week, dance one day
Then onto my schedule - Teaching TurboKick on Tuesday nights (1-2 classes) with an October class starting on Thursday nights in 2 weeks; Studying for my Holistic Health Coach certification via at home study through Institute for Integrative Nutrition; working at home as a Beachbody Coach; part time work with Brad's Raw Foods; at home work via blog and social networking. Oh - and let's not forget all that I do as Mommy. We all know the Mommy List contains endless chores, driving, errands, and a bazillion other things.
I am still trying to find balance via time blocking and prioritizing with To-Do lists. I have five calendars. Why so many? I have no idea. I use a Google calendar online & on my phone. I have a Mom Agenda which allows me to have sections for each child along with my own schedule that I carry in my bag. I have a wall calendar in the kitchen, a wall calendar in my office and a spiral weekly calendar that I use for my To-Do list. That is enough to confuse me. Trying to cross reference each calendar and make sure I have certain tasks & activities on all of the calendars gets confusing. I think I spend more time trying to do that than actually doing those tasks. What happens when I forget to put something on one of my calendars? Good question. I completely forgot about school pictures last week. Oops.
I am still trying to find balance via time blocking and prioritizing with To-Do lists. I have five calendars. Why so many? I have no idea. I use a Google calendar online & on my phone. I have a Mom Agenda which allows me to have sections for each child along with my own schedule that I carry in my bag. I have a wall calendar in the kitchen, a wall calendar in my office and a spiral weekly calendar that I use for my To-Do list. That is enough to confuse me. Trying to cross reference each calendar and make sure I have certain tasks & activities on all of the calendars gets confusing. I think I spend more time trying to do that than actually doing those tasks. What happens when I forget to put something on one of my calendars? Good question. I completely forgot about school pictures last week. Oops.
Did I mention that I color code my calendars? It goes a little something like this...
- Black - Beachbody business
- Light Blue - husband activities
- Pink - all 3 daughters (although on the kitchen calendar they each have a separate color)
- Green - my Brad's schedule
- Purple - Anything else that relates to me
- Dark blue - Integrative Nutrition activities, webinars, conference calls, modules
- Red - Integrative Nutrition tests
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| And this is not including the online & phone calendars! |
I think I am drowning in schedules. I'd love to hear how you busy moms keep your schedules. If you have tips on how to make mine less confusing, I'm all ears! Please share your tips, suggestions and what works for you. I know I'm not the only one trying to juggle so much at once. Your ideas might help lots of us!
If you'd like more information on my TurboKick classes, Beachbody workout programs or Fit & Healthy Mommy, please email me at debi@fitnhealthymommy.com.
I'm a fulltime working mom of one 1st grader. My husband works generally 3-4 nights per week at Cheesecake Factory (heaven help me!). Lexi does dance on Monday, cheerleading Wed and Sun, and girlscounts Fridays. I also travel once a month for work for a few days. I'm also mommy to a very needy 2 year old rottweiler, Titan. Most days I barely keep my head above water but I've found taking some time (like during dance and cheerleading) for me really helps. I either take Tian for a long walk or hit the treadmill. I've started cooking up a storm on Sundays and freezing meals so that I have something healthy for Lexi and I most nightS. Poor child thought cereal was a main dinner!
ReplyDeleteI really don't know how you ladies do it. My wife is always on the go. She takes care of our two kids and runs her business. I am lucky to get my workout in and make it to work everyday. I help where I can. I am thankful for her ability to manage it all.
ReplyDeleteI keep one calendar for my tutoring and one calendar for everything else. I also have a whiteboard that I keep a weekly schedule on, which I color code as well. Black for me, blue for my husband, red for everyone (my little one is only 20 months old so he doesn't have his own color yet). I transfer things from my calendar to the whiteboard and erase things as I go. I keep a running list on the whiteboard of important events coming up for the next week. I work two part time jobs plus take care of my child and am also involved with activities at my church, but don't have as much going on as you with 3 kids! I also like to prepare meals in bulk when possible and cook more on weekends to freeze for times when I there isn't time to cook.
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