Wednesday, July 12, 2017

How Do You Find Time?

As a mom of five young kids, all six years old and under, I get asked a lot of time management questions. My close friends are the ones that know exactly how much I do and they even ask me time management questions. When people outside of my close knit circle of family and friends ask, "how do you find time for xyz?" I give a standard response of, "I'm not sure, I guess I am lucky to find the time." One of the questions asked a lot is, "how do you find the time to write blog posts?" I will hit on that question in this post.

Before I talk about that question, I do need to lead off and say time managing has not always been my strong suit. There are days managing my time still isn't what I am good at. When I was growing up, I was raised to get things done on time, make time for 'just in case' scenarios, be on time to places, and to not waste time doing things that didn't need my time. Obviously getting projects done for school were a breeze, that is, until I got to college. Once I hit my college years is when I began to procrastinate, waste time, not plan for 'just in cases', and even would be late to classes. When I got married in 2009 and my husband and I began having kids back in 2010, I again had to readjust how I handled time in getting things done around the house, getting to places on time, getting things done on time. That brings us to right now. Everything I do as a mom includes timing of when I get things done, timing of when each of my kids are cared for, when we set appointments, etc. Finding time to do things that don't revolve around my five kids, is tricky. Alas, it can be done. Here I am writing a blog post about finding time.


How do I find time to write blog posts?

I Have A Daily Schedule For My Family
I use to think I needed to have a written daily schedule to help my time management. That isn't true. Once I became a parent, having our daily schedule written out was pointless. Kids don't stick to a written schedule. However, they do stick with a routine. As long as we have the same routine almost (I say almost because there are some days and occasions where it will change) every day, then that is good enough. A routine helps keep everyone functioning. Our schedule will change a little once school starts, but not too much. Our normal daily schedule is we wake up between 6:30 a.m.-7:30 a.m. and eat breakfast. Then we have play time/learning/watch a movie/run errands until 11 a.m. At 11 a.m. we clean up from the morning and we eat lunch at 11:30 a.m. At 12 p.m. it is nap time. 2 p.m.-3 p.m. is waking up from naps and more play time/learning. Between 5 p.m.-6 p.m. is dinner time. 6:30 p.m. is when we start the bed time routine for our kids. Our kids are in bed between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every night. There are days that routine changes, but we do our best to stick with it even on special days. Obviously, I did not have to write out times, but I wanted to give you all an idea. Having a daily schedule or routine helps with finding time in the first place for extra things.


I Have A Daily Schedule For My Housework
Once we established a schedule for our kids, I was able to fit in housework. Dishes are done daily after each meal. Laundry is done on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with washing/drying in the morning and folding in the evening. I put it away the next day. I clean our bathrooms once a week on Tuesdays (in the morning while the kids are content), but keep up with toilets/sinks daily. I sweep the floors on a daily basis and mop our floors every other day. We only have two rooms with carpet that don't get dirty that often so I vacuum once every two weeks. Deep cleaning gets done once a month. Even though we have a big family, there isn't much cleaning that needs done and I try not to make cleaning very time consuming, because I want time with my kids and I do want that free time I speak of. I do my best to keep up with cleaning on a daily basis so it doesn't pile up, but I fit it into our daily schedule that is above.


I Use My Free Time Wisely
Yes I get free time, that is how I am writing this post. Currently as I write it is nap time for all five of my kids. Let me touch on the nap time real quick, because you are probably wondering how I get them all to nap at the same time.Yes, all five kids are napping/resting. I plan out TWO hours for them to rest/nap. Without a rest or nap time, my kids are grumpy. They also know if they don't rest or nap, they won't do anything fun like go outside, watch a movie, play a game. If they want to continue their fun, it is a must in this house that they rest/nap. So, my kids are currently resting/napping. Sure you may be thinking, 'don't you have housework you could be doing?' As you can see from the schedules above, I do get free time, even from housework. So once I figured out a schedule for our family and housework, I was able to find time for what I do love to do, which is write. I use my time wisely to write. I will write posts either when my kids are napping or when they go to sleep for the night. I also don't write every day, because there are other things I like to do in my free time like spend time with my husband and kids, making time for my faith and God, watch shows on Netflix/Hulu, shower/take care of myself, spend time with my friends, read, bake, photography, and scrapbook. When I do write blog posts, I also share them on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FaithHopeLove627), in groups on Facebook, Pinterest, etc. In Facebook groups, I do have to read other posts and comment. On days when I don't write, I catch up on reading/commenting in my free time.


As you can see from my family's schedule, I find the time to do a lot of extras even with having five kids. Having a schedule is the big answer that I should start giving to people when they ask how I find the time. Having a schedule/routine is important to finding time to do things. If you don't have a routine yet, I suggest to get one. I have found having a schedule helps me with my time management. It helps me to stress less about when I will get things done. If you are someone who is always stressed out about when you will get something accomplished, then I suggest get a routine going. Having less stress with my family size, is a good thing. It is no fun to be stressed while spending time with your kids and husband. I know there are a lot of people who will agree that managing time is important, and the key to that is a schedule.

To tie this with my faith, here is a favorite Bible passage of mine. In these verses, we are told there is time to do some things and there is time to do other things. God wants us to use our time wisely. I follow what God tells me to do and I do my best to use all 24 hours a day wisely. Again, that is how I find time.


I hope this post has helped someone. Let me know if it helped you. If it has helped, please share it with someone that you think could use a few tips on time management. I am so glad I was able to share with my readers a little bit about our daily schedule and a day in the life of a mom and blogger. I always make time for faith, hope, and love.


28 comments:

  1. Blogging is what I do for fun. I write when my kiddos are asleep. I also write when my kiddos need alone playtime. Or when I need some time to myself!

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  2. It's important to be able to plan things out. With such a busy schedule it can get overwhelming to try and find time but your doing a great job.

    -Sondra (Prettyfitfoodie.com)

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  3. Whilst this is definitely not going to be helpful to people, my day consists of work, coming home and playing with my princess, getting her to bed, spending time with my OH...

    And then, generally at about 11pm - 1am, I sit down and write. If I can't get a post done because I'm too tired, I wake up at 6am the next day and finish it before going to work. Haha

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  4. I have three kids aged 12, 7 and 6 and I still struggle to get organised. So well done, your doing amazing!!

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  5. Being sensible with your time is so important and thinking about when to do housework and things makes a difference x

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  6. Managing your time is a real art, which it sounds like you're nailing, so well done! And kudos on the organisation of nap time! x

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  7. I think having a schedule and managing your free time is important. Especially when having children and running a blog! You're doing a great job of organising everything!

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  8. I wake up 2-3 hours earlier than every one else just so I can have some alone time. There are times when I stay up later at night so I can wind down, but I usually pass out right after the kids.

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  9. Some good tips in here. I'm pants when it comes to time management. I have to say, I don't think I'd be able to cope with 5 little ones under six!

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  10. That's pretty impressive! I can't imagine the challenge of time management with 5. I'm still struggling to figure it out with one baby!

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  11. I am amazed at how my wife finds the time to do the things she does. I guess your right, it comes down to me just scheduling it out and making sure I don't get distracted with frivolous stuff.

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  12. I feel like between my wfh job and being a mom I don't find time for myself. I just keep going until I got to bed and start over the next day. I need to figure out time for myself, but I feel like i just don't have time.

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  13. I love that you make time for your self !! It is so important and more moms should take a cue and make sure they are happy and well rested!! As my mom used to say Happy Wife happy life :)

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  14. On point, it's good if you have a timeline on how to do things. Sometimes life can be so busy. Scheduling your task would be a good start.

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  15. It's thought o find time but if you want to blog you find it and even sacrifice to make it happen. :)

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  16. It's not about finding time, it's about making time and I think a good schedule can make a world of difference.

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  17. Woah, it seems so important for you to have a schedule. What a busy momma you are! xx

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  18. I have 6 children I did used to go with the flow but I want to become more organised to get the most out of our days including my work day as well x

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  19. I find making lists and sticking to a schedule really helps me get everything I want done x

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  20. You sound like a very organised person! My mummy just fits in blog posts when she can and its all a bit adhoc! She could do with following a schedule like yours x

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  21. I really struggle with using my free time wisely! I spend too much time watching netflix while scrolling through Instagram on my phone.

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  22. This post is really motivating! I don't exactly have five kids but working a job, uni work, blogging, hockey, etc. into a week can be quite tiring so sorting out a proper schedule is a good idea to make sure I have time for everything!

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  23. It is all to easy to be consumed with what needs to be done. Sometimes you do need to stop, and change what you're doing. I know that when I'm working, and my little boy is doing something next to me, sometimes I just need to shut the laptop off and enjoy the moment. A good schedule is probably what I should have.

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  24. i always say i don't have time for certain things but in reality, i do. it's just habit. i have to organise my time, without it, id be a mess

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  25. I must confess that time management is not my strong suit either but I have found that blogging has felt me keep more organized. I admire the routine that you have in place x

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  26. I think my biggest drawback is that even with one child i find myself wasting time instead of utilising it! which kind of sucks because imagine what I could achieve, if i dont waste hours scrolling through social media!

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  27. Scheduling can be such a game changer. It's about sticking to the schedule though, and if one does there is so much that can be accomplished. x

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  28. Great tips! It's all about the planning. I noticed when I know I have to do many things I focus more and can be much more productive.

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