Being a working mum is hard!! There never seem to be enough hours in the day to achieve everything and you often feel like your chasing your tail trying to keep on top of the simplest of tasks, such as cooking dinner every evening. Recently I spoke about how returning to work full time after having Ettie, knocked me off my feet as I really didn’t appreciate how valuable time management would become being a working Mum.
Since writing that post, I’ve made some changes to our day to day lives which have releaved the pressure a little so I thought I’d share them here in the hope of helping other working mums too:
6 Stress Busting Tips for Busy Working Mums
- Get the weekly shop delivered; This was the biggy for me! I hate doing the weekly food shop and we were doing it online to save time, then going to collect it using the click and collect service. However this often meant changing plans or rushing to the supermarket within our allocated time slot. When everything got a bit much, the first change I made was to get the food shop delivered and it is sooo much better! Most supermarkets offer a flexible service whereby you can choose a four-hour window and its a little cheaper. We do this with and get out shopping delivered between 6.00 and 10.00 when we know at least one of us will definitely be in! It makes shopping much less stressful.
- Hire a cleaner: This isn’t as middle class as you think. When working full-time it’s really hard to keep on top of the housework and the last thing you want to be doing is tacking the ironing on your precious days off. Cleaners can be as little as £10 an hour and you can utilise their skills as little or as often as you need, Even just a couple of hours a month to change the beds and give the bathroom a good going over could save your sanity in the long run (note this isn’t something we have done yet due to the renovation work still going on, but once thats done we will be!);
- Get a Garderner: The same thing goes for a gardener. When working full-time hours it can be hard to find enough spare time to get the lawnmower out of the shed (or wherever it is kept) and give the grass a good cut, especially in summer when it seems to grow three inches over night! A Garden Service can take this pressure out of your hands sending someone to mow your lawn a couple of times a month. This means that next time the sun is shining, you’re free to enjoy the day with a white wine in your hand, rather than fighting with a dirty old lawnmower!
- Invest in a decent Iron: If I cleaner isn’t your thing, then it may be time to upgrade your equipment. I never realised there was such a thing as a ‘super iron’ until I borrowed friends to Iron a shirt that had been creased in the car. She had one of those big fancy steam irons and it glided over my shirt in no time! It’s cut the time I spend chained to ‘the board’ down by hours!
- Make lunches at the same time you are preparing dinner: There’s often a little downtime during meal preparation while you wait for the onions to brown or chicken to cook through. Use this time to whip up some sandwiches for the next day then you have one less thing to do in the morning;
- Make time for you: This may seem like an oxymoron when we’re talking about time-saving. But taking some time out for you, to do some exercise or read a book will actually make you more productive. Make sure you schedule out at least one evening a week where you concentrate on you, and let the others in your family know that this time is off-limits.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these tips and if you have any others, please leave them in the comments below.
This is a collaborative post
