Picture this: the alarm blares, and your day starts with a sprint. Shoes decide to play hide-and-seek, the kitchen shares last night’s dinner, and time seems to dart by like a hummingbird. You are not alone. Within these chaos inducing moments, lie the chance to identify your pain points. Those moments that add so much stress and create the chaos.
What are Pain Points?
This is where things get unique and individual. What are the pain points in your home that show up over and over again. They are the shoes you trip over or can never find. The junk drawer that holds everything except for the items you need.
The closet bursting with clothes you don’t wear. The kids dressers stuffed with clothing that no longer fits their ever growing bodies.
The chaotic kitchen that greets you in the morning because you were too tired to clean it the night before.
Those things that get you started on the wrong foot every morning or evening. They are usually small things that add up to a lot of chaos. They are also unique, my pain points will not be the same as another persons.
Cracking the Morning Code
Mornings, the battleground where serenity and chaos clash. The rush to exit the house often feels like an impossible task. I had nightmares for years about the school bus. It always brought panic, trying to find the shoes, backpacks, lunches and coats. Until I learned to create systems that made my mornings run more smoothly. Because we’re all humans there will be days that are a struggle no matter how much time and effort we put into our systems. But there will be more smooth days than bad.
Have you ever though I wish I had more time in my day. The truth is we can’t add more time to our day, but we can create more time by planning ahead. Doing something the night before that will save you time and sanity the next day. It is so much easier to look for missing shoes when you’re not trying to frantically get out the door.
Did you realize that taking a few minutes the night before can save you precious time in the morning? It could be locating all the school shoes the night before. Starting lunches so there is less to find and finish in the morning. Or powering through and emptying the sink of the dirty dishes so you are greeted with a clean kitchen when you start your day.
We all have habits. It could be going to bed with the sink filled with dishes. In order to break through old habits we have to be onto ourselves to be able to make the changes that will make life easier. Taking an honest look at our situation will help us find the answers we are looking for.
Be Onto Your Self
I was visiting with a single mom who works full time. She has a perspective that is different than mine. After working all day, coming home, making dinner, doing the night time routine with her child she just couldn’t face the dishes. She preferred getting up when the house is quiet and facing the sink full of dishes. My preference would be to do them the night before and wake up to a clean kitchen.
That felt better to her than powering through at night. But check yourself, make sure you’re not just putting it off. If you choose to leave them until morning what is something you can do to make that task easier. My suggestion would be to rinse and stack the dishes so you didn’t face a sink of dried on chaotic dishes. Making the task easier. But check yourself. Does it honestly feel better to face the sink full of dishes in the morning or are you putting it off and dragging a task from night until the morning.
Your answer might be different than mine. If facing a sink of dirty dishes in the morning adds to the chaos try doing them the night before and see if that helps. If you have a few quiet minutes before everyone gets up and you can get it done then go for it.
I would rather wake up to a clean kitchen but my life is different than a single mom who works full time.
Don’t give up, it will take time to figure out what works best for you and your family. Show yourself some grace as you figure out what will work best for you. Find ways that will create more time for you and your family.
I am also motivated by pretty things, having a pretty dispenser makes doing a less than fun task more fun.
The Lunch Time Prep
Do kids take sack lunches too school anymore? My kids always took a brown bag lunch to school. At the beginning of the school year they had great lunches by the end of the year I was so tired of packing lunches, all the creativity and excitement had long since worn off.
It was a drudgery by the end of the school year. Thus creating systems was a must.
What can you do the night before that will help your day start more smoothly. If you pack lunches, get them started with snacks and juice. It might be washing the water bottles so they are ready to go the next day. Take a minute to see where you’re at. A big part of the job is making sure you have the food in the house. It is much easier to run to the grocery store in the evening than the stress filled morning.
If you use containers make sure you can locate matching lids to containers. If you have a drawer or cupboard filled with Tupperware. Start your decluttering there. Make sure you have lids that match the containers and get rid of all the extras. Invest in some great lunch containers for the adults and kids that make lunch prep more fun and easier.
The Lost Shoe-solution
Embarking on a shoe hunt in the morning when the clock is ticking creates panic. How does it happen every morning? Do shoes walk away in the middle of the night? Do you know what makes shoes harder to find? A time crunch and panic.
After the kids are in bed, taking just a minute to locate all necessary shoes will save you a lot of negative emotion in the morning. Better yet before the kids head to bed have them locate their shoes and place them by the door, so they are ready to go before the mad dash begins.
Having storage for shoes will make creating systems so much easier. Whether it is a large shoe rack in the garage or back entry or a smaller shoe rack. Creating habits with yourself and your kids and save you a lot of time in the end.
Time Management and Organization
Organization is the secret sauce for a calm home. From scheduling techniques to decluttering rituals, will craft a personalized roadmap to a calmer home. There is no such thing as a chaotic free life and home but creating systems and being intentional creates more calm and function.
You don’t have to make a lot of changes all at once. Doing just 1% more is all you need. Adding 1% more adds up to big changes. If you have a habit, do some habit stacking, create a new habit by adding it to a habit you already do. What is something you want to do. Find a way to add it to an already existing habit.
A little bit of awareness goes a long ways. Grace is key. Give yourself and your loved ones grace. Small changes add up to big results.
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