Good Morning everyone and welcome to my midweek Wednesday Blog. I hope your all having an amazing week.
Today I'm going to be talking about "Routines, Planning and Time Blocking"
We all have busy lives or productive ones depending how you look at it. When your sat there on a Sunday Evening (or whatever day you choose) thinking how am i going to fit in everything I need to this week?
You then think what about the kids or whatever else you have going on as well it can be a very over whelming process.
STOP BREATHE You got this!
Firstly Time Blocking...:
When I launched my business I was finding it very hard to find time for me and my daughter, was almost like I felt I couldn't stop and breathe for 10mins. My daughter is currently having extra support at school to help me to understand her better.
A very good friend of mine advised me Routine and Time Blocking will make life a lot better, more productive and less stressful. Oh how right she was!
So I Took my Diary out and started planning my week, blocking in time for everything, school run, food, time with my daughter, specific tasks for the day, shower time, bath time, appointments everything.
Soon my diary looked rather full and organised, using pencil then at the end of the night when the task had been done gone over and ticked in pen. This then became routine and generally the business task end up becoming set of certain days and times.
So an average day for me could look like this...:
7.30am Get up, Dressed, Washed and get Ruby ready
8.20am Take Ruby to school
9am till 10am Me time, reading, listening to podcasts etc
10am till 12pm Work - Blogs, Order, Posts,
12pm - Lunch time
12.30 till 2.50pm - Work
3pm till 7pm - Pick Ruby up from School, Playtime, Do Dinner, Bath and Ruby into bed
7pm till 10pm - Work - Social Media
10pm till Midnight - My time - read, tv, shower, chill, pamper time
This becomes daily time slots so the same times everyday I follow the layout the tasks may change depending on what orders or coaching etc i have on the day, but the time slots stay the same.
My daughter needs high stimulation to keep her occupied or she is a bit full on and misbehaves. So this time gap between 3pm and 7pm is a must every day.
(Picture sat watching my daughter playing and breathing for a bit to refocus)
The only time these time slots may change is on a weekend where I may spend time with ruby 9am till 7pm then work until 10pm do tea get ruby in bed and continue working.
This process has helped me massively as I'm much more productive in the working time frames and have managed to get a lot more done than I was at the start. Ruby is happier and is learning more and is now a lot calmer and is starting to understand "Mummy works from Home"
The other time it can be a bit hectic is during School Holidays where the time schedule changes again. For example this most recent half term in May i spent the days switching and changing it around.
With the warmer weather we had it enabled me to create a shaded area in the garden and i took my laptop outside and sat in the garden with Ruby so she was able to play and have fun but i was still getting some work done during the day.
School Holidays most of my work is done during the evenings from 7pm until midnight to make up for taking day times off to be with Ruby, but as she's understanding mummy still has to do some work she also allows me to sit outside with my laptop and work and play at the same time.
But it was nice to be able to get out with Ruby day times, play with her and she even learnt to ride her bike without stabilizers this half term as well which is another milestone for her.
Try it and let me know how much it helps you and your family time!
Secondly Routine....:
For some people this may just be a natural thing to do, however for some people it may not be so straight forward. Every child is different on what they need and require. Some are happy playing on their own, some are happy coming in from school and just watching tv or playing games. Some children need more things to keep them occupied and entertained. Finding this balance sometime can seem like a mission or trek depending how you look at it.
For me routine when Ruby was first born was easy then things change and this routine became much harder to keep to and as she's got older those routines have changed, disappeared and not been easy to get back on track.
These moments were really difficult and stressful. The routine for me broke when i was moving, and relocating as she didn't handle the change very well initially and it's only been the last 6 months or so that routine has been much better. Through perseverance and determination and having a business to run it became so much more important to get this back.
This routine has become easier since I've been time blocking as she's learnt Mummy isn't budging and this is how it is.
So if your struggling to keep or get back a routine try the Time Blocking and don't budge as it will eventually become the "Norm" to the household and routine will fall back into place easier.
To Finalise...:
Make sure your taking time for you
Make sure your Time Blocking set a day and do it then without fail
Get routine back into place
Enjoy the time with your family
Enjoy being less Stressed
Gain back some of your stability and focus
Enjoy having life back to normal and keep to it even when times become hard.
Have an amazing week and I'll be back next week with my next next midweek Wednesday blog.
Always remember you're stronger than you believe
Maria
Links:
Website: www.mariaharrisbiz.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/MHBiz
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mhbiz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MHBiz
Comments