Self-love can take a lot of different forms for different people. One of the things I’ve realized about self-care, though, is that it’s often treated as an escape from real life because real life is consistently too much.
Instead, why not practice balance by working towards creating routines that are easier to handle and overall less overwhelming so that finding an “escape” becomes less and less necessary?
I get it. That might be easier said than done.
Working from home full time, plus blogging and ‘gramming on the side takes a lot. A large (LARGE) part of my day is spent in front of screens and the moments in between are spent doing what I can for the kids and giving Josh a break.
That being said, I do feel like we’ve more or less hit our stride when it comes to this whole working from home thing. Josh and I have had to learn to rebalance and re-delegate tasks in order to fit our roles and we’ve even outsourced some things to lighten the load on both of us.
Here are a few of the things we delegate in order to feel less overwhelmed.
Early mornings
Call it delegating, call it taking shifts – it works.
Josh and I have this deal where, during the week, he lets me sleep in until around 8/8:30 am when I come downstairs to start work. I really feel like it helps my overall morale to know that even though I’m going to have a busy workday, I’m at least going to be rested going into it.
The trade-off? I get up with the kids on the weekends and let Josh sleep in. He (really) looks forward to it and I’m more than happy to let him have a couple later mornings to say thank you for letting me sleep the rest of the week.
Clean-up time
From what I’ve found, if we leave tidying/clean up time until the end of the day, it can feel super overwhelming to tackle everything the kids pulled out during the day. It’s amazing the size of mess they can make in just a few short hours.
Instead, why try to tackle tidying up in shorter sprints throughout the day AND make sure we get the kids involved. Yes, even 2-year-old Evy can understand that things have a place and that they go back there when we’re done with them. We usually have a cleanup time before afternoon naps, before dinner, and then again just before bed. I think this also helps the kids to learn that what they get out, they’ll eventually need to put away.
Dinner time
Yes, we even delegate dinner. Josh can cook but it’s not what he loves to do. That, and he’s not much of a multi-tasker so it usually ends up taking him a loooong time to finish creating a meal for the fam. I’m also usually still plugging away at work up until dinner time and don’t have the chance to stop and make dinner before the kids (and I) are starving.
This is where our BFF Bite Squad comes in. As much as Josh and I would like to serve home-cooked meals each night, we also believe that creating a routine that works for us, gives us more family time, and eliminates stress is even more valuable. That’s why we use Bite Squad. Whether we’re staying home or out and about, it’s as easy as searching for restaurants on our phones and selecting either delivery or pick-up, and our meal is ready in minutes. And we don’t even have to skip a beat.
I love the selection of local restaurants on Bite Squad and, honestly, the convenience can’t be beat. I can even have burgers and fries delivered to the park for a late afternoon picnic if I want to!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out even by your daily routine, try making a list of 3ish things that you might be able to delegate. I know that it doesn’t always come naturally to ask for help, but this feeling can sometimes come from the idea that if we don’t do it ourselves, then it won’t get done (/right). Sometimes being able to open up to the idea that things can happen in ways other than we originally imagined (ie. spending family time over a home-cooked meal that took time that you didn’t have to make vs. spending family time over a meal that was brought to your home) can be really freeing.
This week, give Bite Squad a try and let me know what you thought! How did your day go knowing that dinner plans weren’t on you??
