We’re in the middle of the holiday season. But, you know, things can get pretty cray-cray, especially for us working moms. Don’t stress, though! I’ve got simple method to help you this season without losing your cool.
Let’s dive into an easy-peasy way to handle our priorities. ‘Cause let’s be real, being a mom is awesome, but it can also get a bit overwhelming. We look at our massive to-do list and just wanna hide, right? No worries, I got your back.
Step 1: The Brain Dump
Ever felt like there’s so much going on in your head that it might burst? I’ve been there! That’s when you do what I call a “Brain Dump.” It’s like a brain spring cleaning. Grab a piece of paper (or your phone if you’re techy) and jot down EVERYTHING you need to do. Let it all out, like you’re texting your BFF about the latest drama.
But here’s the cool part—organize it! Think of it like sorting your closet, but way less messy. Split your tasks into sections: home, work, side hustle, kids, personal, and stuff for others. It’s like creating folders in your brain.
Step 2: Sort and Prioritize Like a Boss
Now that you’ve emptied everything in your brain onto paper, let’s figure out what’s actually important. What’s a must-do? Work? Yep.
Pick up the kiddos? Absolutely.
But what about cleaning the toilets? Hold up! Maybe someone else can tackle that (hint: it’s okay to ask for help).
Step 3: The Art of Saying “No” and Deleting Stuff
Time to get real. Not everything on your list is a supermom task.
Do you really need to paint the entire house today? Probably not.
It’s like deciding which app to delete on your phone to make space for new games.
Step 4: Delegate, My Friend
Guess what? You don’t have to be a supermom doing everything yourself. Delegate tasks like a boss.
Your sidekick (family or friends) can help you save the day. Oh, and if you can, hire someone to lend a hand. It’s like getting a cheat code for real life.
Step 5: The Magic Number: Three
Let’s keep it simple. Choose three main tasks for the day. Just three.
That’s like picking your top three favorite songs for a playlist. You’ll enjoy those songs, right?
Same with tasks. Quality over quantity. You may even surprise yourself and get more than three tasks done. Which is a reason to celebrate.
Step 6: Face the Big, Scary Tasks First
Ever heard of eating the frog? It means doing the hardest thing first.
So, if you have a tough call or a scary task, tackle it first. It’s like getting the yucky part of dinner over with so you can enjoy the good stuff.
Step 7: Celebrate the Wins, Big or Small
Last but not least, celebrate! Seriously, pat yourself on the back for ALL the things you’ve done. Write it down if you have to. It’s like getting trophies in a game, but in real life. You’re a rockstar, and you deserve to give yourself props!
So, as we gear up for this busy season, let’s rock these time-management tricks and be the real happy moms we are. You got this!
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | STITCHER
Links Mentioned in This Episode
Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcast
Have you subscribed to the Real Happy Mom podcast? If not, I’m encouraging you to do it today.
I don’t want you to miss any upcoming episodes. I plan to add some bonus episodes that you won’t find on this website, and if you’re not subscribed, you might miss out on those. Click here to subscribe to Apple Podcast!
I would be so happy and grateful if you left me a review on Apple Podcast too. Reviews help Apple Podcast to know that this is a podcast for other moms so that other moms can find this podcast. Plus, it makes my day to read the reviews.
Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know your favorite part of the podcast. I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Don’t have Apple Podcast? You can subscribe to the podcast Google Podcast, Anchor, Spotify, Breaker, Castbox, Overcast, RadioPublic, and Stitcher.
Transcript of This Episode
So right now, there is a lot going on. We just got out of Thanksgiving. If you are in the us and are celebrating Thanksgiving. Um, that is always a fun time, but we are actually moving into another busy season and I know that we can get pretty overwhelmed with everything that’s going on. So I want you to know that you can definitely go through this season without all the stress and without being overwhelmed, by doing some simple practices that are going to help you get your mind and energy focus and the right areas. Hey there.
My name is Tony and I am the podcast host at the real happy mom podcast. The podcast for busy working moms who need help with time management and achieving their big goals without pulling their hair out. And fun fact about me. I absolutely love chocolate. And in this episode today, I’m actually sharing with you a presentation that I did three years ago, but everything still applies today. I’m sharing with you, how you can better manage your energy so that you are not feeling overwhelmed. It’s just a simple practice that I do whenever I’m starting to feel like this is too much, I can’t do this. Oh, my goodness.
All of those feelings. So. If you are needing some help or you want to hear more about how I am managing. All the things and not feeling overwhelmed. Stay tuned and listen to this full episode.
I am more of the practical tip type of person, so I want to share with you some ways of managing your priorities. So that. This can help you better manage your energy because I feel like as moms, we tend to get overwhelmed, especially when we’re trying to juggle everything. And a lot of times we can look and see all of the things that we’re trying to accomplish and just get overwhelmed and just kind of shut down.
And that doesn’t do well for our energy at all. So I want to focus on how we can better manage our priorities so that we know how to take all of the tasks and all of the things that are going on in our lives. And be able to manage them a lot better so that we can actually be that real happy mom.
So the first thing that I would say, and I’m saying this for myself too, because I was in this place where I was like, Oh my goodness, I have so much going on with the blog and the podcast and the kids and school and all that, that I almost kind of got paralyzed looking at everything that I needed to do.
So first thing, if you ever feel like you’re in that. Place where you’re like, there’s so much going on. I don’t even know where to start. I would say doing a brain dump. And this is just simply taking everything that you need to do and just putting it on paper. I’m a pen and paper type of girl, so I like writing things down just so I can physically get it out, you know, get it out of me.
And on paper, if you wanna put it in you know, a note on your phone, that’s fine too. But to take this brain dump to the next level. You want to compartmentalize things. So brain dump, what do you need to do for your home? What do you need to do for your work? What do you need to do for your side hustle?
What do you need to do for the kids? What do you need to do for yourself? And then what do you need to do for others? So when you break these things down in compartments, you can really see all of the tasks that you need to accomplish. And then from there we can take things to the next step. But before I jumped to the next part, I just wanted to teach you a little trick here that I learned from another mom.
And she was talking about like, especially for kids, like when we’re trying to remember everything that we need to do for our kids, she uses the head, shoulders, knees, and toes method. And so that’s just thinking of. What do I need to do for my kids starting from the head? So I have boys. I know starting from the head, they need a haircut.
Their hair is a hot mess express. And then moving down from the shoulders and knees, I know that they’ve outgrown their pajamas. So I’m going to go and buy some new pajamas for them. And then moving down to the shoes, my son has very flat feet like me. So I need to make an appointment for the podiatrist.
So those, that’s one easy, simple way that you can remember all the things that you need to do for the kids and even for yourself too, because let’s be honest on how many times have we, you know, done everything for the kids, but we’ve forgotten to make our wellness visit. We forgot to make a dentist appointment.
And the only reason I say that is because I’m a dentist and we forget to do all the things for ourselves. So think of it, head, shoulders, knees, and toes. So we got about all of our compartments. We kind of brain dumped everything on a piece of paper. We see everything that we need to do. Now it’s time to go ahead and start analyzing things.
Start looking at what actually needs to be done. What are you obligated to do? So we know you have to go to work, mom. Like you can’t not go to work. You know, you gotta make money. You gotta pay the bills. So we can’t, you know, scratch. Go to work and do the meeting. We have to do that. We know that we have to do pick up and drop off, those kinds of things.
And what are some of the things that only you can do? Because I know a lot of times we say like, Oh, the house needs to be cleaned and you know, this, that and other, but do you really have to do it? Are you the only person that can do it? So really identify what are those things that only you can do? Then from there, look at your list and see what can be delegated, because let’s be honest moms, we don’t need to be cleaning the toilets, especially if we got kids that can actually do it for us.
So, look and see what can be delegated, what can you ask for help with, and I know this was one thing that was really hard for me, but actually, you know, hiring for help too, if you can, and I’m not saying this for everyone, because I get it where some people aren’t in that position to do it, but if you can, it will save you so much time.
It will save your life. I’m telling you, hire someone to help you. I know I had took a hit. I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t making a lot of money with the podcast, but I hired a podcast manager. To help me with answering emails because I get so many emails. I could literally spend hours just answering and replying to emails and not get anything done.
So just simple things. What can you get help with that can relieve you of that time or leave you with that energy so you’re not feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because you have so much going on. Then look at your list and see what can be completely eliminated now Do you really need to paint the whole house right now?
Do you really need to? Buy new shoes right now. You maybe you do maybe you don’t but what do you need to get rid of and then lastly? What can you postpone and put for later? Like you don’t have to get that done right right now So I know that for instance, I have laundry to do. So do I have to do it today?
Not necessarily, I could do it tomorrow and I could get something that really does need to be done right, right now. So that’s what I would say to do with that list once you have that all done. And then from there I want you to make sure that you’re determining what actually really needs to be done, what is actually urgent and important.
And I know Krista and I, we kind of have the same tactic too. I like to pick three tasks a day. I know Krista, she’s really ambitious. She does five, but let me tell you when I can just pick three things that I need to get done in a day, it relieves me of all of the stress and the pressure that I have to get this done now.
But let’s be honest, we can get three things done in a day if we really are being smart about it, but we really need to pick the things that are actually going to help us move forward. So look at the things that That you just put on your, your brain dump and identify what do you need to get done like right, right now.
Then from there, just delegate where you’re going to do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, picking three things a day. And I’ll be honest with you, you’re probably going to get more than those three things a day done, but at least you’re getting those important things done that are actually going to help you move forward.
And then one last thing, make sure that you take care of the tags that you dread the most. First, because for instance, yesterday I had to make a really hard phone call to a patient to explain to them something had gone wrong and I did not feel good about it. And I put it off to the end of the day.
So the whole day, you know how I felt, I felt terrible because I was holding on to all this negative energy. Like, Oh my goodness, I got to call this man. But had I taken care of it first, I would have had a lot better day. So I say that to say, you know, Eat the frog first is what the book is called that I really like that explains this very well.
Do the thing that you’re dreading the most first so that you can enjoy the rest of your day. And then if you have days that you feel like you didn’t get anything done, do me a favor, sit down and write a list of everything you actually got done. Because a lot of times we focus on our to do list and we don’t think about the things that we actually have done.
And the only reason why I say this is because I remember one day I beat myself up like, Oh, you didn’t do anything. But then when I actually sat down and wrote everything I had done for the day, I did a lot and moms, y’all are killing it. Y’all are doing a lot. So give yourself some credit and remember to celebrate the things that you’re actually getting done there.
Now that does it for this episode of the real happy mom podcast, to find the links in show notes, head on over to real happy mom.com/ 2, 2, 1. And you will find the show notes there. Make sure to stay tuned for next week for another full episode, take care and with lots of love.
