13 ways to simplify your life: Work at Home Mum Edition

Learning how to simplify your life as a work- at- home- mum can have a massive impact on your day to day activities and even the amount of happiness and joy you experience.

Talking from personal experience, when my life/house is a mess, I actually experience anxiety and mini panic attacks. Being a working mum requires a lot of organising and being efficient with your time. I have complied a list of 13 ways we can all simplify our lives and be efficient with our time.

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I currently have a night job in which I work three times a week. The benefits is that I get to work from home in my pyjamas. The cons is that as a mum, I am not guaranteed any sleep which affects my ability to utilise my day fully. Being able to simplify my life has been a key tool to being successful in both areas; professionally and personally.

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Declutter

I am what you will consider a bargain hunter hoarder, I like to keep things that I have purchased and things people have given to me for free. For example, I only have two kids but I have 2 strollers, one travel system and a double buggy. I also a lot of kids stuff, of which I do not need and they need to go. Decluttering allows more breathing space in a home and it also minimises your cleaning and tidying up times.

Declutter Methods Ideas

Courtney Carver invented Project 333 to challenge people to wear only 33 articles of clothing for 3 months. If 33 articles of clothing seems too little, adjust the rules as you need by picking a new number. The important thing is to challenge yourself to live with less and see what you learn from the experiment.

Take the 12-12-12 Challenge. A simple task of locating 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate, and 12 items to be returned to their proper home can be a really fun and exciting way to quickly organise 36 things in your house.

Start small method – Clear out one cupboard at a time, moving on to clearing one room at a time

Create a daily schedule

I am super obsessed with creating a daily to-do -list. Having a plan or targets to meet can offer a sense of achievement which is a good feeling, especially as a mum. We do not always receive praise for all the things we do so join me in praising ourselves.

Get into a routine

I am learning very quickly that children love a routine, my kids know what is happening during the day. To be honest, this happens during term time and I am still in the process of figuring it out when the kids are on holiday. Anyway, back to my point, having a daily routines, gives a day of structure which reduces choas and in effect simplify your life. I have created a routine by creating a chart which includes columes TIME and ACTIVITIES.

Key time to have a routine is to have a morning routine and a night routine. See below for my morning routine

• 5.30am – Finish my nightshift
• 5.45am – Sleep
• 7.30am – Wake up kids
• 7.45 am – Set out breakfast
• 8.20am – Get kids ready
• 9am – School run
• 9.45am – Tidy house
• 11am – Nap time – For myself and my one year old
• And the list goes on…………

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Set an Alarm

Your Alarm can help reduce time wasted, I work nights so during the day I have to schedule sleep time whenever possible.

Meal Plan

This may sound typical but simply spending half an hour deciding on what to eat for the week can make all the difference. I usually meal plan on a Friday or Saturday for the following week. I always check my cupboard and freeze and plan meals around what I have.

Check out: 10 meals Pantry Challenge

Meal Prep

After creating your meal plan for the week, it is time to meal prep. Bulk Cooking is a good way to save time and money. I like to cook three different meals at a time and portion them out into containers and store in the fridge. I sometimes have over 20 – 30 containers stored up in the fridge. Any leftovers will go to the freezer.

Start a capsule wardrobe

Like I mentioned before, being a mum who works from home means that I do not need my professional wear anymore, I do however need comfortable but stylish clothes to do my school runs and run arrears. This means I have decided to have a capsule wardrobe.

What is a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of a few needed items of clothing that don’t go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces. For me, this will include, comfy jeans and plain tops.

How do I get started

If you will like to get started, check out bemoreforless.com for a beginners guide on how to get started

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Cut time wasting activities

.I am a victim of endless and point less browsing which can cost us valuable time. I have been in situations whereby, instead of getting my beauty sleep, I am just browsing youtube; going through the carefully selected recommendations which sincerely grabs my attention. Before I know it, 2 hours have gone by and I am exhausted but I need to get out of bed and do the school runs for the day. Don’t fall for the trap

Random Fact: Did you know that Instagram created their app with the feature of continuous scrolling to encourage people to stay on the app for longer without realising it.

Have a cleaning routine

If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

I am a super fan of the one-touch principle. Touch items only once, for example, instead of putting your coat on the floor when you come in, hang it up straight away and put your shoes away. This is not part of a routine but it is a good habit to build. There are many methods to follow, just type in cleaning routine on youtube and find one the one that suits your lifestyle.

I personally focus on one room at a time, especially my front room. I can deal with a bit of mess in the bedroom but I really struggle to deal with a messing living room because I spend a lot of time there and I work in that room for 8 hours at least. My triggers are a messy front room and piled up dishes. I do not have the privilege of having a dishwasher so I dedicate time daily to getting them done.

Pack and set out clothing the night before

Simple activity but very effective, set out what everyone is going to wear and pack bags the night before and this can simplify your morning and overall day.

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Sleep

Good quality sleep is essential to being the best parent to your children, avoid time wasting activities and use the precious time we have to sleep when possible.

Enjoy your kids

Kids grow us so quickly, do not get too busy that you miss out on your children growing. People think that working from home means you have more time with the kids, when in reality, we can be present but not present. Schedule quality time with the kids and get to know them on a daily basis.

Bonus Point : Get help when needed

Once again, the illusion of working from home is that, you have more time but in reality, it can be very difficult because your home and work life is merged. Use your support network and ask for help. I usually rely on my husband to have the kids for 3 hours before I start my nightshift so I can get a bit of sleep.

Are you a wahm or have an interest in being one? If so, how do you simplify your life? Comment below.