How can a woman do everything at work and at home?
If you do not have a tactical plan for every day and a strategic plan for a month – get ready for blockages at work. When endless fatigue and nervousness have become constant partners, try to change the approach to the distribution of working hours.
1. Get ready for tomorrow in the evening
You probably remember this advice from school, when your parents forced you to pack your portfolio before going to bed. But it really makes life easier – and your morning will be less stressful. In the evening, collect food for the children for school, iron their clothes, decide what to cook for breakfast. Put the necessary things in your purse right away. In the morning it will save 20-30 minutes – you can easily put on makeup and do your hair, have time to feed the children and have breakfast.
2. Make a family calendar
A work calendar is a familiar thing: it helps to remember about deadlines, not to miss meetings and business meetings. And in everyday life, we often forget to visit a doctor or pay for a kindergarten. Create a similar family calendar.
3. Plan your day
Schedule your day by the hour. Do the most important first, then do the things that are not so important, but also need to be done. Schedule optional tasks for the rest of the time.
Try to get no more than 9-10 cases in total and no more than two major tasks per day. Also, leave at least one hour free in case of force majeure – suddenly you have to urgently leave work or one of the cases will take longer.
Be realistic – if there is a whole day ahead, this does not mean that you can do whatever you want. With a well thought out plan, you will get more done and will always be prepared for the unexpected.
4. Make to-do lists and to-do lists
There are things that take literally 5-7 minutes: making a call, sorting mail, checking something, or setting a task at work. But they are the ones that often take up time, and they are also easy to forget.
Make a special to-do list and open it whenever possible. For example, in a traffic jam, while cooking pasta, in a queue. So you will spend this short period of time with benefit.
If you work from home, divide tasks into those that can be done simultaneously with something, and those that require full inclusion. Do the first in parallel with cooking or when the child is playing the constructor, and the second – during the allotted time for work. For example, when the baby is under the reliable supervision of his grandmother or is sleeping.
5. Remember discipline
Limit distractions. Don’t surf social media instead of work, chat with coworkers instead of writing a report, or check your email instead of cleaning and cooking dinner. Don’t waste precious time on unnecessary things. Otherwise, he will not be left to rest and put himself in order.
6. Ask for help
Do not hesitate to use the help of grandmothers, girlfriends, husband. Agree with your loved one about sharing household responsibilities. Hire a nanny or housekeeper if you can’t handle household chores or caring for your baby. It’s impossible to work efficiently, cook 10 meals, clean up the house to a speck of dust, and be the perfect mother.
Delegate what you can. Seems like you can’t afford cleaning? Calculate how much an hour of your time costs and decide what tasks you can hire an assistant for and what you will do yourself. It is also worth delegating the most annoying tasks that tire and exhaust you.
7. Separate home and work
Do your work at work and your family at home. Disconnect from work, devote yourself to your child and husband, rest, do not take work from the office for the evening and weekends. The ability to concentrate on what you are doing at a particular moment greatly increases productivity. And children will be less distracting from work if they get the right amount of attention.
8. Don’t try to embrace the immensity.
You need to come to terms with the fact that you are unlikely to be able to do as much as you did before the baby was born. At least until he grows up and goes to the garden. Do not try to take on too much, dose the load, solve important matters in a planned way – task by task. The thought that you are not doing anything can poison your life and put you into a state of stress.
9. Enjoy the benefits of civilization
Do not go to the salon for a manicure – let the master come to your house. Don’t waste time shopping – now both clothes and food can be ordered online. Do not go to the bank or post office to pay utility bills. When buying a complex / expensive thing, you can make a choice by reading the characteristics and reviews on the network, and then quickly buy at the nearest store. This way you will not spend a whole day on trips to retail outlets and comparing offers.
10. Do multitasking correctly
You can combine two tasks – one that requires attention and one that can be done automatically. So, peeling carrots and answering child’s questions is easy at the same time. But combining two similar things that involve the same area of the brain is not worth it. For example, talking to your husband and reading a working paper.
You can also combine some tasks with what you do on an ongoing basis. For example, while walking with a stroller, listen to books in English and tighten your language, and while the eldest son is studying in a circle, sort out work correspondence.
11. Plan your menu for the week
Prepare a menu in advance with a list of dishes that you will cook. Then you will be able to buy groceries for a week in advance and not go to the store every day. On weekends, you can make blanks – boil broth for soup, wind and freeze minced meat, or ready-made cutlets or meatballs.