As mothers, we often find ourselves pulled in many different directions which can result in feeling overwhelmed, anxious, stressed out, frustrated and more. The good news is, those feelings don’t have to be our permanent states. In this blog, I will be sharing some things that have helped me move forward during those times.
Being Intentional and Eliminating Distractions via Phone / Electronic Device Management
Have you ever gone on your phone to check in with your calendar, notes app, or email to keep you on track and got distracted by the many notifications competing for your attention? I know I have! Turning off my notifications with the exception of text messages, a business app, and phone call notifications has proven to be helpful. I STRONGLY dislike seeing those red dots and all those notifications in my notification center. Yes, that means my email notifications are off, unless on the rare occasion that I am expecting some important information, then I will turn them on until I get what I am waiting for and then turn them off again. Outside of that, I have certain times of the day that I check my emails. Similarly when I am looking for information in my email, I ensure that there are no emails in my inbox so my attention doesn't get diverted. I do this by organizing my emails into their respective folders. For instance, I file the emails that I need to take action on into its appropriately labeled (and colored) folder. During my designated “check email” times of the day, I address them (unless they are time sensitive emails, I deal with them sooner). To minimize the amount of emails I receive, I only subscribe to email lists that are pertinent and unsubscribe from the rest.
I am intentional with my social media use. In practice, this looks like muting all of my feed content to prevent me from getting distracted and scrolling unnecessarily. In the past, I have found that if I went on Facebook for instance, to look for something, such as information from a local mommy group, I got distracted by my feed content and before you know it, I have spent too much time on the app and I haven’t gotten what I had initially signed on for.
When it comes to my phone applications, I take a minimalist approach and only download the relevant apps. My phone apps are also organized by category, for instance; I have various folders for all of my business apps, health + wellness apps, productivity apps, etc.
Taking Things Offline
While I appreciate the convenience of electronic applications like Google docs and note taking apps, I prefer to write down my tasks in my paper planner or notebook because it’s less distracting and it's cathartic for me. However, if there are tasks that require the presence of both my husband and I, I will create a Google document that I share with him. I also do this for appointments in Google calendar and send an invite after discussing the appointment with him. I do the same with our financial information in Google sheets.
Being Organized Has its Benefits
I am definitely one of those people who live by, everything has a home and a home for everything. Everything is labeled, color coded, and stored away in a folder or container that way when you need something, you know exactly where to find it and it’s one less thing to think about. I strive to be as efficient as I can so that I am free to spend my time with the people that matter the most to me and doing things that I enjoy.
In closing, the above tips assist me in staying focused and reminds me to prioritize the important things. It also clears up mental space which enables me to be more present for my loved ones. When my thoughts are scattered and I am distracted, I am less available to my family because of all the mental real estate that my thoughts take up. I have always been someone who is highly organized and loves order because it provides me with peace, calm, joy, and clarity; but, if this doesn’t sound like you, that’s 100% okay. It’s not necessary to implement what I’ve shared if it doesn’t resonate with you, but I do encourage you to explore what does because being organized prevents things from piling up and mitigates overwhelm and other similar feelings. Life presents enough challenges as it is, let’s make it easier for ourselves as much as we possibly can.
As always, take deep care and be well mamas.