On Feeling Productive

I am busy all day long, but at the end of the day I often feel as though I was very unproductive. There seems to be very little time in the day to get anything tangible done like cleaning, cooking, personal care, laundry or things that I enjoy like exercising, blogging and keeping in touch with friends and family. I spend time with my children when they are awake which is absolutely what I want to be doing, but there are days when I find myself getting frustrated that I am not checking anything off of my mental to-do list nor am I finding time to pursue my own interests.

I recently read an article about the challenges of feeling productive as a stay-at-home mom and it really struck a cord with me and made me realize that I needed to start thinking about and approaching my days in a different way. The article talked about the importance of defining what you view as progress, setting realistic goals for yourself, keeping your phase of life in mind when setting goals and defining progress, and increasing your self-discipline and making sure you are prioritizing. 

I like a clean house so I easily start to feel frustrated when the laundry starts to pile up and too much time has passed since I last cleaned my bathroom or kitchen. I decided that I needed to start setting manageable, daily goals in this area in order to feel like I was progressing. Cleaning the entire apartment and getting all of the laundry done at one time is just not realistic for me right now. At the beginning of the day, I now decide on a few manageable tasks that I would like to accomplish before going to bed (I usually don't get to them until after the kids are in bed). At the end of the week, I usually end up with a relatively clean apartment and my laundry pile is a manageable size which makes me feel successful.

I really wanted to start working out again, but it wasn't something that I was making a priority and it was another area that I felt I was not making progress in. It is impossible to find time during the day to exercise on my own so I decided to reorganize our day to incorporate exercise for myself and include the girls. We now head out the door with the double stroller almost every morning right after Charlotte's morning nap for a walk or a run. On the weekends, we go out as a family and run or walk. This not only makes me feel better about myself, but I think it makes me a better mom because I am able to release stress and tension and I am setting an example for my children while showing them the importance of fitness and that it is an activity that can be enjoyable. I am feeling great and the girls seem to be enjoying themselves too. Lilah will even occasionally ask me if she can get out and run which I of course let her do because I think it is just awesome that she is expressing an interest in joining me in an activity that I enjoy and that is good for both of us. (As a side note, we are planning on doing a 5K Fun Run this weekend as a family)! 

I still haven't been able to spend as much time doing other activities that I enjoy, but I am getting better making them more of a priority and incorporating them into my schedule. A big part of this has been increasing my self-discipline and making sure I am making the best of the time I do have to do the things I enjoy because I can easily get sucked into a television show that I don't need to be watching or mindlessly surf the Internet.  

Our schedule is constantly changing because Charlotte is still taking 3-4 naps a day at various times so I have to be pretty flexible at this point and accept that in this phase of my life, there are things that are not going to get done when I want them to and that I will be able to incorporate more of the things I like to do into my schedule when things become a little more predicable. For now, making small changes and setting small manageable goals for myself will help me to feel as though I am being productive and progressing in my life as a mother and an individual.